Save the Date – Instructor Hangouts Oct. 16

It’s time for another round of Instructor Hangouts! Join us at our new times this Thursday, October 16 at 9AM and 4PM PDT (UTC-7) to discuss all things software workshop instruction.

I received a lot of comments after the last round from people who said they wish they could have jumped in for our video review & feedback session we ran in the evening – we’re going to take one more run at it, and as advertised, we’ve got a new timeslot a bit earlier in the day and also now on Thursdays so we don’t run into the weekend for other timezones. Also this time, we’ll run the video review at both sessions to accommodate everyone. We’ll watch the video together during the hangout, but if you’d like to have a look yourself, it’s up on YouTube. Per community suggestions, comments will be synthesized (by me) into a play-by-play and posted to the video for offline review afterwards. If you have any other teaching videos you’d like to review with the group, post them in the comments or on the forum linked below.

Also on the docket for next time, I’d like to discuss strategies for planning flexible lessons. The Software Carpentry Instructor Training advertises the concepts of Reverse Instructional Design, and formative assessments for adjusting to learner’s needs in situ; have you ever tried reverse instructional design for a workshop? Or, however you design your lessons, how do you keep them flexible enough to adapt to learner’s needs as you measure them? What have you tried for assessing learner’s understanding live, and how has it gone? Are you looking to improve your lesson planning technique, but not quite sure where to start? Ask us your questions, tell us your stories, give us your comments and we’ll learn from each other’s experiences. Also, feel free to peruse the lessons and ideas I’m beginning to compose on the topic here – it’s pretty sparse at the moment, but more to come very soon! I hope you’ll join us there!

Links!

Etherpad (with connection details – we’re still on Google Hangouts)

Mozilla Science Forum – Hangouts Section (Post discussion ideas, videos for review, comments and requests here!)