IRIS Connect is a tool that enables teachers to reflect on, analyse and share their lessons. By combining mobile video technology with a secure online community, IRIS Connect’s unique software enables a holistic and connected approach to CPD and school improvement.
The IRIS Connect community has continued to grow rapidly and now includes more than 19,000 teachers in over 675 schools in England.
As an organisation, IRIS Connect have found that bringing their user community together supports adoption of the technology, facilitates sharing of ideas and sows the seeds of collaboration between schools.
“Using Ombea added a new dimension to our event.”
Charlotte Curl, Senior Marketing Executive, IRIS Connect
At their Northern Community Conference at Great Sankey High School, IRIS Connect wanted to create an open environment for schools to explore and share experiences without holding back or remaining quiet about their own stories.
The OMBEA voting tool is perfect for nurturing the collaborative environment that IRIS Connect wanted to achieve. Neil Deakin, a conference voting expert, was on hand with his Ombea kit to help get the attendees talking with a few searching questions, and thus set the tone for the day.
“I wanted to ensure people felt comfortable sharing their own views,” said Neil, when asked why he introduced Ombea to the conference. “This is tricky in real life because, although all the teachers at the conference come from a shared background, they’re still individuals. People are reluctant to be the first to speak out for fear of saying the ‘wrong’ thing in public.”
To overcome this difficulty Neil presented a series of questions around Senior Leadership and school priorities in relation to IRIS Connect, and invited people to vote anonymously using their Ombea ResponsePads. The Ombea Response software instantly presented the votes back to the group as charts. In doing so, individuals were able to immediately assess their own views in relation to those of their peers.
“This was empowering for the individuals and really got the discussions going,” continued Neil. “They were no longer ‘worried’ about their views and simply got on instead with the discussions at hand. Listening to the conversations I could tell that people were sharing more openly than they might otherwise, and that was to everybody’s benefit.”
Commenting afterwards on the impact of Ombea at the conference, Charlotte Curl, Senior Marketing Executive at IRIS Connect, had this to say: “Using Ombea added a new dimension to our user group event. Traditionally these events are heavily weighted towards learning for the attendees, but without taking up much time at all, we were able to learn a great deal from the audience to inform our marketing messages for the coming year.”
