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Developing virtual delivery of the FRAME Training School 2021

FRAME Training School coordinator, Dr Michelle Hudson-Shore of the University of Nottingham, explains the Training School team’s plans to move the event to a virtual platform in 2021.

The annual FELASA (Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations) accredited Training School, held in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, has a long-standing reputation and attracts international as well as local participants. It is the only course that FELASA accredits that is able to move around locations, with the 2020 course scheduled to take place at the Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh at the end of April 2020. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that the training team had to take the difficult decision to postpone the event.

The continuing COVID-related restrictions in place across many countries in Europe has meant that the training team has had to review the opportunities and challenges of delivering the valuable event through a digital platform rather than the standard face-to-face approach. The Training School was developed to encourage interactive and peer-to-peer learning, so the team is currently working to create innovative online materials and interactive tools that will assist the delivery of the course and allow us to deliver the core components of the training in an effective, flexible and accessible way.

We are aiming to deliver the rescheduled Training School in April/May 2021, virtually. The course will still feature live teaching and group discussion, and the interaction between tutors and participants which makes the course so successful will be facilitated through an online platform.