The first demonstration and user testing on the site went quite well. There were a few glitches…like the realisation that, since the signup process requires a verification email, we had a problem because no one had access to their email since all of the non-adults were from different schools. Easily fixed directly in the database, but requiring a quick trip outside the facility where we were to in order to have access. And then we had problems (again with the kids) regarding the security issues around educational net accesss. Many of them weren’t allowed to download images for their profile and home area, etc. Again, I hadn’t forseen that, but we got round it. But now we have permission to come in and do testing on the system in the future from a computer inside one of the school’s LRCs.
It went well. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, and I have a huge stack of handwritten notes from everyone to transcribe and make some sense of today, but overall it was very well received. It was quite amusing to have these very polite English schoolchildren in their blazers and ties waving their hands in the air to get my attention, saying “Excuse me please, Miss”. lol…I felt as though I was playing a schoolteacher in an old black and white movie.