Elluminate

Went back to Elluminate tonight for the session.  Positives are that it works - no problems with breakout rooms or it freezing up as Connect Pro has tended to do.  Problems - two of my 'regulars' couldn't get in and another one got in but had problems.  I'm not sure whether this is because of the Java plug in or just some systems.  I can see a problem here for the future if I make this commercial - I'll have to make sure that it works before I take money off anyone!  In theory I've recorded the session, but I can't see where the recordings are stored - I'll have to work that out tomorrow.
Looked at clauses and realtive clauses - another lesson to learn is that this is really hard for them, and I need to go slower, in smaller steps.  I think that the distance makes this even more important......

Onward ever onward...

Just finished a session - 9 people came and it's getting easier.  Made much more use of the breakout rooms tonight and this worked well, especially for those who had microphones - I think I'm going to encourage people more strongly to get microphones, because it's a much richer experience for all if you can use voice.  Discovered that the participants can move the slide show on themselves when they are in the breakout groups, so that was a bit of a revelation, and made managing them much easier.  I asked the learners about the breakouts and they were very positive about them - said that they gave them time to think.

In terms of the material, had a bit of a re-think about what is important to teach them.  Things do go slower in  on-line teaching, and I think I am being drawn into too much detail (especially with pronouns.....) I need to pare it back a bit and keep up the levels of practice.