News & Updates

The Student Wellbeing team at Warwick is taking proactive steps to enhance their digital provision for students. After approaching our Digital Learning team for support, the collaboration began with a podcasting workshop designed to help staff explore creative ways of engaging students and build confidence with new formats.

Paul Ottey and Poonam Pedley from our Faculty Support team led two interactive sessions in the Rapidmooc studio, where the Wellbeing team generated short podcast ideas and recorded them. The practical, hands-on setup meant everyone had the opportunity to get comfortable with the equipment and leave with a finished audio snippet, an important confidence boost for using audio as a communication tool.

Podcasting was chosen as an accessible starting point because audio allows staff to share information without the pressure of being on camera. It can be used flexibly, whether as full episodes or short clips that explain a topic or provide a practical tool students can use in the moment.

Sarah Parkinson, Deputy Head of Student Health and Wellbeing reflected on the motivation behind the project and highlighted the impact of the support from Digital Learning, saying:

“We were keen to update our digital skills as part of our ongoing practice development and getting in touch with the Digital Learning team felt like a good first step. A key aim was really about giving us a space to build our confidence and start creating professional, engaging content that’s accessible for students.

Paul and Poonam have been brilliant at demystifying the tech for us and helping us develop the skills to create accessible, meaningful content. We’re now able to make the most of the excellent facilities in the Rapidmooc studio. Paul made the session very practical, and I think everyone appreciated being able to actually record something themselves and walk away with a finished snippet of audio.

By making our content more engaging and easier to digest, we’re making our support much more accessible for students, which is a massive benefit for their overall experience and wellbeing".

Our support is set to continue, with upcoming PowerPoint design workshops and video skills sessions planned for the summer. The overarching goal is to build a digital toolkit that helps the team choose the best format - audio, visual, or mixed media, for whatever they need to communicate to support learning.

This initiative demonstrates how thoughtful investment in digital skills can empower staff and enhance student wellbeing through inclusive, engaging content, laying strong foundations for a sustainable, student-focused digital offer.