Learning4Content/Workshops/Face-to-Face schedule/L4C53/Workshop Report

Workshop Dates

The face 2 face workshop ran for 2.5 days from 23rd-25th of February, 2009, with Robert Kruhlak as facilitator

Acknowledgments

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to facilitate this workshop and the support provided by Commonwealth of Learning (Patricia and Wayne in particular). Cecil Johnson should be commended for his foresight, local logistic support and organising the workshop. I would also like to thank the participants for their enthusiasum and effort.

Introduction and Background

Originally orchestrated by Cecil Johnson of the Grenada Ministry of Education and Patrica Schlicht of the Commonwealth of Learning, the workshop was undertaken with the understanding that curriculum officers in the Ministry of Education and high school teachers in Grenada would gain Wiki skills that could be passed on to colleagues within the Ministry and schools. Future workshops are to be organised for additional schools at the secondary and primary levels.

Participants

Seventeen out of eighteen participants on the participants list attended the workshop, all of whom signed their learning contracts.

Pre-workshop Preparations

Mainly conducted by COL focal point, Cecil Johnson, and Patricia Schlicht the Learning4Content coordinator at COL.

Accomodation

The facilator stayed at the Flamboyant Hotel in St. Georges. The view was spectacular, the staff were pleasant, the room was clean, and the wireless internet was perfect for preparation and certification of participants in the evenings. Recommended for future guest facilitators.

Venue

The venue at the Anglican High School computer lab which has the capacity to serve up to about 20 participants on a 1-to-1 computer basis. The internet connection was reasonable for the entire workshop -- it dropped as we were closing the workshop on the third day <smile>. We had one mishap, a fuse blew on the morning of the first day of the workshop causing half of the participants to lose their computers for about 20 minutes until power was restored. Refreshments were provided for all of the participants by the high school.

Workshop Proceedings

I followed the WikiEducator workshop guidelines for day to day activities with relatively little variation, with catch-up being possible for entry-level participants resulting from having some of the more skilled participants work with the less skilled participants during the workshop. All participants acheived Apprentice Level 1. Several participants are well on their way to acheiving Wikibuddy status and should be considered as potential facilitators of future workshops.

Lessons learned

This group of participants had a very wide range of computer and internet skills.

• Pairing of content teacher with IT teacher was a big success.
• Participants should be encouraged to bring their own laptops where applicable.
• For a group with diverse computer and internet skills enpowering the skilled participants to help the weaker participants is essential
• Old computer mice were a significant problem due to the size and quality of the surface available for mouse movements.
• Adding all participant user pages to a workshop category for example Category:L4C53 was helpful in speeding up certification using the WikiMaster framework and participant navigation to the workshop page.
• Certifying participants to appropriate levels in the evening after first day is a big motivator for the second day of the workshop.
• Additional preplanning would have been beneficial. For example, having all of the computers upgraded to more modern web browsers if possible and having WikiEducator set as the home page before the workshop begins.

Recommendations

• If possible, future workshops in Grenada should be facilitated by workshop graduates that have attained Wikibuddy status. This will accelerate the building of local capacity in the country. There are several participants who have been identified by the facilitator and communicated to Cecil Johnson of the Ministry of Education.
• A visiting facilitator should bring several optical mice to the workshop. They don't take up much space and would temporarily remove the worst mice from circulation improving the user experience significantly.
• Continue with the practice of pairing a content teacher with an IT teacher.
• Upgrade computers with old browsers before the workshop begins.
• Set browser home page to WikiEducator before the workshop begins.
• Inform new facilitators of the new user list which should significantly speed up account creation, verification, and login for participants with weaker computer and internet skills.
• Create a redirect to the workshop page prior to the workshop. For example L4C53.