How the team at Northampton College engaged staff and students with Bodyswaps

Overcoming obstacles

The primary challenges for Academic Coaches was a fear of the unknown as well as some technological apprehension. The Ed Tech Team created a phased handover method that helped mitigate these fears by providing consistent support. The flexibility to continue support as long as needed reassured teachers, fostering a more confident and willing participation.

By letting the staff see and experience the software firsthand through CPD sessions before asking them to lead sessions with students, meant staff could better appreciate Bodyswaps' practical benefits and take some of the “fear" out of the unknown.

After the CPD sessions, the coaches could book their students in for a Bodyswaps session with the Ed Tech team. For each cohort of students, the coaches were given a two week slot, one week would be for the first set of modules and the other would be for the second. By ensuring the coaches come back a second time, it helped them get used to using Bodyswaps and facilitating sessions. 

Where coaches were more resistant, the Ed Tech team used a strategy of inviting those more sceptical to observe those more confident run the sessions, which proved a very effective strategy.

Sustained engagement and scalability

The Ed Tech team kept engagement high by ensuring the Bodyswaps modules they used were aligned with the Personal Development curriculum. They also found that by making sure Bodyswaps time was planned into the personal development schedule, engagement was higher. The team also assessed which modules were a good fit for different groups to ensure that there was more than one topic that interested the Academic Coaches and students, keeping interest high throughout the year.

It was not scalable for the Ed Tech team to lead all the Bodyswaps workshops, so they began training the Academic Coaches in how to run workshops. The team offered a supported handover to those that felt confident - running one session where coaches simply shadowed, the second for coaches to run the session with support of the team and by session three, the coach could run the session entirely by themselves with a member of the team observing. The coaches were confident when it came to session four and they were able to book the VR room to run sessions independently. 

Expanding usage to other departments

The Ed Tech team is now looking to expand beyond tutorial slots and has begun engaging with different areas of the curriculum, including Health and Social Care, and Business and Logistics. And some of these teams have started to run workshops. 

Despite teachers being typically harder to engage due to their busy schedules, the Ed Tech team's efforts in reaching out and providing support facilitating the sessions led to increasing interest. Furthermore, as teachers became aware of Bodyswaps through the Academic Coaches, engagement grew organically. 

The team encourages departments to utilise Bodyswaps by offering supported sessions, addressing accessibility concerns, and inviting teachers to observe before bringing in their groups. Mandatory PD days also serve as an opportunity to showcase Bodyswaps, allowing teachers to explore its potential in a low-pressure environment. 

By casting sessions on small screens, teachers can see real-time student interactions, allowing educators to monitor student use, making it easier to identify students that need more support. 

The team also keeps up regular communication with teachers, sending emails highlighting new modules and tutor notes further facilitating integration into the curriculum.

Student feedback

Jacqui said that it has been great to see the student response to Bodyswaps. She explained that the excitement of trying new technology combined with thoughtful session planning has proved very effective. For example, to begin with Level 1 learners will only have one module to complete, while more advanced students will have multiple to work through.

For students that are more anxious, she explained how the team uses Arbor XR to cast sessions, allowing the student to observe before participating. The Ed Tech team have also invested in large screens to create a “pod” space for less confident students to practice away from their peers. They are also offered the desktop version if they do not want to explore Bodyswaps in VR. 

Future plans

Hearing about what the Ed Tech team has planned with Bodyswaps at Northampton College is very exciting! They want to expand Bodyswaps to additional campuses and start embedding Bodyswaps into the curriculum for different subject areas to enhance learning experiences. 

As the Academic Coaches become more familiar with Bodyswaps and able to confidently run workshops independently, they will increase the two week Bodyswaps slots each coach gets so they can take even more advantage of the platform.

Key takeaways to help you succeed with your Bodyswaps deployment

• Integrate Bodyswaps into the curriculum to ensure high and sustained engagement;
  choose modules that are very relevant for each subject area.
• Gain the buy-in of teachers by conducting hands-on CPD sessions for staff to
  experience Bodyswaps and understand its practical benefits.
• Ease teachers’ concerns by offering a phased training approach, moving from
  shadowing to independent facilitation, ensuring sustainability and scalability of
  Bodyswaps workshops.
• Plan in advance and ensure that teachers have dedicated slots that they know are for
  using Bodyswaps with their students.