Flutracking is a weekly Web-based survey of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Australia that has grown from 400 participants in 2006 to over 26,000 participants every week in 2016. Flutracking monitors both the transmission and severity of ILI across Australia by documenting symptoms (cough, fever, and sore throat), time off work or normal duties, influenza vaccination status, laboratory testing for influenza, and health seeking behavior. Recruitment of Flutrackers commenced via health department and other organizational email systems, and then gradually incorporated social media promotion and invitations from existing Flutrackers to friends to enhance participation. Invitations from existing participants typically contribute to over 1000 new participants each year. The Flutracking survey link was emailed every Monday morning in winter and took less than 10 seconds to complete. To reduce the burden on respondents, we collected only a minimal amount of demographic and weekly data. Additionally, to optimize users’ experiences, we maintained a strong focus on “obvious design” and repeated usability testing of naïve and current participants of the survey. In this paper, we share these and other insights on recruitment methods and user experience principles that have enabled Flutracking to become one of the largest online participatory surveillance systems in the world. There is still much that could be enhanced in Flutracking; however, we believe these principles could benefit others developing similar online surveillance systems.

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There is evidence from a number of publications that use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) varies amongst serving and student‐teachers in different subject specialities. Teacher‐mentors are an obvious source of support during school experience; the relationship between student‐teachers' use of ICT and that of their serving teacher‐mentors is not clear. This study was part of a series of projects investigating ICT use during initial teacher training across different subject areas. Questionnaires, returned by 216 teacher‐mentors in secondary schools were analysed. The questionnaires investigated use of ICT in teaching, availability of equipment and support, views on using ICT and preparations made for student‐teachers to use ICT. In general, teacher‐mentors were competent and frequent ICT users and were often active in preparing student‐teachers' use. However, using case studies with 13 pairs of student‐teachers and their teacher‐mentors, it seems that similar preparations made by teacher‐mentors did not always result in individual student‐teachers using ICT to the same extent as peers. The possible reasons for differences were difficulties with access to computers, lack of active support and role models amongst serving teachers (including teacher‐mentors) and competing demands on student‐teachers' time. It is suggested that in order to increase the use of ICT in their teaching, student‐teachers are likely to need better access to equipment, more active support from serving teachers and encouragement to include time for ICT in their school experience.

Based on a small but representative study it appears that, in contrast to the past and to some current perceptions, the majority of student teachers and about half of serving teachers of English now welcome information technology (IT) in English and see it as central to the literacy of all pupils. Some current teachers of English remain ambivalent about IT but the general trend is toward a broader definition of literacy in English that gives significant, if not yet equal, value to electronic text alongside the printed word. English teachers and concerns about technologyWe are moving away from a literature, book-based culture. It's a general move, shift in youth towards television, video, computer games in their own lifeout of school you're fighting a society that is moving away from literature towards a leisure-based, easier culture, and the reading and literature themes look too hardwe are between the generations, sort ofjuggling both reading and writing alongside IT.

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