About
Ayrshire College is a further education institution spanning across three campuses in Scotland: Ayr, Kilmarnock, and Kilwinning.
Ayrshire’s Digital Learning Support (DLS) team have been exploring and experimenting with different technology partners to ensure they invest in the best solution for their students.
Beginning in 2024, Ayrshire partnered with Bodyswaps to support their increase in meta-skills training across the college, aligning with Scotland’s national focus on these skills.
Some companies were charging more for just one VR scenario, so Bodyswaps really stood out—it covers a wide range of curriculum and support areas, and was a much more cost-effective option.
Russell Wilson
Head of Digital Learning SupportGoals
- Supported by senior leadership, drive continuous innovation of the college’s digital learning offerings
- Increase student engagement by blending traditional teaching with innovative digital learning
- Equip students with digital skills by increasing their familiarity with VR technology, preparing them for industries already using VR in the day-to-day
Deployment
In the classroom
The DLS team have assisted in-person to facilitate Bodyswaps sessions, ensuring the technical side runs as smoothly as possible for their educators and students.
Customisation is key
As Ayrshire deploys across a variety of programmes, they’ve found our customisable AI roleplays valuable for increasing the relevance of content for specific contexts. For example, hospitality students who must display they’ve dealt with a complaint have used our Active Listening AI roleplay with the avatar customised to be an unhappy customer at a restaurant.
Participant testimonials
- "They were a little reluctant at first, but ended up really enjoying it! It was great to hear how they dealt with the ‘complaint’. They had fun while learning and seemed more relaxed than I thought they would be." - Lecturer
- "It made me feel more confident for my interview." - Student
- "I found it so worthwhile to do and the students really enjoyed the experience. I certainly will be recommending this to my colleagues." - Lecturer
Results
After one session of our Mental Health Practitioner module:- 83% of students would recommend Bodyswaps to their peers
- 87% of students identified areas to improve on their skills
- 91% of students increased their understanding of the topics discussed within the module
Advice
- Ensure students are confident in the relevance of Bodyswaps - work with teaching staff to make sure the session
is contextualised and to set expectations beforehand. It’s even better if an activity is built around the session so there’s follow-up and reflection afterwards. - Familiarise yourself with the Bodyswaps library and platform: work through modules yourself so you’re aware of what students will be experiencing and can help guide them.
One of our mature students worked through the whole of the Mental Health Practitioner module. You could tell she was really engaging with it. Whatever had happened or
was happening in that student’s life - she got a lot out of the experience.
Hilary Reid
Digital Learning Support Team LeaderFuture plans
In the next academic year, Russell, Hilary, and the DLS team plan to work with the Careers and Employability team to integrate Bodyswaps modules into their timetabled sessions with students. This will allow students to access
Bodyswaps in smaller groups, which they’ve already seen has a greater impact than large-class deployments.
They will also have some VR headsets and Bodyswaps available for individual bookings through the Learning Resource Centres to facilitate asynchronous soft skills development.
