25th June 2019

South Devon College wouldn’t be the fantastic place for learning that it is without knowledgeable and committed staff. With the Hi Tech & Digital Centre, it’s the same staff that have been making the Centre as good as it can possibly be for you whilst still doing everything else they would normally do.

To help you get an idea of what this new facility will mean for the College, its students, and the wider community, we’ve spoken to these key staff members to find out more about them, their journey, and what positive changes the Hi Tech and Digital Centre is going to make.

Also, if you’re joining us to study a course that will be based in the Hi Tech & Digital Centre, the series will serve as a small introduction to the staff you will potentially be working with on a regular basis.

The first member of staff we are featuring as part of the ’10 minutes with…’ series is Alex Small. So without any further ado, let’s see what he has to say!

What is your role at South Devon College?

I am a Training Facilitator and sometimes a Production Coordinator. I assist in many curriculum areas across a range of disciplines, often with a camera in hand or nearby.

 

What is your educational/working background?

I went to college in Scotland, then university in London, where I left with a 2:1 in Video Production. Partly thanks to the university’s links to Ealing Studios, I then spent around 12 years working in the film and advertising industry.

 

What attracted you to work at South Devon College?

I’d been working in the bay for a year or so at a charity. I saw a job advertised that matched my skillset, and I liked the idea of helping the next generation along. That was 8 years ago.

 

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

It might sound a little cliché, but seeing the student’s growth and development over their time with us is hugely rewarding.

 

What is your vision for the future of your sector?

I’ve grown up with the idea of democratisation of video production, and it’s finally happened. Understanding how to communicate effectively through video is arguably more important now than ever due to its ubiquity, and that’s probably not going to change. The top tier practice is still there of course, but we’re all capable of creating video content and delivering it globally for very little personal cost.
Everyone can do video, but not everyone can immediately do it well, and that’s where we come in.

 

How do you see digital technologies developing within your sector?

There’s an inevitable march on with the nuts’n’bolts bits – increases in resolution and bitrate – but I think there’s room for development in areas such as XR for story telling as well as training applications.

 

What are you most looking forward to about the Hi Tech & Digital Centre opening in September?

Seeing how the environment affects our delivery to the students, and what the students take out of that. We’ve all invested a lot of time into how we could create the best space we can, but the acid test is with students using it and staff working in it. That and the secret hammock room.

 

What piece of tech do you find the most useful in day to day life?

There are two pieces of technology I rely on day to day – my phone and my glasses. Literally the two things I start and end my day with.

 

What is your favourite motivational song?

I can’t choose between ‘Do It Anyway’ by Ben Folds or ‘Harder Than You Think’ by Public Enemy.

 

What is the best thing about living and/or working in South Devon?

I would find it very difficult to go back to a long commute on the underground every day. A 30 minute drive along the coast each morning is so much better!

 

The Hi Tech & Digital Centre is due to open in September 2019. Look forward to seeing you there!

Funding to create the world-class facility has been secured from a number of partner organisations including; the growth deal through the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSW LEP), Higher Education Funding Council for Education (HEFCE), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Garfield Weston Foundation.

For more information about the Hi Tech & Digital Centre, email [email protected] or call 08000 380 123.