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Hairdressing Intelligent Training system
Start date: Oct 1, 2009,

The aim of this project is to research, develop, pilot and test a new innovation that will revolutionise hairdressing training and introduce ICT into the salon for the first time. For the past 50 years hairdressing learners have been introduced to their first experience of hairdressing by working on a mannequin head which produces the following problems:• The head has no thoughts or feelings to give a real experience of life in a salon, so customer care and communication with clients can not be experienced. • The head is unresponsive and does not give any feedback to the learner like a real client would, giving them an unrealistic view of their skills as they will not know if they have misjudged the temperature or used too much/little tension.• The head does not require any respect as the learner does not have to treat it like they would a real client.• Assessment is subjective especially when done informally away from the salon as there is no tangible evidence .• The head is poorly secured to a base unit and can easily be pulled off and dropped. The unit can only be secured to certain work tops limiting the learner to practice in any location. There is a huge difference between working on an unresponsive head and a real client, and learners find dealing with their first client a daunting experience. Research shows this produces a lack of confidence and the learner could drop out missing out on what could be their true vocation. This also affects retention levels which is a problem for all training institutions. Hairdressing misses out on the use of ICT in the training salon; computers are used for keeping record cards, making appointments, to see if certain styles would suit clients and for doing assignments but these are only a small part of hairdressing training. This project will solve the above problems by producing, to the requirements of each partner, the first ever head which will react like a client because of new innovation to add heat, moisture and tension sensors creating a real life training environment for every student from day one. The student will get instant reaction and feedback on their work the same as if they had worked on a client, which would result in better styling and the move from the mannequin head to clients will not be so daunting. It will bring into the training salon the regular use of ICT providing tangible data for assessment showing the progression of success which can be used by awarding body’s as a true formative record of improvement resulting in higher levels of student confidence and course retention. It will allow students to practice outside the salon as there will be recordable data for the assessor to grade making it possible for students to practice more and improve. This will result in better standards and more students achieving their goals.
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