[Ccsf-campus-staff] how did the event go?
Katherine Moloney
kmoloney at mail.ccsf.edu
Tue Apr 8 22:25:06 UTC 2014
Hi,
Sorry I've been M.I.A. from this conversation -- long, boring story about
how I've had no Internet access at home for like a month -- so now taking
some time at work to upload the notes I've been making about the event.
Regards,
Katherine
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+ Suggestions:
=> A Code of Conduct - one mentor reported inappropriate behavior from
an attendee ("you have such pretty eyes" and unnecessarily touching his
arm) - mentor said this didn't bother him, but wanted us to know about it
since it was unprofessional. I don't raise the point that 'this didn't
bother X' to de-emphasize the issue, only to give context. Definitely will
be implementing an explicit code of conduct in the future
=> Make sure food is conducive to a long day - less sugar snacks, more
fats & proteins ("long burning fuels" for the body)
=> Next time have separate buttons on the event page for "Attendee" and
"Mentor" registration
+ What worked
=> The mentor/volunteers were really awesome - the attendees really
enjoyed talking to them, it became a club hack session with more
experienced club members, a real sense of camaraderie and fun
=> Lunch - yummy, but watch out for ordering right quantity -- order
more (ordered for 75, only 52 attended, but food all gone)?
+ What didn't work
=> The Room
++ for the Wi-Fi, we need to statically set the DNS to 8.8.8.8 as
the college's DNS server isn't efficient enough -- write up instructions
how to do this
++ we needed to use the microphones more consistently as some of
the attendees in the back of the room couldn't hear, and then tuned out
++ it was cold because we opened the windows at the beginning of
the day because it was hot, but then never shut them once the room cooled -
so shutting the windows after 10 minutes of cooling would have prevented
the "it's too cold" comments
=> Curriculum
++ Next time we'll follow the pre-written GitHub curriculum:
==>> I didn't take the time to read thru the Curriculum
fully, to see the setup necessary for the ccsf-2.github.io that would have
needed to be done
==>> Had we followed this curriculum that session would have
been more successful
==>> (n.b.
RefugeRestrooms<https://github.com/tkwidmer/refugerestrooms>is still
an awesome project for future bite-sized bugs for the contribution
section of other OSCTC workshops)
+++ But students should install the Rails development
environment on their laptops prior to the workshop if possible (use
docs.railsbridge.org/installfest)
++ Next time, add to git/GitHub curriculum:
==>> Begin with a simple **diagram** to reinforce concepts
of:
+++ Git on my local machine - writeable/pushable
+++ GitHub - my account - writeable/clonable
+++ GitHub - someone else's account -
readable/forkable
++ Separate irc off as its own separate session (at least for
future CCSF sessions)
==>> Do this first, so more advanced students can chat with
each other while beginners practice
==>> With all students, share some reference links via irc
channel:
+++ Command line:
https://openhatch.org/wiki/Open_Source_Comes_to_Campus/Curriculum/Laptop_setup#Goal_.232:_practice_navigating_from_the_command_line
+++ irc commands:
http://www.ircbeginner.com/ircinfo/ircc-commands.html
+++ all other step-by-step curricula as they get
started
++ Drop 'computer setup' session (replace with irc session) - I
think we had most folks set up before they came to the workshop
+ What to build out
=> The irc section
++ with an explanation of 'why irc' when there are so many more
modern communication products
==>> the friend that Geoff brought with him - Jonathan
("Noodles") [a Debian community member] - had a nice explanation of why irc
is still the best choice, maybe he would write up what he described as a
first draft of this section
++ how to log irc channels so you can read the activity that
happened when you've been away
=> Still looking for way to easily create screen recording with audio
capture for Linux desktops - RecordMyDesktop<
https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/precise/gtk-recordmydesktop/>
captured the desktop, but only captured first 4 minutes of audio of hour
long session (boo!)
++ For Mac: http://acomp.stanford.edu/tutorials/screen_recordings
++ For Windows: www.obsproject.com
+ Organization
=> Next time print out a sign in sheet, so we know which of the
registrants actually come (this time we just got the head count & the
gender breakdown, but not a complete list of who came [though if I sat down
& marked off all that I personally recognize I could probably ID 60% of the
attendees, maybe more])
++ Useful to see % attendance rate for varying populations
(directly from clubs, from the CS dept, from other depts, from other
programs)
=> Next time designate a recorder to take pictures etc
=> Like Railsbridge curricula (docs.railsbridge.org), would be nice to
have the lesson written out, so students can follow
++ When we work working on the git/GitHub session, when trying to
help catch up lagging attendees, when we would look up, we would have no
idea where the group was in the project directory structure (as Veronica
brought up, the MVC directory structure was too complex for those without
any experience with Rails to "catch up" [i.e. find the next file which was
being modified])
=> Interestingly, many attendees had already read thru the entire
OpenHatch curricula, and were hoping that the workshop would go beyond the
written classroom
=> Would be nice to have attendees self-select into different groups,
as at the Bridgetroll workshop (and many others I'm sure)
=> Liked the small group discussion period in the middle of Maria's
communication tools presentation
=> Possibility: monthly Open Source (possibly OpenHatch) meetup,
possibly thru Noisebridge or Women Who Code
++ This would support:
==>> A place for students to continue going to carry on
==>> A place to build community, which would help increase
the number of mentors recruited for future workshops
=> Next Time...
++ Have registrants self-select into groups based on experience
when they register (similar to Bridgetroll --
http://www.bridgetroll.org/events/87/levels -- though as a starter probably
will be 3 groups [totally new to programming, beginner/student level
programmer, competent programmer])
++ Ideally recruit enough to have 2-3 mentors for each experience
group
++ Ideally have step by step curriculum written out for students:
==>> Consider having students work at their own pace within
each curriculum module, and ask help from mentors as needed, mentors call
attention of group for answer that they think will be broadly applicable
+++ Even if curriculum remains mentor-lead, at least
students can catch back up with the group
==>> Build out the curriculum, so there is baseline to
accomplish & then deeper and deeper levels that more experienced students
can work on
==>> Remember that some students will have completed the
curriculum ahead of time (these students will probably be those in the most
experienced group, so that set of mentors can range off the curriculum
discussing whatever the particular attendees want to cover)
=> Pre-Workshop
++ Introduction (video?) - how to find open source projects?
++ Installfest for various environments
==>> Ruby Setup: http://docs.railsbridge.org/docs/
==>> Python Setup:
http://newcoder.io/begin/setup-your-machine/
=> Workshop
(this is as far as I've gotten)
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