Held in Birmingham on 23 September 2009, FEstival aimed to open up a dialogue between FE student officers and reps from across the UK, encouraging them to share ideas and experiences and discuss issues particular to the FE sector. Sponsored by BECTA whose work involves encouraging the use of technology in education, topics for discussion included, the challenge that mergers pose to the daily workings of student unions; effective methods of engaging with local government and the community; and the campaigns FE students' unions have been busy with over the past year.
The event has received enthusiastic feedback - comments on FEstival twitter tracker include: “loved it and learned a lot", "wish it was longer", “NUS festival was immense!”, and “long live festival.” and Shane Chowen NUS Vice President (Further Education) said: "The event was an amazing success." Shane continued: "Opportunities for student representatives in Further Education to learn from each other and network are few and far between and FEstival allowed them to learn, not just from each other, but from the expertise of NUS and BECTA too.”
Technology proved a key factor in FEstival's success. Shane Chowen added: “Feedback from delegates was incredibly positive both in terms of the workshops and the technological facilities we arranged for this event.
“The use of this technology brought a new dimension, creating a resource that enables continued networks and sharing of ideas online. I hope this inspires delegates to continue contributing and drawing information from our online resource, and to increase the use of technology to engage students in their own institutions."
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