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Transition Year students in Bailieborough Community School needed cool nerves and steady hands as they were assigned the unusual job of defusing a bomb.

Students worked against the clock in groups of three to make safe the device through virtual reality headsets. The students were partaking in the programme in collaboration with Dublin City University and the Town Centre First Initiative in the east Cavan town. Speaking to The Anglo-Celt following the unusual day’s events, Senan McManmon laughed, “It was unreal to attempt to disarm a bomb – without the fear of a real bomb exploding. A whole new experience!”

Derval O’Reilly agreed: “The games were just fantastic. You could really immerse yourself in the gaming world.”

Students were also asked to create a five-minute speech in advance, which they delivered for a virtual crowd of 120 people. Despite their audience being made up of digitalised people, the students couldn’t help but approach the task as if the audience was listening, and thus some were confident and some nervous. Following their speeches, they were given personalised feedback on their public speaking performances on factors such as eye contact, speaking pace and body language.

No strangers to public speaking themselves, Niamh Reilly and Yvonne Gillick Uceda agreed, “It was a wonderful opportunity to speak in a virtual auditorium like a real TED Talk.”

Joanne McGovern, TY co-ordinator, was delighted the students got to experience such fantastic technology. “This workshop was a wonderful opportunity for our TY students. They are a great group of enthusiastic students who fully embraced this experience. In linking with our theme of TY for this year, this workshop will help to broaden their horizons into the world of virtual reality.”

Ms McGovern explains the school has a huge interest in new technology and tries to expose their students to it as often as possible. “Bailieborough Community School is committed to the development of students’ digital media literacy and broader digital skill sets. At both Junior and Senior Cycle, students are provided with opportunities to use digital technologies to enhance their learning experiences. In Transition Year, students are provided with numerous opportunities to explore the wider digital technologies sector.”

The opportunity came following the appointment of Caroline Brady as Town Regeneration Officer who is focused on developing the Town Centre First initiative. Town Centre First aims to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit. One of Caroline’s aims is to promote digital media in the town, and get more people using it to market their businesses.

“The Town Centre First is looking at a range of projects that we can roll out in Bailieborough to improve public amenity, but there’s also other elements to it as well around digital and climate.

“Today is the first of the digital initiatives we’re doing for the town. We’re going to take an intergenerational approach to it so the younger people and the older people in the town as well will have an input across a range of projects,” explained Ms Brady.

Further virtual reality projects are on the cards for Bailieborough as Ms Brady has organised to introduce the town’s older generation to the unique technology.

• Bailieborough Community School

Michelle Taite

Published: Sun 7 Jan 2024, 12:01 PM

A state-of-the art mixed reality leadership lab designed to develop next generation leaders was launched at Dublin City University DCU Business School today in memory of Colm Delves.

The lab was established with philanthropic support from Digicel, to honour business leader and DCU alumnus Colm Delves who made a long lasting contribution to the university through support for the DCU Access Programme and the establishment of the Digicel Summer Internship Programme.

The creative learning space is the first of its kind in Ireland and will offer over 2,000 DCU Business School students an opportunity to learn and develop leadership skills each year by using cutting edge virtual reality and telepresence technologies. Over 1,000 post-primary school students will also benefit through an outreach programme.

Wearing advanced VR headsets and hand controllers, students will be immersed in VR-enabled simulations to help them better understand concepts by actually living them out. Students will apply theory to practice in areas such as interview preparation, public speaking, leadership communication skills and diverse and inclusive decision making. Students can also participate remotely in workshops using telepresence robots.

Professors will be able to develop customised experiences for their students, such as bringing students to places in the developing world so they can become more globally aware leaders by understanding challenges associated with business development in unfamiliar countries, or allowing students practice ethical decision-making and experience outcomes based on the decisions they choose to make.

The lab has been established as part of The Colm Delves Leadership Fund which will also support an annual memorial scholarship in honour of Colm to support exceptional students who need financial support to pursue postgraduate study in DCU Business School. Colm was passionate about helping others develop and grow and the scholarship is a testament to this commitment to support people to reach their full potential.

Speaking at the launch, Professor Daire Keogh, DCU President, said:

“At DCU, we were honoured to count an outstanding leader like Colm Delves amongst our alumni community. As a highly respected and successful business leader, he was the ultimate example of the excellence, integrity and leadership skills which we seek to instill in our students. 

As a proud DCU graduate, Colm remained a true friend to the university throughout his life and we hope to honour his memory today with these initiatives which will contribute to DCU Business School’s ongoing efforts to develop graduates who are equipped to bring sustainable value to their organisations and to society at large, to confidently manage and lead in environments that are not predictable, and who are prepared for diverse, dynamic career paths over their lifetimes.”

Digicel Chairman and founder, Denis O’Brien, said;

“As a proud DCU alumnus, Colm Delves went on to forge a highly successful business career at a very senior level culminating in his leadership of Digicel Group as our group Chief Executive.

Through his vision and drive, he helped to expand Digicel to 32 markets across the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific.

As driven and focused as Colm was as a business leader, what marked him out in particular as an exceptional individual was his equal passion for giving back, particularly in poorer countries, and for identifying and nurturing young talent..

We think of Colm every day and he is missed by all of us who held him dear. This leadership lab stands as a proud testament to everything he achieved and everything he stood for.”

Speaking about the Colm Delves Leadership Lab and how it will impact students, Professor Colm O’Gorman, Executive Dean of the DCU Business School, said:

“DCU Business school has long supported the value of experiential learning as a way to engage students and help them better understand certain concepts by actually living them out and providing opportunities to apply theory to practice. 

Virtual reality technology is being increasingly used by leading schools across the globe to aid in student learning development and DCU Business School is proud to be leading the charge in Ireland. The initiative demonstrates our commitment to nurturing future leaders, providing students and graduates with the skills they need for the future and enhancing their employability.”

Recipient of the Colm Delves Memorial Scholarship 2021

The event also celebrated Anas Ouadina as recipient of the inaugural Colm Delves Memorial Scholarship, personally selected by Professor Colm O’Gorman.

Originally from Morocco, Anas moved to Dublin with his family when he was six months old and recently graduated from DCU having studied Economics, Politics and Law, demonstrating academic excellence, drive and ability throughout.  This scholarship will support Anas as he continues with a Masters in Finance at DCU this year

Coleman, S. (2021) DCU Business School

Highlights

VirtualSpeech provided a transformative way for students at all levels (from undergraduate, to postgraduate, to executive education) to practice and develop key transversal skills in an innovative learning environment.

Over 2,000 students each year at DCU Business School have an opportunity to develop their leadership skills with VirtualSpeech. An additional 1,000 post-primary school students will also benefit each year.

Background

Dublin City University (DCU) Business School has established the Colm Delves Mixed Reality Leadership Lab, the first mixed reality classroom in an Irish university specifically designed to support leadership development through experiential learning using virtual reality.

The Goal

Transversal skills and leadership skills are in-demand skills among employers. DCU Business School sought an innovative way for students to develop these skills in an experiential learning environment, using the Colm Delves Mixed Reality Leadership Lab.

The Leadership Lab and VirtualSpeech

The Leadership Lab and the training provided by VirtualSpeech allowed DCU Business School to fulfill its commitment to working with industry to prepare graduates to flourish.

Benefits of the VR Learning Experience

The use of VR headsets and hand controllers enhances students’ understanding of concepts through VR-enabled simulations. Students apply theory to practice in areas such as interview preparation, public speaking, leadership communication, and decision-making.

Professors can now tailor customised experiences for their students, for example, sending them to developing countries to gain a greater understanding of challenges associated with business development in foreign countries, or allowing them to engage in ethical decision-making and experience the outcomes resulting from their choices.

“VirtualSpeech’s modules, such as Essential Public Speaking, Job Interview Preparation, and Leadership Communication Lab has helped DCU Business School teach students important transversal skills and allowed us to integrate VR technology into new ways of teaching in creative and meaningful ways.”

David Kenny, Assistant Professor, Digital Business, DCU Business School