College’s new digital Summer School will help ensure smooth return in September

Furness College has revised the way it will introduce students to its campuses as part of a digital transformation accelerated by the Coronavirus global pandemic.

This year it will launch a Digital Summer School for all new and returning students to prepare them for the future way of working in September.

Kerry Culley, learning resources manager, said the team had come up with the idea to ensure that students at both the Channelside and Rating Lane campuses had a head start on their studies and could hit the ground running.

“The pandemic brought about swift changes to our day-to-day working as all lessons moved online,” she said. “We had to adapt to the change and we’ve been really impressed with the response from our students so far.

“To ensure a smooth transition for new and returning students in September, the learning resources team has adopted some fresh-thinking and we’ve come up with a comprehensive package of sessions to be delivered on our virtual learning environment.

“The sessions will ensure all students are familiar with the college systems they will using well in advance and they will be able to access all systems they will need from day one.”

She said information covered will be delivered in a fun and engaging way.

It will include how to access the virtual learning environment and their own Office 365 account, sessions on using Microsoft Teams to communicate with tutors and participate in online classes, ways to access online library and learning resources, online study skills and masterclasses on assessing and improving digital learning skills.

Alongside learning there will also be an online induction to college life.

Details of the Digital Summer School will be sent to each returning student and those enrolled on the college’s wide range of programmes – from A levels to BTECs, GCSEs to degrees – from September 2020.