A STATE of the art teaching and learning facility at Kelly College in Tavistock could spark new partnerships between the college and other schools in West Devon and the United States. The Learning Lab South West (LLSW), which was was officially opened last Wednesday, will provide top range computers, educational packages and video conferencing facilities, installed with the help of Learning Lab in Telford, plus technical support from the Minnesota National Guard. Kelly headmaster Mark Steed said: ?LLSW will put Kelly at the heart of ongoing teacher training in the area. ?It will benefit not only the staff at Kelly but the schools and businesses in the local area too. ?This facility is one of the best teaching spaces I have ever been in. The lab will run courses here for the further professional development of teachers and industry alike ? and it will be used at other times for A-level teaching in ICT and design technology by the pupils from Kelly College.? Mr Steed said the opening of the new lab also meant the beginning of a new relationship with Shattuck-St Mary?s School in Faribult, Minnesota, thanks to the classroom link up project run by the state?s National Guard. In future, thanks to video conferencing, it will be possible for students at Kelly and in America to be taught simultaneously ? providing extra value not only educationally but culturally. The Learning Lab was declared open by VIP guest General Shellito of the Minnesota National Guard. He said he was ?very honoured? to be a small part of a venture which showed such vision between its partners. He was ?extremely pleased and impressed? with the facilities and the core values demonstrated by all those involved in the project. Professor Steve Molyneux. of the Learning Lab in Telford. said the organisation, funded primarily by industry, held a philosophy of promoting knowledge through technology. Kelly College had been one of its first members and the opening of the new facility, with around 85 to 90 educational programmes, would become a top flight facility for schools across West Devon. Professor Molyneux said: ?I would like to say a special thanks to the board of governors at Kelly which had the vision to take this forward. ?I am hoping the relationship we have with you and our board of directors, which represents most of the IT industry, will be a long and fruitful marriage. ? Mark Aimone, principal of Shattuck-St Mary?s School, said: ?We are tremendously proud to be part of this partnership ? we are very excited about it, we?re thrilled at the possibilities of this venture.? Cllr Jayne Hill, mayor of West Devon, who is a teacher herself, attended the opening ceremony. She said: ?I think the learning lab is going to be very exciting for students and teachers in the whole area, because we will be able to access curriculum subjects so much more easily. ?The whole project is exciting ? and innovative.?
