Elevating digital skills in construction to a new level

Since announcing the launch of our new learning and development platform in September 2021, BIM Academy has further enhanced its position as an institution for higher learning and education for both academia and professionals operating in the digital built environment.

We have created a learning and development experience like no other, and learners, professionals, and institutions are reaping the benefits.

In October 2021, BIM Academy partnered with New College Durham to co-develop an “in work skills” CPD digital skill in construction programme: Enhancing Digital Skills in Construction.

This 50-hour programme was designed in partnership with local employers and professional bodies in the North East of England, offering 36 hours at college time and 14 hours of support in the workplace. The main aim was to make the training as flexible as possible.

Funded by the UK Government’s Department of Education, the programme was free to construction industry professionals seeking to enhance their BIM skills and knowledge.

In setting up the training I have had the pleasure of working alongside Andrew Simpson, the programme development lead. Andrew has extensive experience working in the built environment and education, so it was a perfect fit. Once we established the programme and learner requirements, I developed content that ensured it was meaningful, relevant and valuable to enhance the learners’ knowledge, skills and capabilities.

Learning is about the value gained from attending training sessions, so the delivery was essential. Adopting the blended learning approach, we provided a flexible new way for the learners to receive information via face-to-face or virtual online delivery. If learners were unable to attend, the information was made available on BIM Academy’s learning portal to learn and reflect at their own pace.

The programme attendees were a mix of students and professionals from different backgrounds and varying experiences. Digital collaboration tools such Mentimeter and Miro were used to enhance the delivery for both classroom and online learners.

We provided the programme in a mixture of full and part-time courses over four to eight weeks with flexibility in mind.

I have very much enjoyed developing and delivering the programme to all our learners in the past few months and the feedback we received has been exceptional, with many asking for the next steps to progress further.

The highlight for me was witnessing students, professionals, tutors and soldiers engaging in the courses and communicating and collaborating. This is what BIM is all about.

To celebrate the completion of the programme, both New College Durham and BIM Academy hosted a celebration event at the North East Institute of Technology suite at the college. Students’ Revit models were showcased on the Virtalis Visionary Render wall for their employers to see.

We continue to work with New College Durham in creating content for their higher education digital construction courses and will be releasing new BIM and digital construction-based training in the future.