Hi everyone, I just want to add my two cents as well!
We recently taught some of The Carpentries' modules during a 10-week long self-paced virtual summer school (hosted by the University of Pretoria, South Africa). We released a set of pre-recorded videos each week and they had to work through the material and exercises on their time. Instructors were available on Slack to answer any questions, and we had 2 online sessions per week to reflect/review the work and allow for interactive questions. Even though the installation instructions are given on Software and Data Carpentries' websites, some people still struggled to install the software. The most common misunderstandings we encountered: - When they click the link provided on the website and download the .exe file (for Windows), they assume the program is installed already. - When they download a compressed (.zip) file, they don't know how to extract the contents before being able to install the actual software. - If they managed to extract the contents from the compressed file, they did not realise that they needed to navigate to the newly extracted directory to access the installer - they would still try to install the software in the compressed file. Of course we also had issues with admin rights on some learners' laptops and had to provide specific steps to work around that. One simple solution is to record short videos that demonstrate how to install the various software programs on each operating system and link that in the installation instructions. If some of them still don't manage to install it successfully, an "installation party" can be arranged a day or two before the workshop is to start. Yes, docker might be "easier" for the instructors, but definitely not for the learners when they go back home. Best wishes, Bianca Bianca Peterson, Ph.D. Environmental Sciences (Genetics) Post-doctoral Research Fellow: Pharmaceutics Potchefstroom Campus North-West University South Africa 2531 <https://twitter.com/BinxiePeterson?lang=en> [image: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bianca-peterson-007b5b117/] <https://www.linkedin.com/in/bianca-peterson-007b5b117/> [image: https://github.com/BinxiePeterson] <https://github.com/BinxiePeterson> On Thu, Jul 8, 2021 at 7:31 PM Deborah Paul via discuss < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > I’d include “how to open a zipped file.” > > If I (or others here) can find it, there’s a great list of skills gathered > when we brainstormed what to put in the first Data Carpentry workshop. I’ll > have a look. > > Debbie > > > Sent from Shoe (my iPhone) > > On Jul 7, 2021, at 5:39 PM, Rohit Goswami <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Very few aspects of our lessons really require administrative access; but > it would be good to add a page on it. > — > Rohit > > On 7 Jul 2021, at 21:51, Elizabeth McAulay wrote: > > I think the following topics might be useful to have written down, but I'd > like to also advocate for instructors being willing to narrate and explain > these topics in workshops. The Carpentries tone for me has emphasized > learning and inclusivity, and that means acknowledging learner needs > through interaction during the workshop. I don't think anyone is suggesting > otherwise, but I thought I'd say it specifically so that the purpose of the > lesson, or maybe "pre-lesson," be understood in the larger picture. > > My suggestions for this lesson are: > 1) It might be good to know what "home directory" means in different > operating systems. > 2) Common spreadsheet programs > 3) Common text editor programs > > Slightly separate topic, in a recent Community Discussion Call, we covered > that US Government employees will never be given administrator privileges > to their machines. This was a discussion with two US Government agency > employees who had trained to become instructors, so they will be working to > lead workshops inside their agency. I thought a good one-pager that might > explain how machine IT staff could be brought in as helpers and advocates > could be useful. > > This list is for the purpose of general discussion about The Carpentries > including community activities, upcoming events, and announcements. Some > other lists you may also be interested in include discuss-hpc, discuss-r, > and our local groups. Visit https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/ to > learn more. All activity on this and other Carpentries spaces should abide > by The Carpentries Code of Conduct found here: > https://docs.carpentries.org/topic_folders/policies/code-of-conduct.html > *The Carpentries <https://carpentries.topicbox.com/latest>* / discuss / > see discussions <https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss> + > participants <https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/members> + > delivery options > <https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/subscription> Permalink > <https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/T2d21128097488a42-Mb722994bfa1b64c026a88937> > ------------------------------------------ This list is for the purpose of general discussion about The Carpentries including community activities, upcoming events, and announcements. Some other lists you may also be interested in include discuss-hpc, discuss-r, and our local groups. Visit https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/ to learn more. 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