Gather -- a better way to codehack online
Rika Kobayashi, Sarah Jaffa, Jiachen Dong, Roger D. Amos, Jeremy Cohen, and Emily F. Kerrison

TL;DR
This paper presents Gather, a virtual computer lab platform with innovative features like spatial audio and private spaces, enhancing small-group online teaching experiences, demonstrated through a Python workshop.
Contribution
It introduces Gather as a novel virtual lab platform tailored for interactive online teaching, highlighting its unique features and practical application in a workshop setting.
Findings
Enhanced engagement in small-group sessions
Successful implementation of virtual lab features
Positive feedback from workshop participants
Abstract
A virtual hands-on computer laboratory has been designed within the Gather online meeting platform. Gather's features such as spatial audio, private spaces and interactable objects offer scope for great improvements over currently used platforms, especially for small-group based teaching. We describe our experience using this virtual computer laboratory for a recent 'Python for Beginners' workshop held as part of the Software Sustainability Institute's 2022 Research Software Camp.
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Taxonomy
TopicsScientific Computing and Data Management
