Training in the age of COVID-19

Biotext has held many in-person courses for clients over the years, both from our offices in Canberra and at client premises. For 2020, we have tried new ways of working to better suit our clients and staff.

Changing our courses to live online versions, delivered through Zoom, has enabled us to keep everyone safe while still delivering practical information and tools. We have held 6 live online courses since March, including ‘Successful science writing and editing’, ‘Fundamentals of data literacy and visualisation’, and 1-on-1 writing coaching. Clients have given us great feedback on the courses, and we plan to continue online versions to give more people access to these resources.

Please send us an email if you would like more information or to find out about our next courses.

Feedback from our data students:

Excellent, knowledgeable and engaging presentation. Great participant-focused workshop, with the training material easy to read and understand. Excellent set of resources also provided. A great reference pack going forward.

The course covered the aspects of data literacy that I was keen to obtain. I came away with a greater understanding of the different types of data and the language used to classify data and I was able see how it would apply to my work. Understanding the statistical side of data was an important skill for me to brush up on, as it is discussed regularly in my field of work.

The second day was also very useful, as communicating data using words and visuals can be challenging and I felt this course provided me with the tools to be able to communicate results clearly and effectively.

Good delivery and at a really good pace, giving participants a chance to comment without rushing on.

The use of Zoom felt quite seamless from my end … I liked how Darren used a different camera view to show his workbook throughout the course.

Feedback from our science writing students:

Kath was personable and professional. The course material was relevant and I learnt a lot. Thank you!

Online format was very useful. Facilitator was engaging and knowledgeable.

Kath was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and really friendly. An excellent tutor and online host. Would highly recommend her.

Overall a really great course and provided excellent content.

Feedback from our coaching student:

The course has been very useful, and the 1-on-1 tuition has been extremely helpful … we were able to target some of the more specific problems I was having rather than a one-size-fits-all process.

The best thing about the course was the ability to look at my writing for the level I need to write. I have been to writing courses previously where we had to write a letter for a layperson, which for me was easy enough and did not address the particular issues I had. This course/process is much more beneficial, and my learning and improvement were much quicker.