06 Remote learning


NUJ Training Scotland is now teaching members from Paris to Stornoway


M


elissa Silver is deputy editor of the Scotish Islands Explorer Magazine


and, with her father, runs www. welovestornoway.com, the website covering the Isle of Lewis town and the rest of the Western Isles. It is a beautiful if remote part of the UK; 290 km from Glasgow. So, the move to online courses, forced by Covid-19 on NUJ Scotland Training, has been a great boon to her. Melissa felt she needed to boost her skills and confidence and the web course has proved invaluable to her job. She said: “I have completely changed my approach to writing headlines.” She was also impressed by the


creative writing course: “I have tried others and was ready to be disappointed, but found the sessions very inspiring, with nuggets of good advice. Most of all the tutor didn’t tell us what to do or think, just to be authentic. I have since writen 10,000 words towards a book; it’s been an energising and cathartic experience.”


Joan Macdonald is project manager of NUJ Training Scotland which provides professional training from experienced tutors in the industry. Te project receives money from


Online courses Zoom training sessions: fact checking; filming for i-devices; editing for i-movie; feature writing; becoming an effective freelance; Adobe photoshop introduction; the book route; podcasting; all you need to know to be a great news writer; libel in the UK; Wordpress introduction; the entrepreneurial freelance; advanced social media.


Scotish Union Learning and the Scotish government. Since the courses are now delivered online, they are open to NUJ members outside Scotland at a cost of £25. She said the pandemic had kicked Scotish training into the digital future: “We’d talked about doing more online and then suddenly we had to. I was very impressed by how the tutors quickly adapted and created online packages. It’s been good to open up the offering beyond Scotland – we have since had a learner from Paris. Of course, it has also been more convenient for many Scotish members. Whatever happens in the future, online learning will play an important part, and I was pleased to see good uptake of our free psychological first aid and tackling stress courses.”


Catherine Deveney, who tutors the creative writing course, among others, and runs learning projects in the Highlands and Islands, has found Zoom a flexible, interactive and engaging teaching aid. She said: “You can do tutor-led sessions and have break-out sessions, plus the chat, whiteboard and post-it functions work well. I was worried about creating a learning atmosphere, but it doesn’t take long before the faces on the screen soon get to know each other and collaborate. I have had lots of great feedback.


Online interactive courses:


“Doing these courses, particularly the creative writing workshop, has been good for people’s well-being and confidence and have really energised some of the students.”


collaborative leadership; English for journalists; text handling (subbing) online; media awareness; digital health and safety. Free courses: psychological first aid; tackling stress; local Scotish trade union history. To book your place(s), provide


your name and NUJ membership number to scotishtraining@nuj. org.uk


TRAINING


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