Tameside College Computing students gain a ‘digital advantage’

Computing students at Tameside College work with industry experts to boost their digital skills.

The students spent five days working with Rubbi Bhogal-Wood and Bernard Page, both trainers with non-profit digital agency, Digital Advantage.

Digital Advantage provides immersive workshops and training for young people to learn advanced digital and creative skills. Rubbi, a social media consultant, has even delivered a ‘TEDx’ talk on the digital industry.

Students were tasked with creating a brand, app, website and presentation for their company, ‘Owl’. Owl allows members of the public to report crime easily, using live streaming via a smartphone.

Nathan King, level three computing student at Tameside College and project team leader, said: “This project is important because we have used lots of the skills learnt in the classroom, to create something that could be used in the future to help people. It’s also allowed us to develop teamwork and leadership skills, which I feel are just as important as the technical coding and development side.”

Daniel Evans, head of department for computing at Tameside College, said: “I’d like to thank Rubbi and Bernard for working with our students to develop their skills. The workshop that students took part in was really informative and gave students the freedom to be creative. They have done a brilliant job and come up with an idea that could be useful around the world.”

The digital and technology industry in the UK is expanding twice as fast as the rest of the economy and is currently worth £184 billion, with demand for skilled employees increasing. State-of-the-art computing and gaming suites at Tameside College’s new Tameside One campus, are designed to meet this demand.