Week 1 -day 6 afternoon

I have just started working on the tasks for the week. We have to decide on our on-line personalities. Here is what I have posted in our 'walled garden' Brookes Wiki. I had to make a decision and be open and honest about my operation so that we don't get any 'moment' later in the course and I do need to discuss my options as to how to manage the students expectations of my lack of vocal ability.
So here it goes.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Clare and I am a senior law lecturer at UWE and I specialise in banking and finance law. My Phd in 2004 was entitled, 'Financial exclusion and banking regulation in the UK: A template analysis'. I have always tried to mixed up black letter law with social elements of life so that the law is seen in context and not just some rules laid down.

In 2008 I completed a research project which designed a mobile phone game, sponsored by Vodafone, which taught children how to make financial decisions through game play. See listed journal papers for more details. Chambers. C. L. & Shufflebottom, M. Innovation in Inclusion: A financial M-learning game Part 1'. The Law Teacher. March 2010 Vol, 44, 1, 17-31.
Chambers. C. L. & Shufflebottom, M. Innovation in Inclusion: A financial M-learning game Part 2'. The Law Teacher. July 2010, Volume 44 Issue 2, 117

I am now in the process of writing a couple of books, one on the financial crisis 2007 to present for the Ukraine Banking Academy and one for Edward Elgar on Virtual economic crime and money laundering. I am a bit of a self confessed geek and love working on my research and passing this enthusiasm on to my students.

Following an illness last year and several operation I can no longer vocally teach as my voice is too weak and unusable now, so determined not to give up I am going to alter my course to teach it on-line. I am also going to try and use on-line conferences as a means of getting my research out there and heard so I have been looking forward to this course for a while. Although it has been a tough year it is good to get back into the swing of things.

I am therefore hoping that this course will let me carry on my teaching and I am open to lots of suggestions as to how to engage my students (around 100) when I cannot speak to them (unless its one on one, once a day??).

As for other interactive tools, I use twitter for my students @DocChambers and update them as to the regulatory position of the financial market place daily. I also use facebook for socialising. My webpage for work is : http://law.uwe.ac.uk/staff-directory/dol-staff/clare-chambers.aspx (it needs updating).

On the more general side I have three cats and a dog and live in the middle of no where in Hereford with my partner who owns/runs a county department store. I therefore have a lot of wellies....

I can't wait to meet you all