New elements are being added to the Learning Programme at The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) on Bletchley Park thanks to funding from Issured, the digital transformation and cyber specialists.
Already highly popular with schools and colleges across the land, the Learning Programme will now be further enhanced with the Issured donation. Phase 1 of the enhancements will include an increased focus on cyber skills, give hands-on access to the latest in virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), and encourage students to develop a chat bot for a Turing Test challenge.
First launched in 2011, the museum’s educational programme is so popular that booking well ahead is now essential. Each year, around 5,000 students receive an introduction to computing history unparalleled anywhere else in the world. While practical elements, including an introduction to coding, have been available for some time, the next phase of development that will includes cyber, VR, AR and AI is bound to further increase demand and popularity.
Andrew Herbert, chair of TNMOC, said, “The Issured donation gives the learning team, led by Anne-Marie Sandos, a terrific opportunity to build on our successes. The opportunity to see working vintage computers brings computing history alive and is inspirational to prospective computer scientists and engineers. The addition of virtual and augmented reality elements along with artificial intelligence and cyber elements is bound to increase and widen students’ career prospects.”
Jonathan Empson, CEO of Issured, said, “Having offices on the Bletchley Park Science and Innovation Centre close to The National Museum of Computing has been an inspiration for our staff. The transformation in computing over the past few decades has been incredible. Working in an environment where this transformation is celebrated inspires and enthuses us to provide organisations with strategies and designs to ensure they can achieve organisational transformation in a digital era. Young people are the future of all of the organisations we work with and we are so pleased to have the opportunity to sponsor the ongoing development of such a unique and inspiring programme.”
The Learning Programme at TNMOC is designed to support the National Curriculum and schemes of work for GCSEs and A levels. For more information, see www.learn.org/learn
