Setting up a New Group
If you are considering setting up an interest group for u3a: Online Across Scotland, please look at the points below and do get in touch. We welcome new interest groups for our members to join.
Make contact with the Groups Coordinator
This will help assess the potential of the proposed group, the intentions and how the group will be able to operate in a virtual environment.
Consider the target audience for the group
Will content be provided for learners to absorb at their own pace e.g. video based ‘lessons’? Or will the group sessions be more interactive learning i.e. will they depend upon the input of group members to develop and grow the learning content. Most groups will probably use a range of methods of delivery.
Please Note: When considering any content provision or delivery method, its important to think about how the sessions can be made as inclusive and accessible as possible.
How many members would the group cater for?
Think about the optimum size for the group, which will allow it to function productively. This will depend to a large extent upon the subject and the possible limitations of the delivery method.
How frequently will the group engage?
Will the group be an ongoing group that will run weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or will it be a short-term course that will run for a number of consecutive weeks and have an end point?
How will the group meetings/sessions be conducted?
Will it be a virtual online meeting via a Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype or something similar.
Risk Assessment
If the group will involve physical activity e.g. Yoga, exercise, dance. The group leader will need to produce a risk assessment for the activity. The risk assessment should be shared with all group members.
GDPR
It is inevitable that Group Leaders will need to contact their group members. The initial contact will be by email. Member and group leaders will need to agree to their email addresses being shared. Where possible, Group Leaders should create an email address specifically for use with their group members.
Members’ contact details should not be shared with anyone, without specific permission from the member. All email correspondence to groups should be Bcc unless all member of the group have agreed to sharing their email addresses with other members.
Copyright Compliance
Group leaders must ensure that content they use, comply with copyright regulations. Further advice can be provided by the Groups Coordinator.
If you have any questions please contact the Groups Coordinator