“Its progress Jim, but not as we know it”
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Yes but as in all things, things need to be balanced.
We are all human beings (I assume) volunteering in a human environment dealing with other people. Our role cannot be performed or replaced by tech so tech should be there to support & automate.
The emotion around the 3822/MyRAFAC is linked to the psychological need for something physical & tangible rather than the abstract.
A lot of us disliked the use of virtual parade nights & teams over covid. If cadets was delivered over VR head sets without anyone leaving the house would that still deliver the same product?
There need to computerise everything turns things from real to simulation and results in things being far more over complicated & if it’s not real humans don’t deal with it or follow it. ( anyone got an electronic key register at unit or do you use a bit of paper?)
Misapplied Tech has damaged the organisation but it has has brought a lot of benefits.
If we identify where tech has damaged /been misapplied we can then fix & simplify it.
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No reason it can’t be tried but if you don’t like it, rate it as 1star on the app/play store & then move on.
A bunch of my cadets did that at the weekend after the app failed (again) to work in offline mode. I told them if it didn’t work then submit a review & we’ll see if it gets actioned.
Should it work in offline mode though? As it gets all it’s info from the servers in real time, which requires the internet. So unless they claim it should work offline then there’s no problem.
They definitely did claim that it would work offline during the release phase as one of the common comments was least of data in areas where it might be needed (some ranges for example).
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My cadets believe it should, my cadets don’t like it. New cadets are confused by it. I don’t use it so just go with what the cadets tell me 
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I believe this app functions as the new ID as well?
Because it’ll be a mess if the cadets rock up to RAF Middle-of-Nowhere and they can’t access their ID because it doesn’t work in offline mode.
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Tbh I’m just fed up of the constant moaning and belittling of every single thing that goes on here. There are occasional glimmers of hope and positivity but the longer I’m a member, the more I side with the people who loathe the site.
The 3822 is gone. Dead. Pushing up the daisies if you will.
If people read the release notes, the communication from the team supporting the app and bothered to find answers instead of complaining a lot of the bile and loathing above would have no place.
I miss the 3822. I still have mine. But I can absolutely see the benefit in having a modern solution for it.
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When a cadet comes here to complain about the changes, it would be beyond churlish to ignore them.
We can acknowledge improvements where they have been made, of course, but should we not call out changes that haven’t been as well received? What’s the point in that?
Many different people, from many different angles, have called out for something tangible and physical to represent a cadet’s ‘journey’. Currently we have nothing in that space. Is it so wrong to suggest we liked the thing that gave us that?
While a return to a full, old fashioned 3822 is never going to happen (and, indeed, shouldn’t. It’s an admin nightmare), could we help HQ and come up with something that works for us, the customers?
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Completely agree with you on this, although the topic title does allow a wider exploration of tech rather than “bring back 3822 version 6”.
The 3822 RoS book is as dead as a Norwegian blue ex-parrot despite how many people insist it is just “resting”. Grieve & move on.
One thing that I think tech has or will damage is from a historical archives perspective.
Photos from camps & cadet activities all from yesteryear giving a sense of history, pride & purpose for future cadets to look back. However current activities will no longer accessible due to being purely cloud based or on Twitter or Facebook.
How do move forward, & keep that history without becoming luddites & the classic of trying to make the ATC now like it was when we were a cadet (which for some of us is a couple of decades).
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In the interest of balance:
I couldn’t do my roles without tech (just as I could no longer do my day job).
Could we use tech better? Sure. Does it need to be balanced with physical and real world activities? Of course.
But it is tech that enables us to deliver much of the cadet experience and some of the barriers are down to a lack of technology and modern ways of working.
Sure there will be some who will storm HQAC/RAFAC Digital/Aptivate with pitchforks and burning torches but they’ve probably done that since the first second-hand BBC Micro found its way onto a squadron.
Anyway can’t hang about to chat, I have 17 Windows Updates to download.
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Of course we could, and it’s the thing I value most about the users here - there is some real imagination, dedication and creativity. This is often stifled, but if anyone has any suggestions then let’s hear them!
Just a dedicated offline mode would help.
A section that contains an up to date consent/medical form and ID. That doesn’t need a connection to the internet or WiFi.
But I’ve not actually seen this app yet. So only going off what’s been put above.
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As much as the traditionalist and historian in me bemoans the loss of the 3822 we can replicate it with a proper cadet CV. I can also see the benefits of online recording.
I do also think that digital archeology is going to be big in 100 years or so, maybe records aren’t lost for ever
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https://rafac.sharepoint.com/sites/BADERHub/SitePages/Introducing-MyRAFAC.aspx
There is an offline mode. It will then sync again once the user has signal.
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That’s good. I was basing that off what has been placed above with it not working offline.
Probably just teething problems. I guess 
I exersied my right to complain up to the point the change occured.
Its what we have now.
Strap in, or strap on. AKA people need to get with the programme.
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That’s on it - the app retains data for a number of days (30??) without an internet connection.
I feel the only thing I can say is that the latest generation of cadets NEVER could have kept their original 3822 to provide memories. because I struggle to think of many that didn’t wash theirs and then myself and the adj had to spend a night trawling through records to fill out the thing again - cue cadets complaining that some bits weren’t signed. The new app holds the staff to account to update SMS on a regular basis - a GOOD thing!
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