Shannon Chooses Edinburgh College to Retrain and Upskill
Twenty-nine-year-old Shannon Raleigh decided to retrain and upskill at Edinburgh College after losing her full-time job due to the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Shannon, who is originally from New Zealand, was previously working as a graphic designer for around 10 years and fancied learning more about User Experience (UX) Design and is now studying for an HND in Visual Communication – UX Design.
We caught up with Shannon about her decision to join Edinburgh College and her experience of studying with us so far.
What were you doing before coming to college?
Prior to enrolling in college, I was working as a full-time graphic designer for a Museum and Exhibition design company.
What made you want to come to Edinburgh College?
I’ve been a graphic designer for around 10 years and recently have had my eye on UX design. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the company I was working for had to shut down, so all employees were made redundant. I thought this would be a good time to take the opportunity to retrain and increase my skills as a designer.
How has your college experience been so far?
My college experience so far has been great! It’s a bit weird to be back in education after so long, but I’m enjoying the course and learning new skills.
How did you find your induction to college? Is there anything you really liked or thought the college could have done better?
I think the college induction was really good considering the circumstances. It can’t have been easy switching to an online induction for the first time.
Are you currently learning online only or a mixture of online and face-to-face learning?
My course is all online at the moment.
What is it like learning online during the Covid-19 pandemic?
There are pros and cons to online learning, but overall, it’s working for me really well. We don’t have as much face-to-face time with the lecturers as we would usually, but we have a lot more time to work on our projects which I find really useful.
Has learning online provided any opportunities for you which studying face-to-face wouldn’t?
As above, I think I have more time to spend working on my projects than I would normally. Online learning has also meant I don’t have to commute anywhere. This has meant I am able to work part-time alongside college.
Which platforms have you been using for online learning and how are you finding using them?
We’ve been using Teams for all of our online classes which seems to work ok. We have also been using Mural to upload our research.
If you could describe your college experience so far in three words, what would they be?
Making the most!
If you want to retrain and upskill like Shannon, we offer a range of courses for upskilling and reskilling. View our courses to get started.
