[fedora-classroom] Class Duration

[Yaakov Nemoy]

2009/5/16 David <bouncingcats at gmail.com>:
> On Sat, May 16, 2009 at 1:52 PM, Kevin Fenzi <kevin at scrye.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 15 May 2009 12:37:56 +1000
>> David <bouncingcats at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Also, having participated in several classrooms, several times I have
>>> seen presenters have to rush the latter part of their presentation and
>>> question sessions cut short. I strongly suggest for this mode of
>>> delivery that 90 minutes would should be allowed, with presenters
>>> aiming for a 45 minute presentation and a 30 minute interactive
>>> question session.
>>
>> Yeah, I agree. I think it's very easy to misjudge times for an irc
>> class if you are used to giving live or other presentations/classes.
>> All that typing can take a while! :)
>
> I'd just like to emphasise that my point is not about the amount of
> content in the class. I think all the presenters have done great with
> this.
>
> My point is: Given the limitations of IRC as a communications medium,
> 60 minutes is not enough time for a interesting class plus interesting
> questions, so I suggest scheduling class start times to begin at not
> less than 90 minute intervals.
>
> What I am really getting at is that optimising the class duration
> should be more important than scheduling the class into 1 hour slots.
>
> The fact that we generally conceptualise each day in 24 equal
> intervals does not make 1 hour the optimum time for an activity.
>
> It is a tiny inconvenience to begin a classes on the half hour (eg at
> xx30 hours), but would allow better classes in my opinion.
>
> I think the classes are great. So once we have got everyone together
> in the channel and have a great session going, lets not cut it short
> without a good reason. Thats how I'm looking at it.
>
> I dont want to see pressure on presenters to fill the time. If the
> class reaches an early finish due to completeing the content or
> exhausting the questions, no problem. But lets not prevent great
> classes by making the timeslot too short.

Proposition:

Offer the instructor an option for how long the class will be. 60
minutes, 90 minutes, or 120 minutes.

-Yaakov