Developer Roadshows/Events/wa/Tracks

Designing tracks for an event takes time. Expect changes to accommodate who actually attends in the end, and the daily dynamics of the event.

The tracks for the West Africa (as an example) took at least 3 iterations, and still changed when the event began.

"Tip: involve the participants in designing the agenda and programme, and leave flexibility for change right up until the first workshop(s)."

A mailing list was established and participants invited, while the web site reflected the objectives and programme under discussion, providing an opportunity for participants to engage in pre-event activities. Pre-event activities were designed to streamline the work at the event. In essence, the number of tracks was reduced over time, and the intention was to shift as much work as possible into pre-event activities.

A planning team in West Africa discussed the various options and the event started with the tracks listed under Version 3, with a few modifications:


 * The requested enhancements to eXe were partially implemented before the event started. The track leader demonstrated scientific notation in an eXe page, and the primitive approach to printing content (generate html and print from a browser). In view of the nature of the group of participants interested in eXe, this track focussed on localisation.
 * The Wiki Interface and content development track split into the Kewl Track and the Digital Resources Databank Track, as the educators required for the Wiki track were unavailable for the event. There were however participants interested in that track and it is suggested they watch developments and participate in the Wikieducator initiative.
 * Originally, the School Management System track was to be built around SchoolTool and/or OSMIS (though a pre-event activity was to discover and evaluate other options. The OSMIS track leader was unavailable, and the air ticket for the SchoolTool track leader from the USA was too expensive. In addition, SchoolTool was deemed less than ideal for Africa, and the track spent time identifying the real needs, towards a more relevant alternative.

The pre-event programme did not actually run too smoothly even though the mailing list was successfully setup and participants were successfully invited, the recommendation is to make decisions early, and identify champions to run pre-event activities for each track.