Working Collaboratively online

I've just finished an online workshop run by NIACE, called "Working Collaboratively Online". It was delivered using Instant Presenter and I really enjoyed it, even though my sound wasn't working properly. There were sixteen participants, one principal presenter and two further staff to offer tech support (I needed that!)

We learned about - and used - Twitter, XlearnSMS, Etherpad and the discussion forum facility of a Moodle just like ours. We were introduced to the new Google Wave which looks fantastic - can't wait for that to launch and can see there's going to be much fun to be had with it.

There was pre-course prep to do, the course itself ran from 9.30 till 12.30 this morning and now we have homework. But the whole workshop was really enjoyable and surprisingly easy to follow. In particular, Instant Presenter is a remarkably effective tool for teaching online, involving everyone in the process, wherever we happened to be.

The picture is of the new home of Adult Education in Gloucestershire; a wonderful old warehouse in the heart of the historic docks, Gloucester and a step away from the new shopping centre. Things are settling down nicely!

Completed Hanging at Joys Green Community Centre

My learners at Joys Green Community Centre completed their hanging at the end of last term and it's now on display in their centre, they are rightly quite proud of their achievements.
I've sent several photos to the AdEd Flickr site and they've provoked some very positive comments. I look forward to being able to show them the comments, I'll probably print them out, I imagine they'll be thrilled.
The hanging will also be on disply at Cinderford Artspace's 21st birthday celebration at the end of next month. We regularly hold exhibitions to celebrate our learners' achievements. Being able to photograph work being exhibited and store them on the laptop and web is something I feel pleased to be able to do.