Re: classroom Digest, Vol 1, Issue 3

[Sikhumbuzo Ntsada]

Much apreciated B

On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM,
wrote:
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> Re: Welcome and some ideas/thoughts moving forward (David)
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 12:37:56 +1000
> From: David 
> Subject: Re: Welcome and some ideas/thoughts moving forward
> To: Fedora IRC Classroom discussion and feedback list
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> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 5:01 AM, Kevin Fenzi  wrote:
> > So, I would like to propose for comment/consideration a new setup:
> >
> > Classroom sessions can be anytime a teacher wishes to sign up for and
> > tech. We either keep the wiki page updated or try and come up with
> > some calendar/feed for announcements about classes. (Or both).
> >
> > What do people think? Is this something we should look at going to?
> > Or are their better ideas moving forward?
>
> I used to work in education. I think this Fedora Classroom is a
> wonderful initiative. I have some thoughts in response to your request
> for feedback.
>
> I like the idea of flexible scheduling. But it doesn't have to
> entirely replace a regular schedule. You can have a known regular
> schedule, but allow variations from it if necessary.
>
> Another thought is rather than having the teachers define the topics,
> consider measuring potential demand for topics, and then seek
> teachers.
>
> My own Classroom use-profile is this: I'm in GMT+1000. I can be on IRC
> any hour of any day. I attend only the class topics that interest me,
> or read the logs if I miss the class. So I don't care at all about
> scheduling, what I find really valuable about the classes are: 1)
> graded introduction to a topic; 2) opportunity for questions.
>
> I can imagine a very different group of users who might not have their
> own internet connected computer, perhaps a group of them has to get
> together to book in advance and travel to a common location and
> collectively pay for an access time to a shared computer. I imagine
> that for a group like this, the scheduling would be important and that
> once the session had started, they would appreciate being able to have
> several topics covered.
>
> So I suspect that the student group will have very diverse needs that
> cannot possibly all be met simultaneously, so I think the policy
> should be as flexible as possible to allow for this diversity.
>
> I suggest a recommendation rather than a rule about minimum period
> notice between announcing and delivering the class. It is obvious to
> any presenter that attendance will be poor with too short a
> notification time.
>
> As well as the wiki Classroom page, I suggest intensive use of the
> fedora-announce list or fedora-general list to promote the classroom.
> Email is cheap and easily filtered and has a very wide audience. I
> suggest: 1) weekly announce email for all classes for the coming week;
> 2) another reminder announce 24 hours prior to each class or set of
> classes; 3) another announce 1 hour prior to each class. My thinking
> behind each of these is: "1" allows students to make advance
> arrangements; "2" is a timely reminder; "3" could really help to boost
> the numbers attending, it will catch people who are already online and
> interested. Perhaps "1" belongs on the classroom mailing list, but "3"
> should definitely be on the fedora-general list.
>
> 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.
>
> Thanks for this opportunity to give feedback. My ongoing appreciation
> to all the organisers and presenters in the Classroom.
>
> David
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> End of classroom Digest, Vol 1, Issue 3