---
# System prepended metadata

title: NeIC AHM 2021 workshop "about organizing online workshops"
tags: [NeIC]

---

# NeIC AHM 2021 workshop "about organizing online workshops"

###### tags: `NeIC`

:::info
## Resources

- This document: https://hackmd.io/@coderefinery/ahm-2021
- Slides: https://cicero.xyz/v3/remark/0.14.0/github.com/coderefinery/neic-ahm-2021/main/slides.md/
- AHM timetable: https://indico.neic.no/event/172/timetable/#20210128
- Blog post: https://coderefinery.org/blog/2020/07/31/mega-coderefinery/
- Presentation at CarpentryCon 2020 (video): https://2020.carpentrycon.org/schedule/#session-32
:::

This document will be archived openly, please don't include identifying information.

## Ice-breaker question

**Are online workshops better or worse compared to in-person? Can you name one advantage of online workshops?**

(please write here - "pen" button top left of the page)

- advantages:
    - no need to travel
    - easietr to co-organize workshops with people from other countries
    - easier to record the presentations
    - easier to extend the workshop in time and allow for some free hours so that people can get back to other duties a  well or use that time to consolidate the material
- disadvantages:
    - harder to *connect* with the participants, tricky at the beginning - when some people were not so used to online tool - all fine now, though
    - harder to socialize with participants
    - may be challenging to follow unless one has [at least] one external screen
- casual attendance for workshops that you wouldn't invest travel and in-person time to
- comfortable chair
- advantage: Can attend many events more easily
- disadvantage: Can attend many events more easily

- ...
- in some cases could be more scalable +1
- advantage: no travel, disadvantage: no travel +2
- ...
- can attend many more workshops! disadvantage: tiring!
- Attendees seem more enclined to ask questions, which they would not dare to do in a face-to-face event +1


:::success
## Outline

- (5-10 min) Introduction and icebreaker
  - Briefly introduce organizers
  - Introduce hackmd
  - Icebreaker 
- (20 min) Presentation
  - CodeRefinery project (Radovan)
  - Vision for online training (Radovan)
  - How we did it (Richard)
  - Roles (Anne) 
- (10-15 min) Collaborative work (in breakout rooms)
  - Share something you do or you have seen which really improved the experience
  - How can workshops be more inclusive?
  - List things that often go wrong or are often missing in online meetings/workshops
- (15 min) Discussion (back in this room)
- (5 min) Feedback about this workshop
:::


## Questions/comments on slide presentation

- You can ask questions like this
    - You'll get an answer like this
    - Or raised via voice



## Collaborative work

Until xx:20


### Share something you do or you have seen which really improved the experience

Our "main" workshop room:
- Separate people responsible for content and for zoom and for keeping time and to step things if we go overtime or need a break
- Recordings made available
- Presentation template specifically for video presentations
- Tag/annotate video so that visitors know where in the video to jump to see a particular segment
- Icebreakers in intervals, not only at the beginning but also on day 2, day 3, ...


Discussion room 1:
- having a Zoom host different than the lecturer
- small breakout room
- having enough breaks +1
- Add some fun sessions! +1
- extra session dedicated for technical details: software installation, Zoom check, ...
- I found it complicated to organize my screen to follow the main speaker, do things on my terminal, check the QA until I started to use a 2nd screen (TV) in addition to my PC : that could be a "recommended" option
- not to have a full day online meeting
- Zoom improved over the last months, in my opinion
- Backup for technical zoom problems (links)
- Sometimes the Helper was not much /experienced and too shy for sharing his/her screen, which was blocking learners also: maybe "training" a minimum the helpers in advance and giving them instructions about how to start would help
- Have a "slide" presenting on how to organize your screen (windows with hackmd, chat, etc.) - if one has one screen only
- Icebreaker questions do a good to get participants started being active on e.g. HackMD.
- I find it tricky to motivate newbies to use the HackMD. I have been in workshops where one uses Google docs, which may be easier for some - no need to learn an extra syntax
- 
- How to motivate persons to write feedbacks?
- Tell your learners which communication channel to use and when
- Deliver some kind of "certificate" that is recognized elsewhere (may require the completion of some exercise, or only attendance), especially now that this becomes common (for example with HPC related events)

Discussion room 2:
- Nerdy t-shirt competition (one of the first types like this that worked!)
- Asynchronous discussion in document
- Chat in addition to meeting (if doesn't overload...)
- Work pages to list other available resources easily
- Helpers in breakout rooms
- Demonstration and practical examples, share screen.
- Enough breaks! 
    - and on time
- Partial attendance / attendance with less than full attention (but watch overload)


### How can workshops be more inclusive?

Our "main" workshop room:
- Easier to ask questions if the questions are asynchronous in chat or document
- Recordings allow to rewatch, stop, and revisit
- Icebreakers in intervals, not only at the beginning but also on day 2, day 3, ...
- Multi-purpose social ice-breakers to also solve


Discussion room 1:
- I noticed that sometimes people attend but do not have the "correct" technical background, which makes it difficult for them to follow and for others in their breakout room: why not have some kind of "test" or selection with basic questions the candidate participants would have to answer to assess their level and put them in relevant rooms (absolute beginners, "normal", advanced...)
- asynchronous participation made possible
- good advertisiment - using different channels/email lists, possibility to check the recordings afterwards, if the schedule does not fit or in a different continent
- survey prior to the course
- pooling into groups. All on same level, or have different levels?
- Turn up is often low (many register but do not attend in the end), whereas for paying events that does not happen so much, although the quality of the training provided is second to none: would asking for a financial contribution motivate learners more to attend and participate?


Discussion room 2:
- Asking question anonymously
- downside: record everything and publish it
- Better ways to separate attendee questiosn from recording
- Prepare agenda carefully, leave enough room for discussion.
- 



### List things that often go wrong or are often missing in online meetings/workshops

Our "main" workshop room:
- Not enough breaks and too long sessions
- Not always easy to get participants start to speak
- Present slides the same way as they would be presented in person (not taking into account small screens)
- Recordings
- In-person "chit-chat" and networking during breaks/dinners
- Clearly communicate consent


Discussion room 1:
- trickier to help with technical issues
- breaks
- breaks and social sessions need to be separate
- when you have a technical problem (loss of connection, computer crash or similar) you can be lost and never catch up
- social interaction, Menti could help though :D
- distractions from other things on your computer like banners popping up for incoming email, slack channels and the like. Remind  people to put program notifications on snooze.
- People tend to join a particular breakout room not based on the topic but on who attends ("important" peopel attract attendance), and they often wait until the last minute to join

Discussion room 2:
- Long sessions
- Connection problems
- Not adapting agenda
    - running too long 9-5
    - 2-3 afternoons better than one full 
- Events back-to-back with no buffer in between
- Very hard to get people's attenion when you can do other things at the same time.
- 






## Feedback

List one thing that was particularly good and one thing that should be changed or improved for next time.

Good:
- very nice overview on how the CodeRefinery team is organizing workshops, I particulary like the distribution of tasks - particularly important for very large workshops
- good breakout room discussions +1
- it was really nice to hear how you saw pandemic and lockdowns also as an opportunity for you in CodeRefinery
- cool to hear about the large number of participants that attended CodeRefinery workshops
- it was really good that the structure of this workshop was something that could be used in our own workshops

To improve:
- ...
- Is it possible to provide advice not tied to the codeerefinery (so others can benefit)
    - I think a lot of these ideas can be used in other workshops. It is very hard to talk about something that you have not gone through yourself.
- the "summary" session was bland and not very summarizing
- (both + and -) Tying 1 name to a role in the workshop. It would seem that it is always the same persons with the same roles. But I may have missed part of the presentation.


