About

Fanshawe College, Ontario, is one of the largest colleges in Canada. It serves 43,000 students across multiple campuses with over 220 degrees, diplomas, certificates, and apprenticeships. Their mission lies in a promise to educate, engage, empower, and excite students. They approached Bodyswaps because they saw it as a solution that could provide essential skills for students, no matter their academic path.

Goals

1. Implement a soft skills training solution that could be used across all degrees at the college.
2. Increase student engagement by offering interactive, hands-on learning opportunities.

Deployment

College-wide
The team at Fanshawe implemented Bodyswaps across a variety of programs, opening up soft skills training to a range of students

EDI for ESL
The team found that Bodyswaps’ EDI modules were particularly helpful for students who speak English as a second language as it empowered them to better understand nuances of communication, cultural difference, and appropriate language in professional settings, that might be different in another language.

Marketing Promotion
Enlisting the help of marketing students to create promotional content about Bodyswaps, including a trailer, helped them spread the word about their deployment across the college.

DSW Program
Fanshawe’s Developmental Services Worker program trains students to work with individuals with developmental disabilities. DSW students were frequent users of Bodyswaps, finding value in the variety of communication skills training they could engage in.

Results

• 87% of students would recommend Bodyswaps to their peers
• 92% of students identified areas to improve on their skills
• 90% of students increased their understanding

Advice

• The school was advised to ensure they’re fully prepared with their equipment: charging VR headsets; having battery packs, headphones, and comfortable head straps for headsets.
• Specialised technologists can help persuade time-poor educators to organise sessions, running the tech so that the educators can focus on the teaching aspect.

“The students have felt more comfortable and ready to go to placement or workplaces. Just the self-awareness, being aware of how they communicate, has been helpful.”
– Leigh Meta, Simulation Team Lead

Future Plans

Fanshawe will be expanding their Innovation Village to reach more programs and achieve further success in immersive learning across the college.

COMPANY: BodySwaps