Putting Theory Into Practice with Trimble Connect

May 13, 2022

Alice Rosenberg

Overview

Students are increasingly finding their way to Trimble Connect. The platform offers a great way to collaborate in the cloud and share information from BIM projects. Through Trimble Connect, all parties involved can access relevant information from anywhere, at any time. In the teaching program at ROC Friese Poort (Leeuwarden, the Netherlands), Trimble Connect is used to put theory into practice and present learning materials in a modern and exciting way for students. Jurjen de Boer is one of these students and he got the chance to visit a construction site of Friso Bouwgroep to combine their BIM story with his practical assignments from school. Jurjen: “I was surprised how easy it is to use Trimble Connect."

Connecting Education with the Construction Site

“The boys from the study went on an excursion to a Friso construction site,” tells Theo van der Veen, a teacher at ROC Friese Poort. “The great thing is that, when we went back to school, Trimble Connect was used to easily combine the entire 3D BIM story of Friso with the practical assignments. From creating designs in 3D to searching for assignments, it is all very accessible in Trimble Connect. This way, the students experience a great combination between digital construction, practical learning and also visualizing it,” says Van der Veen.

At Friso they are very happy with the collaboration. This way they can show students how interesting and beautiful the construction sector is. Jappe Zweed, a foreman at Friso, says: “I really like that students come to the construction site, we've had them a few times now. It's great that we can teach students more about how the process works on a construction site. Also because we really need people in this sector.”

Linking Theory to Practice Through BIM

Jurjen de Boer, a student all-round carpenter at ROC Friese Poort, was allowed to visit the construction site. He was tipped by his teacher to use Trimble Connect: “I got a case from school, in this case, it was very difficult to see how a part was put together in the 2D drawing. That’s why I made a 3D drawing of the 2D drawing, which I sent to the HoloLens. This made it possible to view the assignment in 3D and therefore also how the entire project was put together. You can easily place a model via the HoloLens and then you can place it in front of you. Trimble Connect is actually very easy to use that way.”

“You can easily place a model via the HoloLens and then you can place it in front of you. Trimble Connect is actually very easy to use that way.”

Jurjen de Boer, student all round carpenter at ROC Friese Poort

Forward-Thinking Education

“What we want to do with ‘digital’ is to make the invisible visible,” says Roeland Westra, Project Manager at Centrum Duurzaam. “We take our students on sustainable adventures, which means that they can experience, discover, and do. Because our MBO graduates are the real doers. In addition, we work a lot with drawings in construction, such as construction drawings, but also installation drawings. Not every student can read a drawing directly from the first moment they see it. That’s why they make drawings visible with an external layout, so they can really imagine how the model would look like.”

Van der Veen adds: “It’s a positive movement towards BIM. Basically, construction companies are using the possibilities to share drawings, look at projects together and share information all through the same platform. By working this way it’s a win-win situation, for all parties involved.”

View the full YouTube video showing how the students put theory into practice with Trimble Connect.

Thank you to Roeland Westra, Project Manager at Centrum Duurzaam, Theo van der Veen, teacher at ROC Friese Poort, and the Construsoft team.