West Lothian College wins Jisc-sponsored CDN award for digital learning

West Lothian College are the winners of this year’s Jisc-sponsored Colleges Development Network (CDN) award for digital learning.

Their innovative digital health virtual reality (VR) project has been rolled out across health and social care courses to protect students, staff, patients and the wider community by demonstrating how to prevent the spread of infection. 

The VR module was designed to show how pathogens move through the body, and to identify health and safety measures that could be implemented. This is particularly impactful for students not able to operate in a practical setting who may find it difficult to visualise how infection is transmitted. 

Jason Miles-Campbell, Jisc’s Director, Scotland and Northern Ireland, commented:

“Congratulations to West Lothian College’s digital health VR project on winning the Jisc-sponsored CDN digital learning award.  

“There is a real, pressing need to address skills gaps around prevention of infection in health and social care settings, and this project exemplified collaboration, student and staff engagement and sustainability.  

“It embraced the opportunity to use VR headsets to support visualisation of infection – very much bringing the subject to life in ways traditional resources cannot.  

“I look forward to seeing the project’s continued impact, further expansion, and transferability to other areas where engaging VR can enhance learning and teaching.” 

Jisc has been a proud sponsor of theCDN awards since 2016, helping to recognise talent, innovation, and digital skill across the Scottish college sector.