The right approach and platform for your group

Taking your work with ensembles online can be an opportunity to take a new, more digital approach to the way you work in the long term. Think about the range of platforms and approaches that might help you to do much more than just replicate your usual face to face lessons online. What content do you create that has to be interactive, in real time? Can you also use technology to share videos, resources and information that your group can access whenever they like?

Web conferencing software (e.g. Zoom, Teams, Google Meet. Jitsi, Skype)

• Great for maintaining a sense of community and enabling real time communication and collaboration.
• Functionality such as chat, breakout rooms, polls and raised hands/thumbs up means the sessions can be fun and interactive
• Share video, audio, powerpoint, manuscripts etc easily
• Make sure all of your participants are able to access the software you choose
• Send links and passwords in advance and just before the session so that participants have them to hand
• Make sure security settings are high for youth ensembles, and switch off any functions that might be distracting during the session
• Think about how you will record and share the rehearsals and check you have permission to share any data or footage of participants
• Practice with the technology in advance, make time to explore its functions so you can make the most of it!

Social Media

• Facebook Live is another option for running live ensemble sessions – feedback will be limited to comments and likes and you won’t be able to see your participants, but you can still create a real sense of ‘event’ and community
• Creating ‘closed’ Facebook groups for each ensemble can create a brilliant sense of community and support
• Ideal for sharing short form content such as inspiration and practice videos
• Use the power of your network to recruit new members and share your Ensembles’ achievements!

Video sharing on Youtube, Facebook etc

• Think about what content you might want to create and share with your Ensemble between (or instead of) real time sessions. Tutorials, warm up activities, practice prompts and technical tips can be so useful and don’t all need to take place within a taught group session.
• You can build your brand by creating your own page or channel, or restrict the content to people with a password/membership to protect your material.

File sharing

• Cloud based platforms provide great spaces for sharing files, homework, resources and updates
• Platforms such as Google Classroom enable you to share and structure resources in a private space for ensemble members. While they can access and download materials they cannot post or share work/comments themselves making it ideal where you need a more managed space, for example when working with young people. If you do want to encourage more interactivity, then team based software such as Slack, or a private Facebook group which you can add files and content to, may be the way to go.