Author: 4D Immersive

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National Storytelling Week – January 31 to February 7 2015

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Celebrate national storytelling week with an immersive, interactive, storytelling workshop.

National Storytelling Week was created in the year 2000 to increase public awareness of the art, practice and value of oral storytelling. Since then, it has been held during the first week of February every year.

Book a digital storytelling session in the 4D Pop Up

Our creative practitioners will lead an interactive storytelling session that will feature large scale projection, LED lighting and surround sound to immerse your pupils. This will be an exciting, engaging experience that will impact on your pupils communication and language skills.

The 4D Pop Up immersive space sets up in 15 minutes and can seat a class of primary pupils. It becomes a space within a space and will transport your young people to new places, times and atmospheres. Learn more about the 4D Pop Up here.

The possibilities:

  • Fire of London
  • Titanic
  • Stories around the African waterhole
  • Noah
  • Gawain and The Green Knight
  • Or let us know what you story you want to hear…

Each workshop can be structured to meet your requirements and objectives.

If you’d like to arrange an immersive storytelling in your school, get in touch with the 4D team on 0844 414 2595 or email hello@4dcreative.co.uk.

Prices start from £550 + VAT for a half day and includes a practitioner and everything needed to create an immersive environment.

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BETT Futures – 30 innovative, creative companies to discover

BETT futures

2015 will start with a bang as 4D attend our first BETT exhibition. We were delighted to be nominated for a BETT award and we were also selected to join the BETT Futures programme.

This specially commissioned part of the show has been designed to celebrate the best new education technology companies and all involved have been running for under five years. As none of these companies have exhibited at BETT before,you are guaranteed to find some new and exciting ideas.

There will also be a series of exciting speakers sharing their thoughts on the future of education technology and how to get the most from new and engaging ideas. Explore the programme here.

Click below to learn more about 4D creative and our interactive, immersive learning spaces. For more information on the BETT Futures zone and to watch 1 minute videos from each company, follow this link.

 

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Networking and best practice at 4D creative

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Last week we welcomed practitioners from our network of schools for the second 4D exchange of the 2014-15 school year.

4D exchange is a regular event where teachers working in 4D immersive spaces can exchange ideas, best practice and resources with each other. It’s also an opportunity to hear from the 4D team about new tips and tricks that will help you make the most out of your immersive space.

The afternoon featured a huge range of topics including examples of use from practitioners, a demo of our new software, a presentation on a PHD project researching immersive learning and discussions on the next batch of immersive content 4D will be developing.

Explore a gallery of the event below:

As ever, it was fantastic to meet with creative and enthusiastic practitioners who use their immersive spaces for a wide variety of activities. These conversations also help shape how we develop our software and immersive content.

Our next 4D exchange will take place in February 2015 and all the details will be online soon. If you have an immersive space in your school, then we’d love for you to join us.

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An immersive open afternoon with a festive twist

tech kit

Join us this December for an immersive open afternoon with a festive twist! It’s been a very busy year at 4D with lots of new installations, a completely updated and rebuilt software and award nominations just some of our successes.

Our immersive open afternoon will include a chance to experience an immersive space, explore our bespoke software and meet the 4D team to learn more about the impact our spaces are having, all with a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie.

Come and find out about our work in health care (dementia care, children’s hospitals, care homes) and education (primary, secondary and SEN) at our MediaCityUK offices.

Numbers are strictly limited so please register below and we’ll see you very soon.

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BETT award nominees!

BETT awards

4D creative are proud to announce their nomination for a prestigious BETT award and attendance at the 2015 exhibition.

BETT is the world’s leading learning technology event and every year welcomes over 30,000 educators looking for new technologies that will enhance teaching and learning. This year BETT takes place on the 21st – 24th January at the Excel Centre in London.

4D applied to be part of the BETT futures programme this year and were successful after our entry was reviewed by an expert panel all looking for edtech start-ups with the most innovative solutions to today’s classroom challenges. This means at the exhibition 4D will be with 29 other forward looking companies in a ‘Futures zone’ where practitioners can explore the very latest tools to enhance their work.

Running alongside the exhibition is the BETT awards where we have been nominated in the Digital Devices category for our immersive spaces and bespoke software. This is a huge honour for us and it’s fantastic the impact of immersive learning has been recognised by the judging panel. Fingers crossed we get another trophy for the office!

The build up for the show has already begun with stand designs already being mocked up by our always creative team. We’re determined that our stand is a real show stopper and will be a favourite with the visitors to the event. If you’re attending BETT 2015, then be sure to come and find the 4D creative stand in the BETT futures zone! Keep your eyes on this blog too as we will be updating you with all the news in the run up to the event and the awards.

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Showcasing portable immersive experiences in dementia care

tech kit

Each year Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust invites staff members to pitch new ideas in a Dragons Den style event and this year 4D were invited to showcase our immersive approaches to dementia care.

4D were invited by occupational therapist Hayley Wilkinson to join her pitch to the Dragons made up of the Trust’s Chair Alan Maden, Chief Executive Bev Humphrey, Directory of Operations and Nursing Gill Green, Director of Development and Performance Neil Thwaite and Deputy Director of Service and Business Development, Mary Lee.

Hayley is looking to use the 4D tech hub in her work with people living with dementia to inspire conversation and create calming, relaxing environments.  Her aim is to use our mobile tech hub around the ward she works on and the flexibility of the kit means it can be used in a huge number of ways with a variety of people.

The Dragons Den pitch gave us five minutes to present on how immersive experiences could impact positively across the Trust. Hayley explained passionately how it would hugely benefit her work and team 4D used the kit to turn the Dragons Den into an immersive space during the pitch. The presentation was received well with the Dragons asking Hayley and the 4D team lots of questions ranging from day to day use to training to costings.

For 4D, it’s fantastic that more and more practitioners are seeing the huge potential in creating immersive experiences for people living with dementia. We’ve already seen great results through our trial project with Mersey Care NHS trust and we’re confident that more spaces will be in use soon, hopefully including our mobile kit at Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust.

Watch this short video to see the impact of our portable immersive kit:

If you’d like to find out more about our work with people living with dementia, get in touch with the 4D creative team.

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4D workshops – empowering staff and inspiring pupils

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This week we’ve been running creative workshops and staff training with a number of schools to enable inspiration and creativity.

At 4D we work hard to ensure that each of our schools get the very best from their immersive space and can create memorable, inspirational learning experiences. This may start as basic technical training on our 4D create software but also includes best practices for planning immersive lessons and how den making can enhance a space even further.

This week the 4D team have:

  • Visited our first ever immersive space to upgrade their computer system to the new 4D create software and trained new staff on using the immersive space.
  • Spent two days with Bowlee Park Primary looking at their recently installed immersive space and how combining low tech with high tech through den making can inspire young minds. The feedback has been fantastic and staff were amazed at the impact on their pupils engagement and vocabulary.
  • Run a 4D Pop Up workshop at Brentwood School to showcase how our portable immersive space can be used for pupils of all ages and abilities.

Explore our training experiences further with our photo gallery:

If you’d like a den making workshop at your school or want to find out how immersive learning could raise engagement and achievement at your school, contact the 4D team.

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Sharing and learning at 4D exchange

4d exchange

This week we welcomed practitioners from our network of schools for our first 4D exchange of the 2014-15 school year.

4D exchange is a regular event where teachers working in 4D immersive spaces can exchange ideas, best practice and resources with each other. It’s also an opportunity to hear from the 4D team about new tips and tricks that will help you make the most out of your immersive space.

This time we welcomed teaching staff from a range of schools from Stoke, Manchester, Blackburn, Chorley and beyond who all got into the spirit and shared some of the ideas that have been having a positive impact on their pupils.

  • Ormiston Horizon Academy shared their crime scene maths lesson including QR codes giving clues and a clever use of Powerpoint to create immersive themes
  • St Barnabas and St Paul’s Primary shared their whole school approach to immersive learning and how their 4D Pop Up is being used everyday of the year. In particular we also saw a great lesson on how Viking ships were built.
  • Bowlee Park Primary also shared a whole lesson about a journey across the sea to a secret island. This experiential approach has seen a dramatic improvement in boys literacy and language skills.
  • The 4D team also shared some new content we’ve developed and some top tips on creating your own immersive themes

It was great to get a packed room of practitioners excited and enthusing about how immersive learning is having a positive impact on their lessons. It was also brilliant to see staff eager to swap content, contact details and to start seeing how partnerships could be formed. This is exactly why we wanted to host a networking event like this!

If your school has an immersive space then we want you to join us for the next 4D exchange! All the information you need is here or you can register below. We limit numbers to make the event as useful as possible so if you want to be involved, don’t delay, get registered.

In 2015 we are also looking to find host schools to run a 4D exchange in their immersive space, if you want to be involved, drop the 4D team an email.

Our next event is scheduled for the 25th November and you can register via the form below:

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SEND reforms – useful resources to share and download.

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With the Children’s and Families act implemented from September 1st, there’s a huge number of resources available for those working with young people with additional needs.

Our Operations Director Colette Gollcher works closely with the Council for Disabled Children who have compiled a wide range of guides and resources to help you implement these changes. You can explore these resources here.

What can 4D creative offer you to support the implementation of this legislation?

Within the 4D team, there are a range of skills and knowledge from across the disability agenda. Our operations manager, Colette Gollcher also works to support local authorities in their preparation for these reforms through training sessions.

We have a variety of workshops for you to consider:

  • A full briefing session to understand the upcoming reforms to enable you to support your children, young people, their families, your staff and governors.
  • A workshop explaining how to utilise an immersive space for person centred annual reviews
  • A day of live planning for a group of young people and their families who may be starting the journey in education health and case plans
  • Learn how to develop immersive content relevant to preparing children and young people for adulthood

If you’d like to find out more about an immersive space being installed at your school contact Louise on louise@4dcreative.co.uk

Alternatively, to discuss a workshop on the SEND reforms, please call on 0844 414 2595 or email: hello@4dcreative.co.uk

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University of Manchester dementia insight event

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Last week members of the 4D team attended a lecture hosted by the University of Manchester looking at dementia, the search for a cure and best care practices.

Hosted by NHS England’s Dementia Director, Professor Alistair Burn, the panel of guests shared a huge amount of insight and knowledge.

Heledd haf Griffiths and Professor Nigel Hooper are two biologists researching the causes of dementia and shared much on what they’ve found so far and the next steps. Professor Hooper shared with us the rate at which dementia is growing and then looked at the biology behind the disease. Professor Hooper’s colleague Heledd shared her families journey with dementia which led to her becoming determined to help find a cure.

The next part of the lecture looked at dementia therapies and we heard from Jacqueline Kindell, a PhD student at UoM’s School of Psychological Sciences. Jacqueline’s work is focused on best care practices and how to help those people living with dementia. The emphasis here is on familiarity and creating environments that support and help nurture the patient.

Everyone in the team got a lot from attending the evening and it also reinforced many of the ideas we are trying to implement in our immersive spaces for people living with dementia; a person centred approach that looks to engage and inspire.

If you’d like to find out more about our immersive, multi-sensory approaches to dementia care then just get in touch. We’d love to tell you more.

You can also find out more about this event at the University of Manchester’s website.

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