Computer training for blind deaf and disabled people in their own home

Tutor Seminar - 22/03/2006

Tutor Seminar held on 22/03/2006 12:29:06 at Abbey Community Centre

Present:
Anthony Wigram, Chris Garbett, Lisa Oram, Nina Johannessen, Sarika Patel, Taher Ali, Nelson Bayomy, Debbie Brixey, Steve Collis, Chris Frederick, Barry Freedman, Carl Gasgoigne, Daniel Gilson, Boyko Grigorov, Phil Griller, Fitwi Kebede, Paul Millar, Keith

Apologies:
Tracy Pernice, Doreen Nicholas, Tokky Ademoyero, Jim Benstead, David Brown, Richard Burton, Evelyn Earl, Tracey Fawthrop, Sally Fonseca, Kevin Frost, Gabriella Gatward, Tim Maxwell, Gian Montagna, Ademola Olayinka, Janice Pearson, Selva Ramesh, Terry So

Minutes:
1. Minutes of Last Meeting

Anthony asked everyone to read over previous meeting minutes and asked if anyone had any questions.

AW asked if everyone knew about ITCH and their telephone number.
Call AbilityNet on 0800 269 545 and ask for the ITCH helpdesk.

Patricia suggested space on the website where tutors can share ideas and knowledge.

2. Presentation – 1000th Graduate Certificate

AW presented the 1000th Graduate Certificate to Peter Sands who was one of Patricia’s visually impaired students.

AW asked him what he enjoyed most about the course. Peter replied by saying that he has benefited from the course and it has helped him to be more independent by having information at his fingertips.

3. Ed Hasted – Distance Learning Initiative & Website

Ed introduced himself. He has been working with AW over some time and AW has asked him to help out with UCDIT.

Distance Learning Initiative
Ed explained that there are 2 initiatives on the go that he has been working on. The first was VNC (Virtual Network Computing) which allows you to see remotely what is on the student’s screen and take control over their computer from a remote location. This software can only be loaded onto the student’s machine with their permission and they must be told that the tutor will have access to their computer including all their files.

Ed described that this is done through computer IP addresses. When the student connects to the internet they are given an IP address – tutors will need to know this IP address to gain access to the student’s machine.

Ed talked about another type of software called Skype which is a voice to voice peer service which allows users to talk anywhere at any time for FREE. This is going to be used with VNC software.

Ed explained that more testing is to be done to see if it is possible to use on a modem connection or if it is only for broadband. Skype is being tested currently by 4 tutors and once we get feedback, testing will start with all tutors. Ed mentioned that this would be very useful for BSL students also.

As UCDIT expands this technology will allow us to control more students and also take on more students.

Website
The second initiative is the UCDIT Website. Ed explained that he and Carl have been working on the website. Carl wrote some clever databases about 3 years ago for the website. The office can update and change certain areas of it.

We will be switching to a content management system which will enable the office to add/amend the website easily. The structure, content and feel of the website will be similar to the existing site, but more developed.

Ed has asked for views, ideas and feedback on the above initiatives and will do his best to implement them.

Chris Frederick asked if there was a cost involved to the student for VNC.
Ed said no, VNC and Skype software is free and no licensing is required. There are 3 different versions of Skype and it will work on some Macs.
Debbie said there would be a cost for the headphones though.
AW said we can get them for £6.

Chris Frederick said it was important for the student to know that the tutor will have access to all of their files.
Ed said they will be able to see what you are doing from their screen.
Nilesh said this shouldn’t be a problem as trust should be built between the tutor and student.

Chris Frederick asked if there were any reservation about the processor speed of the computer.
Ed said that VNC software is very lightweight and has hardly any impact on processing power. Skype is not a function of the processor as it works through the internet. However with video, processor speed can be a problem. Ed estimated that 20% of students are using broadband.

Nilesh recommended that tutors have stable Skype usernames. He also mentioned that he has used MSN for voice and video communication and found it was not that great.
Patricia suggested having 2 usernames one for UCDIT and one for personal use.
Ed informed us that he is going to set up a computer at the office to use as a testing platform for tutors to practice on. He will also test MSN on this.

Ed said that all tutors will be given a CD containing the software and up to date utilities to take to lessons.

Daniel asked what the aim of the whole thing was.
AW said the long term goal of this was to give virtual lessons to our students. The advantages were travel cost and independency for students.
Daniel said that learndirect tried this and had the assumption that students could do things by themselves.
AW said the whole point of our course was to teach students how to use email and internet so that eventually they will have the confidence to do it by themselves as tutors are only there for the 10 lessons.
Daniel said this would not be suitable for some of his students eg one student doesn’t know the difference between the spacebar and trackball mouse.
Ed mentioned it will not be suitable for all students. It will be good to help with small problems.
Daniel said the middle ground is wasted to get the system up and running when that time could be used to give one-to-one training to our students.
AW said the technology was developing at a fast rate and we need to keep up with this.
Daniel didn’t think this was a good idea.
AW said it would be used after the 2nd or 3rd lesson, obviously not at the initial assessment.

Ed said he is going to produce a guide for tutors about this technology for them to refer to if needed.

Chris Frederick said he was using a different system with a current student of his with limited motor control. Once they are both online Chris brings up a word document with a list of problems and his student uses his mouse to point. So voice is not paramount in this technology.

Paul Millar pointed out that this technology could be dangerous as it might be seen as a substitute for empathy and emotional support that is given to our students at one-to-one lessons which could be a barrier.
Patricia said tutors must develop a relationship with the student first.
Fitwi mentioned that his refresher students said that the best part of the course was the one-to-one contact with the tutor.
Barry Freedman mentioned that it could revolutionise the way we work. Eg tutor could do an anti virus scan and not have to wait till it finishes. We could develop a special method for VIP students.
Phil Griller said this would break the course around the learning process.
Ed pointed out that most people have an attention span of 40 mins to 1 hr. Students would still get 15-20 hours but not necessarily in 2 hr blocks.

Steve Collis said another advantage would be inter-student contact. This is a good chance to get students to contact each other.

Barry asked about the timescale for these initiatives.
Ed said the website should be done at the end of April. There is going to be a Skype software feedback meeting next week.
Nilesh asked if the office could circulate Ed’s contact details.

Nelson Bayomy said that his students are using MSN to instant message each other.
Ed said there would be a closed discussion group on the website for tutors and students.
Patricia mentioned the UCDIT Yahoo group. Boyko said that about 20 users have signed up.

4. Administration – Lisa Oram

Lisa introduced UCDIT new tutor; Nelson Bayomy.

She went over tutorial numbers and said we would be exceeding targets this year. She reminded tutors to collect course fees at the initial assessment as it was difficult to get them after they had started the course.

Lisa asked if everyone understood the new refresher lesson process. She explained that students who graduated in November 2005 or before are only eligible for the one-off refresher lesson. Students after this date are entitled to 2 refreshers – one 3 months after they complete the course and the second refresher 6 months after that. Lisa asked if all tutors could make sure they submit the correct forms and if in doubt to contact the office.

Lisa reminded tutors that the deadline for ECDL is June as we would like to start offering the equal skills and e-Citizenship qualifications to our students.

Lisa asked for any feedback on the buddy system.
Daniel said one of his ex students have been contacted.
AW reminded tutors to give students encouragement to take part in this.

Barry mentioned that tutors don’t receive feedback about how they are doing.
Lisa said that this is something that is being worked on at the moment.
AW said we are not doing much of this at all. At the moment he is reading the lesson reports and taking note of student comments. Lisa is starting a new system where she contacts the student half way through their course to see how they are getting on.
Chris Frederick is setting up an appraisal system and will sit in with various tutors.
An idea was mentioned that the final lesson report be done by a different tutor.
Patricia said this may scare the student as they have established a relationship and trust with their own students.
This could be difficult, bureaucratic and a strain.
Nilesh came up with an idea of a system where tutors do lessons together to learn different teaching methods.
AW said this is interesting and something that we will be looking into.

5. Outreach & Marketing – Chris Garbett

Fundraising
Chris informed us we have secured the bids made to Big Lottery Fund and Bridgehouse Estates.

Chris talked about the current projects running:

· Big Lottery Fund project is underway. CG presented the big cheque (£160,470). Students accepted onto this project (must be living in west London) receive a Pentium IV (1.3GHz), computer training and adaptive equipment if necessary.
· LSC North – Enabled Project is going well.
· LSC South – Croydon College is finally underway after a lot of delays from Croydon College. This is for 100 students. Lessons 1-8 are carried out normally. At lesson 9 the student applies to creating careers, an online e-learning platform. They must do further learning. Contact the office for the website address for this.
· Bridgehouse Estates (East London) – we have secured funding for 3 years but the drawback is no equipment is included. We have made a bid to Wolfson Foundation for equipment for this project, we will hear from them June or July.

Outreach
Chris said outreach is going very well. We have had a 15% increase from the year before. He mentioned that he had a meeting with AW to review the course fees for students from Remploy. It was decided that they should be paying more as they are an organisation. Students from Remploy have decreased dramatically because of this.

Chris said we have been getting plenty of referrals from Job Centre Plus which has made up for the Remploy students. JCP are a worthwhile source of students.
Nilesh asked if the students they refer are disabled.
Chris said yes as we only deal with the DEA’s (Disability Employment Advisors).

Chris informed us that we have a new computer supplier as we were having problems with Recycle IT in regard to service delivery. The new company is called ICEX, they are based in Essex. They will be supplying the P IV computers for the projects. They also supply computers for non-project students: Pentium III 500MHz @ £99, Pentium III 733MHz @ £125, Pentium IV 1.3GHz @ £199
The advantage of this company is that they have a technical helpline for students to call if they are having problems with their computers.

Chris mentioned that we applied for the Liveable City Awards and came runners up. This is sponsored by the Corporation of London.

Chris also mentioned that there are arrangements being made for a big launch of the new technology we are going to be using. This will be on the 25th of May at the House of Commons sponsored by Boris Johnson. The aim of this is to get funders there to talk about what we are doing. We are inviting LSC who lead the way toward secondary education and have lots of money.


6. ECDL (equalskills/e-Citizenship) – Chris Frederick

Chris explained that he has some free time over the next few weeks so tutors can book their ECDL.

Chris went over the two qualifications that we are going to be offering our students:

· Equal skills – this is a simple course and suitable for complete beginners. The tutor goes through the course book with the student.
· e-Citizenship – this one is more intense and more structured. The tutor needs to make sure that the student is able to cope with the workload and is interested in employment.

Peter Sands explained that he went over these qualifications with Patricia and discovered that it is not suitable for VIP students as the use of the mouse is required and 35% of it involves graphics.
Patricia said she found ways around this but they would fail the exam.
Chris said there is a dedicated disability advisor and will have a word with him about this. He was told it was Jaws friendly. Chris has a VIP student coming on the course and will let us know how that goes.
AW said he is going to take this up with BCS as it should be made available to VIP students.


7. Chairman’s Report – Anthony Wigram

AW started off by asking for input about the new idea of setting up a helpline within UCDIT. After the course if the student has a problem they would telephone the office and would arrange a tutor to visit them. There would be a charge to the student.
Daniel asked what the difference was to what ITCH does.
AW said that ITCH was unreliable.
Nilesh asked if this would assume that tutors had software and hardware knowledge. What would happen if tutors couldn’t solve the problem.
Fitwi said that it does take time to solve software problems eg takes time to reinstall programs etc.
Patricia asked if the office would know how to evaluate the problem
AW said this would need to do a trial first. It would need to be structured and the VNC would help with this.
Patricia came up with an idea of having a help telephone line where we charge callers 15p per minute through a 0845 telephone number.
Debbie said that most students don’t know what is going on and can not explain problems over the phone.
Keith said that we would also need to supply basic parts eg modems.
Barry said that often computer problems cannot be fixed for various reasons eg computer is too old. He is in touch with a technical person that helps him with this.
Patricia said we need to warn students about family members and friends installing software onto their machines as this disrupts learning.

Phil asked if there was a system in place where we keep in contact with graduate students.
AW said not at the moment. A long term goal is to provide long term support for them. This needs to be managed.
Paul suggested that tutors be used as a first line contact for technical help.
Fitwi said it was not fair to be fixing computer problems at lessons as the student misses out on teaching time.
Nilesh mentioned that he charges students if they need technical help after the course had finished.
Taher said he has technical knowledge and offered his help as he works in IT at a college.
AW said this was an important offer. We should ask for tutors with special technical knowledge to carry out these visits. The charge per visit would depend on the students income but would be between £12-£25.

AW bought up the subject about students attitudes. Tutor/student relationship should work both ways and AW asked that tutors let him know if they have any problems with students.

AW informed tutors that extra lessons are only given in some cases. If the tutor thinks the student needs and will benefit from them they will be granted a couple of extra lessons. This must be the tutors recommendation.


8. Any Other Business

AQA – Patricia Webb
Patricia explained about AQA and asked tutors to encourage students to do these. AQA provides the opportunity to give students formal recognition of their success in short units of work. Patricia said to make sure enough evidence is provided when applying for AQA for students. Tutors get paid £10 for each student who completes 2 units or more of AQA.
Barry asked if there was any benefit for UCDIT for students doing AQA.
Patricia said the benefit was only to the student.

Quality Assurance Standards – Tutor Monitoring – Chris Frederick
Chris explained that he will be sitting in on some lessons to assess tutors ability and style. He will ask permission first from the tutor and student and will look at what and how the course is being taught. He will have a chat with the tutor and student before and after the lesson. Chris is producing a form for this and will try and collect information that LSC might want to know.
Patricia asked if the student would get an additional lesson as this would disrupt the learning. She also asked what would happen if the student is having a bad day and just wanted a short lesson.
Chris said this would be noted and taken into account.
AW said that Wandsworth Council had asked us to do this and we need evidence to prove that we are doing it. Students need to be told that the tutor is being assessed not the student. The idea was that Chris would do 10 assessments per annum or 1 assessment per tutor.
Debbie asked what would happen if the comments were negative.
AW said if this was the case he would discuss this with the tutor.

AW thanked all tutors for attending.

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