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Imagine the scene … avidly engaged groups of young people or adults working in small teams on the kind of real-life situations that they face every day. They’ll interact by e-mail with professionals who have the knowledge and skill to provide instant feedback to queries. They’ll also be able to observe how other participating schools/groups and teams are interacting with the professionals, making for a real joined-up experience.
As for subject matter, the range of consumer issues facing young people gets wider every day. Consider the plight of the youngster who wants a mobile phone, but doesn’t understand the complexities of the small print or the teenager who buys a computer game over the Internet, changes their mind and is not aware that they have a cooling-off period. Credit and debt; opening a bank account; credit scoring; credit cards; debit cards; repayment plans; Consumer Credit Act 1974; cooling-off periods; refund, exchange and repair; counterfeit goods, age restricted products and much much more… it’s all covered in the various "talkingshop" scenarios.
What makes “talkingshop” different to having an outside speaker give a presentation is that during each event student’s work online with relevant professionals using computer-based communications. Each event can be a different scenario made up of automated messages (dilemmas), which are received on the students PC. Working in small teams (we suggest two students to a team); the students will research each dilemma from information that is contained within the secure “talkingshop” website. They then interact online with professionals (that deal with these same dilemmas everyday) who are ready and waiting (at another location) to guide them through the dilemmas and respond to the questions/issues raised. Students also get to vote (using multiple choice) on various consumer issues
The knowledge learnt is invaluable, as past experience has shown that the pupils retain more information since they are put in real life situations. They also build a better relationship and understanding of the work of the professionals they are interacting with. These live, real-time events are supported by ‘before and after’ materials to help develop skills and strengthen understanding. There are also competitions for students to participate in. Teachers will benefit from easy start-up materials and notes to get things going. Events can be run at any time to suit individual school needs.
Participating authorities will be the link to their local schools/groups and will work in conjunction with neighbouring authorities or regional Trading Standards partners to bring "talkingshop" to life in their areas. The key to its success lies in partnership working between schools and like-minded authorities.
The "talkingshop" initiative is set up to deliver a programme of events to any number of schools/groups simultaneously. New scenarios are being created all the time – click on “resources” to see our current scenarios.
FREE CD DEMO
For a free copy of the “talkingshop” CD, which clearly demonstrates the concept of “talkingshop”, please email talkingshop@warwickshire.gov.uk. The CD will show you how “talkingshop” will work from the perspective of a school (teachers and pupils) as well as Trading Standards professionals.
Click here to view a teacher's experience of Talkingshop