Features

In-depth articles and guest posts on internal and sector-related topics.

Visme - stylish presentations and infographics

If you would like to create visual presentations and infographics but haven’t formal training or skills in using tools like Photoshop or Indesign, Visme can help. Visme is a web tool that enables the easy creation of presentations and infographics - a way to translate and communicate ideas and messages in a very visual and engaging way; not limited to text.

Pilotlight - pathways to self-directed support

Pilotlight, an Iriss project, works with co-design teams of people who use and deliver services across Scotland to design pathways to self-directed support (SDS). Using a design approach, it aims to demonstrate how to design support for seldom heard groups, provide more personalised and appropriate services, and increase the marketplace of support providers.

ScOPTbox - practice learning library

ScOPTbox is a curated collection of resources for social workers and others involved in supporting learning in the workplace in Scotland. It has been developed by the Scottish Organisation for Practice Teaching (ScOPT), and was launched at the ScOPT conference in Glasgow on 12 November.

Medium - a simple way to create stories

We're all aware of the power, and the increasing popularity, of story to get a message across. And visual stories can be even more powerful. The quick creation of online, multimedia stories is possible using Medium. Medium enables the creation of stories that comprise text, web links, videos and photographs. It basically provides a blank canvas on which to build a web page of content.

Periscope - video streaming

Twitter is great for keeping up to date with what's happening, finding interesting information and sharing it with others. If you use Twitter and like it, you may be interested in Periscope, a live video streaming app for iOS and Android. The developers of the app became fascinated by the idea of discovering the world through someone else's eyes - in real-time. In their words, Periscope is described as' a visual pulse of what's happening right now'.

Social reporting: a primer

Flipcharts and sticky notes are great for capturing thoughts and discussions at conferences and workshops ... until it comes to summarising and sharing.

Social reporting is the use of social media to record and share these thoughts and discussions. In digital format, sharing becomes easy.

Serendipity and conference attendance

Narrative Practitioner Conference
Narrative Practitioner Conference, Keele University, 2009. I asked audience members to bring objects with them. In the photo, they are exchanging them with someone whom they do not know.

I remember quite well a major national disciplinary group’s annual conference in Birmingham that I attended some time ago now.