Gather -- a better way to codehack online

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.