VIRTUAL INSPIRATIONAL EDUCATIONAL WORLD
WEA North West
VIEW:
The VIEW Project was funded by the Skills Funding Agency as part of the Community Learning Innovation Fund
Section 1: Information about the project Name of lead organisation: WEA North West Name of Project and Project ID number: VIEW CLIF 12754 Name of the person responsible for preparing this report and their contact details: Elaine Hutchings ehutchings@wea.org.uk Summary of the project: The VIEW project enabled various disadvantaged
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adults from the Greater Manchester area to access professional photography, filmmaking and creative writing courses. Fifty-one adults successfully took part in the project, and it also afforded the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) in the North West the opportunity to provide documentary film making tuition to 16 members of staff, tutors and volunteers. A key component of the project was encouraging
tutors to prepare and deliver online lectures for wider dissemination. Three WEA tutors produced online video lectures in history, archeology and creative writing. Local entrepreneurs were filmed giving their advice on starting a business or becoming self-employed. A dedicated creative writing website offered students the opportunity to post their work online and receive feedback.
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Summary Findings the extent to which you achieved your overall aims and objectives Apart from not managing to organise the TED style VIEW Point conference in June (due to bereavement), all of the aims and objectives were met or exceeded. Sixteen members of staff attended CPD training; 35 students enrolled on photography, film making or creative writing courses and made three short films and published poems and prose online and a book of photographs; three WEA tutors produced 14 online lectures available to view publicly on a dedicated portal; local entrepreneurs gave their views on self-employment on film. what went well Advertising the photography and film making courses far and wide meant they attracted a diverse range of people who all got along brilliantly. Most of the students mentioned this important social aspect in their course evaluations: “I enjoyed meeting the other people who was on the course and that. It was nice and I still see TJ and the other bloke sees the lady.” In addition to the short documentary films made by the students, we also produced inspirational short films about local self-employed persons and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is something WEA wants to encourage and promote in our students, many of whom have expressed the desire to set up their own business or make products to sell on sites such as Etsy or Folksy. These videos will be screened online on the VIEW project microsite.
what didn’t go so well Project activity stalled as a result of bereavement for the Project Manager. Due to the specific skills needed to manage a project on digital media it was difficult for other staff to step up to the challenge. There was a marked contrast between the enthusiasm and excellent attendance of the course participants from outside the organisation and WEA staff. One staff member noted the tardiness of his colleagues on his feedback questionnaire. In answer to the question ‘Were there any negative aspects about the course you’d like to tell us about?’ he wrote, “Poor time keeping of fellow learners.” Some identified experts for film interviews declined to take part due to work commitments. what factors for success have you identified 1. Mix up the groups and include people from all walks of life. 2. Use professional artists/film makers/ writers as tutors. Students love having access to practising artists 3. Include the organisation’s own staff in the project. They will benefit from having access to exciting, challenging CPD opportunities. 4. Students appreciate seeing their work online and in magazines and books.
what challenges you met and how you overcame them Challenges included having to find a suitable classroom venue quickly due to accessibility problems. This was done with The WEA tutors who videoed their the minimum of fuss, although the space lectures for online viewing really enjoyed in the art gallery was not received well by the experience and would like to do more some of the students who preferred their in the future. own learning classroom rather than being visible in a public gallery. Taking this One WEA staff member discovered that feedback on board we ensured that the she is very good at film making in general, follow on documentary film making and editing in particular. She now wants course was transferred to the WEA to study this part-time at college. training room in the university building.
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Learning that supports those who remain digitally excluded to: overcome isolation; join virtual communities; gain access to online learning; civic participation; employment opportunities, or government and other services NIACE
Section 2: Contribution to the key CLIF themes Learning for digital inclusion The VIEW project targeted adults who had limited knowledge of, and access to, digital technologies. In setting up courses that focused on photography, film making and online creative writing, we encouraged participants to try new ways of being creative and engaging with contemporary technologies. These included the use of iPads and digital cameras, MacBook Pro laptops for film editing and uploading creative writing to the Words website at home in their own time. On the whole, the students found this to be a positive and empowering experience, especially when learning the fundamentals of good photograph composition and film editing techniques.
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The online virtual community on the Words site encouraged extra curricular collaboration and gave at least one participant the skills, and desire, to contribute to popular forums online, such as the Guardian’s comments section. The VIEW microsite will be populated with more online lectures, presentations and courses over the coming months. This will not only sustain the momentum of the project but also provide further learning opportunities for students from WEA and beyond. Working together in small groups helped to reduce the fear of technology for some students.
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Good to see some more work on the site. Making a contribu@on adds to the list of things you could learn from this course. Carmen Walton, WEA creative writing tutor
WEA Creative Words website: a tutor’s request The WEA Creative Words website was set up in direct response to a creative writing tutor’s request. Due to there being up to 18 students per session in her class, the tutor asked if it were possible to have a website or forum where the students could post their work and receive feedback from their peers. This would add extra value to the course and enable the students to receive more varied feedback on their work. Thus, the Words website was constructed and went online in October 2012. We chose a simple Wordpress theme and adapted it to allow participants to upload their work, and post comments, whenever, and wherever, was convenient for them. Each new post automatically went out on to the WEA Creative Twitter stream
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and the North West’s Facebook page thereby increasing the potential readership of the posts. In addition to the students’ work the Project Manager also added regular news items including notifications of writing competitions, quizzes and interesting articles about literature and creative writing. The website also has a comprehensive list of links to magazines, free Open University writing and language courses, writers’ blogs and details of local reading groups. The website was praised nationally as being “A little gem of a site.”
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Section 3: Contribution to cross-cutting themes Community involvement and accountability Wherever possible we strove to include the views and expectations of community partners who know their clients’ needs and limitations and can advise on suitable learning experiences. We also provided feedback to partners, such as the Booth centre. For example, one student who came to enrol on the Docu film making course was clearly not following her rehab programme and was discouraged from joining the group. WEA has a long history of working with vulnerable groups of adults and their safety and comfort are of paramount importance to us.
Supporting Progression We supported student progression by giving examples of further learning opportunities, either with WEA or elsewhere. Feedback garnered at the end of the course indicated that 53% would consider further learning with WEA, while 22% would prefer to study with another organisation. Two per cent would like to study on an accredited English or maths course, while 8% intend to commit to volunteering and 4% of participants hoped to gain paid work in the future.
Partnership working WEA has a long tradition of working with partners to enhance our educational offer. We have good working relationships with many of Manchester’s museums and art Teaching and learning galleries. We also have valued community The VIEW project enlisted the expertise partners with whom we work together to of practising film makers, a museum provide apposite and relevant courses for professional and a published creative local people. During the VIEW project writing tutor as the tutors who delivered we worked mainly with Whitworth Art the classroom courses. In addition to this, gallery and the Booth centre for the we employed the services of three WEA homeless. This proved to be beneficial in tutors to write and deliver online lectures many ways. The Booth Centre actively in history and politics, archeology and seeks learning activities for their clients creative writing. that will enable them to mix with people other than the homeless, and Whitworth We received very positive feedback from Art Gallery values WEA’s engagement people saying how much they appreciated with non-traditional learners. As Ed Watts being taught by active professionals in from Whitworth Art Gallery concurs: “I their field of expertise: “The enthusiasm see our partnership work with the WEA of the tutors is infectious.” “I enjoyed as key to the development of the gallery's working with colleagues and learning adult audience; engaging with diverse from professionals.” groups in challenging and innovative projects and courses.” He adds, “I look It was interesting to note that 8% of the forward to working with WEA students as project participants had had no they always approach new projects and involvement in adult learning since experiences with stacks of enthusiasm and leaving school. Of course this statistic is creativity. Its also great to see individuals meaningless without knowing the age of and new friendships grow as the project the respondents! Still, it is good to know develops.” that the courses on offer managed to tempt a few recalcitrant learners back in to the classroom.
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Section 4: What difference did you make? The methods we used to capture evidence of impact In order to capture evidence we devised Learning Records for the students to complete during each session. Some students responded well to this, whilst others resented having to fill in forms and do, what they considered to be, tedious paperwork. The NIACE data questionnaires were useful to capture demographic evidence for this report.
applicants, she got the job! She attributed her time spent at the Whitworth, studying the art and the building, as giving her an advantage over the other candidates.
The difference the project made for WEA North West Twelve members of WEA staff, two tutors and two volunteers attended the two film making courses as part of the project. The courses were held in Manchester and repeated in Liverpool to give participants Some students wrote spontaneous emails the opportunity to attend on the days, and to the Project Manager saying how much in the location, most suitable for them at they had enjoyed the course, whilst others the time. The first session was designed to stated this verbally. be accessed online prior to the first session. This was very successful as it We commissioned a short film of three of enabled people to study at their own pace the course participants giving feedback on either at work or at home. This also their learning experiences. meant that everyone had the same base knowledge ready for the first session. The Project Manager also invited comments from the two main project One member of staff wrote the following partners; Whitworth Art gallery and the about her prior learning experiences: Booth centre. “I have never, ever liked the thought of The difference the project made for learners Course participants were, without exception, very positive about the courses and their learning experiences. Most of the participants voiced delight at meeting new people and making valued friendships. In fact, two of the courses were so sociable that the participants spent evenings together and spent time in each other’s homes. They genuinely cared about their peers’ welfare and became concerned if anyone was missing due to ill health. Overall, the attendance patterns were very good, especially from those who came from the Booth Centre. After completing the Snap Judgement photography course, one unemployed project participant had the confidence to apply for a part-time job at Whitworth Art Gallery. Although there were over 300
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learning since being a kid, I hate the thought of having to attend courses/ classes/meetings etc, I hate being in big groups and the thought of having to read or talk in front of people, (and that’s what I think of when I think of learning). Since leaving school I’ve done some courses but again hated the thought of doing them and thought it was such a relief to finish them, and I do try and put off attending if I can.” However, her feedback after the film making course tells a different story: “The outcomes were really good, I loved the course and am trying to find another course which will help develop the skills I learned from doing this course.” She has since contacted Manchester College to see if she can enrol on a Level 2, or 3, short course in graphic design and film making. This is fully supported by the Regional Director who would like her to reach her full potential within the organisation.
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Section 5: Case Study No 1 Tell me a bit about you: “I’m interested in researching; adding to lifestyle, health, wellbeing and truth and trial -‐ what works for the individual. I am unwaged and technically homeless at the moment and looking for a career in photography”
“Just to say that the photography course I have joined is absolutely fantastic and energizing. My brain cells have been transformed and Ed’s support and knowledge cannot be overstated.”
through and I have enjoyed it. Above all the Bilming project was completed.”
Whilst AB was taking part in the project he applied for a coveted place on a masterclass photography workshop with the renowned photographer Red Saunders, at the People’s History Museum. He wrote his application via What was your short documentary 7ilm email and attached some of his about? photographs taken during the course. “We made a Bilm about baking a healthy This was the reply: “I’m delighted to say cake. Our project was Bilmed in you are the successful applicant.” Chantal’s house. I did the Bilming and I was able to get enough in the can.” AB had a very inspiring day: “Red Saunders is a top bloke and What are your re7lections on the course knowledgeable. The time went so and your learning? quickly.” “A professional course. Matt (tutor) has the patience of a saint. A course that AB is now in California, USA, making was very challenging to the resources short health, and food related, videos. of the WEA. The good karma came Why did you enrol on the course? “To learn the technical skills needed to produce health videos for general release.”
Self portrait in Manchester (left) Self portrait with Red Saunders (right)
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Case Study No 2 How did you become involved in the VIEW project?
Has the course changed your attitude to learning?
“I used to volunteer at the Booth Centre because I was homeless and they suggested because I liked rock bands and how they were photographed live that I could go on a course for photography. So I then got them to arrange this course with the WEA. So, I went on it, and it was like a feeling of like belonging to something, because when you’re on the streets you don’t belong, you don’t belong to nobody. You’re just a piece of rubbish, in some people’s eyes. So, doing something was a great learning experience and I met a lot of friends and it got me out of the house because there’s nothing worse than sitting in four walls watching Jeremy Kyle. If you’re out doing something you’re not wasting your money paying for electricity and heating. So, I really enjoyed the course and I made a lot of new friends.”
“It’s just new experiences instead of sitting doing absolutely nothing, get out and there’s always something to interest you, doesn’t matter what it is. I mean in photography if you watch people walking around the town they’ve always got their heads down. Why don’t they look up? There’s some brilliant architecture and if you’ve got a camera with you, like I always carry my camera with me so you can photograph this architecture. People always look down at their shoes and it’s rubbish.”
Did you learn any new skills? “One of the skills I did learn was communication because I was always very shy. Meeting members of the opposite sex, not for that interest, it was just speaking to them because I’d had bad experiences with them in the past, so building my conBidence to speak to them again was a hell of a challenge and I got over it.”
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Since 7inishing the course, what have you been doing? “I’ve started doing things on my own with different groups like making Bilms and videos and the Internet. It’s just like being given a restart on your life, if you understand what I mean. When you get to a certain age you think ‘oh you can’t do that’ but I’ve been shown in the last 18 months, oh yes you can, you can start again.” What advice would you give to other people who’d like to try adult learning? “Give it a go! Don’t bother what anybody thinks about you doing a course, saying you’re too old or that lot; just give it a go.”
Has participating in the course made a difference to your life?
In three words, how would you sum up your experience of learning with WEA?
“One of the things I got with mixing with these people was oh you can do anything. Just because the body’s frail doesn’t mean the brain’s stopped working.”
“ConBidence, belonging, security.” After successfully 7inishing the ‘Snap Judgement’ photography course, PF then enrolled on the ‘Docu’ documentary 7ilm making course.
WEA North West
I'm really excited to con@nue working closely with the WEA to create new learning experiences for adults, u@lising the gallery's exhibi@ons, collec@ons and spaces. I want the Whitworth/WEA partnership to grow and expand as the gallery grows through its capital development. Ed Watts, Adult Programme Coordinator, Whitworth Art Gallery
Section 6:
Exit Strategy and how the work will be sustained In order to sustain, and further, the project work we will design more online learning materials and courses. We already have plans to work in partnership with Manchester galleries and museums to design online courses and lectures to supplement their permanent exhibitions. We propose that some of the online courses will be preparatory taster courses, some will coincide with visits to the gallery or museum and some will be post visit or course. We will encourage our tutors to deliver a few of their lectures, and course work, online to supplement their classroom based activities.
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We will produce more promotional videos to showcase the work and views of students, staff, volunteers and partners in the region. These case studies will not only be invaluable in garnering feedback for the region, but will also provide excellent publicity material for websites, magazines and presentations. We intend to maintain, update and promote the Words website which will enable more tutors and students to upload their work for public recognition and feedback. Section 7: Project in a box can be accessed here: http://www.weacreative.org.uk/blog/news/ project-in-a-box/
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Section 8: Conclusions The VIEW project had ambitious outcomes with regard to engagement and creative innovation. The following are some observations and conclusions on the success, or otherwise, of aspects of the project, including feedback from project participants and other stakeholders.
and the Internet proved difficult for some participants.
Project feedback provided evidence that certain sections of society are still digitally included, especially the elderly and homeless or vulnerably housed persons. One participant from the Booth Centre for the homeless stated during the film The Words creative writing site gave us the making course (he was in a group with two other opportunity to try out new methods of engaging participants making a short documentary) that “I students who were already on a WEA course. could’ve got more involved in what they were doing Encouraging population of the site proved difficult and expressed my views and this and that, but at times. Whilst some students encountered no because I didn’t have a clue about computers it was problems uploading and editing their work, others a bit, I sort of left it to them two because they was found engaging with the new technology a stressful very clever with them.” He later mentioned his and frustrating experience. One student did not lack of computer skills again: “I’m still gonna have possess a computer, let alone have Internet access. to learn about these computers and that ‘cause I’m She wrote everything in long hand which was then a sixties kid me.” Another participant held similar typed up by a course peer, who then emailed it to views about his own computer literacy. “It’s like the the Project Manger, who added it to the site. computers for me, I can’t use them or nothing, so you just do a different part like director, star, editor. Allowing the students’ posts to be distributed Like with the filming, I couldn’t do the editing but I instantaneously via Twitter and Facebook could could have a say in it. I could do a bit of the have proved detrimental to WEA’s reputation had writing and that.” Feedback such as this, is anything offensive been posted. Although this, invaluable for further film making courses as it fortunately, did not occur, it was deemed prudent would seem prudent in future to ensure that to remove the automatic scheduling of posts to participants were taught computer basics before Twitter and Facebook thus reducing the risk attempting high level skills such as editing. substantially. Giving students site permissions and However, because we have found that the most editing rights to publish their work themselves, successful, sociable groups tend to consist of a real meant a certain amount of trust was necessary. mix of people from all sections of society with This worked reasonably well due to the size of the varying educational backgrounds, this may not group but would need careful monitoring if the site prove practical, nor desirable, for some of the were to be utilised by more tutors and students participants. A possible solution, therefore, would within WEA as a region or the organisation as a be to have a stand alone basic computer and whole. Internet course for those who need it before the photography, creative writing and film making One unforeseen consequence of posting students’ courses begin. work in the public domain was that this adversely affected their chances of entering national writing Due to the Project Manager suffering a competitions. Once this fact came to light the bereavement, there was a hiatus in the organisation number of students who had previously delighted of further courses during the middle of the project in seeing their work online dwindled thus timescale. This had a knock on effect for all aspects diminishing the site’s interactive potential and of the project, especially for the course value. participants. Valuable feedback from Kate at the Booth Centre makes clear that projects should New technologies can enhance the learning always try to maintain the learning momentum in experience for adults; iPads and digital cameras are order to keep hard-to-reach participants motivated relatively easy to use. However, using the laptops and engaged:
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“I would say that the projects we have worked with you on have been very beneficial to some of our hard to engage people, which is exactly what we want. They certainly seemed to get a lot of satisfaction out of the creative process, and a great deal of enthusing and conversation took place, all of which provides a notable improvement in other areas of peoples' lives - I don't need to tell you that, I'm sure. That said, I would have to say that the time lapse between the participants completing, to them seeing a completed project is far too long. This is problematic for a couple of reasons: firstly, the hard to engage people, perhaps more than others, need to be carried along on the momentum of the project, so as not to become disengaged over time; and secondly, a good deal of the value for our people, in this type of project, is the 'end result' seeing the thing through. If this becomes as protracted as it has, the value is greatly diminished. I would just finish, if I may, by adding that if you were to speak to [the participants] I'm sure they would all give you very positive feedback about the experience of the actual course.” The demographic data provides an interesting insight into the types of people the courses attracted. The male to female ratio was almost identical with 25 male students and 26 female. Of these, 51% were in the age group 50 to 74 and 35% were aged 25 to 49. Only 10% were aged between 19 and 24, and 4% were over 75 years old. The vast majority (80%) of participants were white British with a further 10% identifying themselves as follows: Gypsy or Irish Traveller (2%), Irish (4%), any other white background (4%). The remaining 10% were of mixed ethnicities (4%) or of Indian (4%) or Pakistani (2%) origin. The project attracted a relatively high proportion of disabled participants at 37%. The Snap Judgement photography course was originally planned to take place in the basement learning room at Whitworth Art Gallery. Ordinarily this would not have been a problem with regards to accessibility as there is a large maintenance lift that travels to each floor. However, due to the refurbishment of the gallery, this lift was closed down on the first day of the course. When one of the new students arrived in a wheelchair we had to find an alternative classroom area as quickly as possible so as not to cause her any embarrassment.
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This was achieved swiftly with the minimum of disruption and the course took place in an open gallery space on the ground floor. The importance of forward planning and thinking through the possible consequences of non-accessible venues for disabled participants is not to be underestimated. Just over half of the project participants (53%) were not in paid work, education or training, or were retired. One third of all participants had finished continuous full time education before the age of 18. One student said of his schooling: “I should’ve left school with seven top O levels and I left school with a daft one. All I did was one project and that was it! I would like to improve myself a lot.” Another student stated his desire to enrol on the project for the experience rather than to gain a qualification: “I wanted to do things for years and just not got round to it. It’s not for a qualification or anything like that, it’s something else for your mind, your brain.” Exposing WEA’s staff, tutors and volunteers to the basic rudiments of film making will ensure that the region’s staff have the necessary skills to produce short, engaging, promotional videos to showcase our work in the North West. We will build on this expertise in the future by enlisting the help of talented volunteers to become digital champions’ in the region. They will interview, photograph and film, willing stakeholders for dissemination via the Internet, podcasts and magazine articles, quarterly email newsletters and the annual report. We found that course resources that encourage participation and interaction from people help to create a stronger learning community that can sometimes be a missing component for people who simply use websites to access learning materials or particular information. It cannot be stressed enough how important the social aspect of learning was for most of the students, especially those who may feel shunned by society. Film and video can present difficult concepts and ideas in an interesting and informative way that enables people to pick up and process information more readily i.e. visual and auditory learning styles. For example, having the first film making session presented in an online format for students to study pre-course was very successful. We will now adopt this approach more often when designing courses.
FASHIONMONTHLY 28 July 2013
The funding freedom:
teaching and learning outside of the box Perhaps one of the most important aspects of our project funding was the amount of freedom it gave us to try new teaching and learning perspectives without the usual constraints. For example, in the North West region we currently try to attract 14 to 15 students per class. However, our community partners often struggle to gather together enough potential students to make a course viable. If numbers fall below 11, or thereabouts, we usually have to cancel the class. This is not only disappointing for the students already enrolled on the course but also devastating for tutors’ livelihoods. On the VIEW project we were able to deliver bespoke education to smaller classes without the fear of closure should numbers drop. Overall, this was not a problem as the classes attained good retention and attendance, especially by the homeless students.
rate of pay, which in many cases is substantially lower than they would normally charge. WEA, as a whole, is striving to diversify its income; gaining project funding helps us to achieve this goal and, at the same time, raises our profile nationally. It is very worthwhile being part of a country-wide, collective project. It widens our operational perspective by bringing us into contact with other organisations who, in turn, expose us to alternative methods of teaching and engaging adults through the sharing of innovative ideas and new potential partnerships. We’d also like to think that our project may have inspired other organisations to try our ways of working too!
Finally, having to produce an end of project report is a great way of condensing the best (and, at times, the Another example, is the way in which we worst) aspects of a body of work that is were able to set up classes without the completed in a finite period of time. So need for excessive and time-consuming often, organisations such as ours, strive bureaucratic paperwork. Ordinarily our hard to reach disadvantaged groups, yet tutors, and students, have to fill in a host fail to capture fully the heart and soul of of forms at the beginning, middle and what makes a great learning event for end of a course. However, during the everyone concerned. Anecdotal evidence project, participants and their tutors only aside, imagine if for every long course (it had to commit their comments to one would be too onerous for short courses) Learning Record and fill in two short data WEA had an end of course report, such collection sheets as required by NIACE. as this one, complete with case studies, We also garnered feedback by video photographs and mini videos as a interviews which is a far more interesting testament to the wonderful teaching and and richly varied way of capturing learning experiences we provide! people’s true opinions. Maybe this is the true legacy of the The funding enabled us to employ project funding; a more structured, professionals who would otherwise be out systematic approach to capturing the of our budget reach for teaching. It also evidence of the power of adult education meant that they, in turn, could teach for to enhance and change lives, for the us without the limitation of our hourly better.
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WEA North West
Acquiring the funding from the Skills Funding Agency to design and run the VIEW project has given WEA in the North West the fantastic opportunity to try online learning, upskill our staff and help our students to acquire new, advanced technology skills. In addition to this, we have maintained, and built upon, our valued partnerships with galleries, museums and local communities.
All things are created twice: first mentally; then physically. The key to crea@vity is to begin with the end in mind, with a vision and a blue print of the desired result. Stephen Covey
As life long educators, WEA constantly strives to bring the best learning experiences to those who need it most. Funding for projects such as VIEW, enables everyone involved to take a leap of faith and try something one of them deserves a pat on new; something out of the the back. ordinary. The project participants expressed their delight at mastering seemingly difficult skills and techniques: they published their work online themselves; they scripted; starred in; filmed and edited their own films; they took photographs with precision and good lighting. One student got a job in a gallery, another spent time with the photographer Red Saunders while one man got over his fear of the opposite sex! Every single
However, let’s not forget that WEA has also tried something new and, on the whole, pulled it off. Being able to trial online teaching and learning has opened a door for the region with exciting possibilities. Our modest inroads into the world of online learning is the start of something that can only improve and gain in momentum. Working with the galleries and museums in the North West we
Want to know more? Contact me:
ehutchings@wea.org.uk
Elaine Hutchings Project Manager WEA North West 4th Floor Crawford House Oxford Road Manchester M13 9GH 0161 277 5409
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aim to design online courses that will augment our current offer. In this way we can reach more adults, more of the time. By trialling alternative ways of teaching and learning we believe we can introduce our adult students to an enlightening Virtual Inspirational Educational World.