# Workshop format and how it affects lesson development
## CodeRefinery Retreat 2024

Slot: Tuesday, 27-02-2024 (14:00 - 16:00)

### Agenda
- Sabry presents his preparation on the topic
- Q&A and clarifications about the topic and prepare a list of formats
- Important not to go in to deep discussions during this session
- Divide the participants into two groups and they go through the list and provide feedback (20 min)
- In a shared document/any other platform of preference.
- What technology tool used is not important, but discussion is
- Group 1:
- In-person workshops + Small scale online workshop
-
- Group 2:
- Large scale online workshops + Large scale workshop with local in-person meetups
- Break 10 min
- One person from each group present the summary
- Document the findings
- Create a PR for https://coderefinery.org/workshops/plan about the discussion
- Use this branch : https://github.com/coderefinery/coderefinery.org/tree/cr-workshop-formats

### Possible formats
- ==In-person workshops==
- Invited by host
- Costs reimbursed by host (Travel money etc.), maybe speaker paid by host
- Host institution facilitate employee competence
- Make it easy for people to add this to their grant proposals (give them template text)
- More obligations for CR (high-quality course)
- We should train the trainers
- We have co-teaching which gives added value
- More work delegation to host
- Needs some limit of attendance eg. Max 40 per class
- Usually not everyone show up -> Tweak the maximum so that it is manageable but no-shows bring some added comfort
- Benefits of in-person
- Better continues feedback
- Better commitment by learners
- Better evaluation of productivity
- Better individual help
- Can do few days longer sessions
- Sustainability in a long run comes down to publicity
- This model is very localised -> we need to have the networks up in various places
- Current staff is localised in nordics
- Teasers of the workshop in conferences
- Webpages should be rewritten to accomodate and advertise the new model
- Other webinars and talks to advertise more
- ==Small scale online workshop==
- Initiated by host or CR
- If initiated by a host as tailored workshop then should be possible to reimburse for the speaker
- Less costs
- No travel funding required
- Benefits of small online
- Can be spread across multiple days with shorter courses
- Good continues feedback
- Good commitment by learners
- if active participation
- Good evaluation of productivity
- Good individual help
- more helpers with expertise in using windows os, linux, and mac os
- in-person helpers are more difficult to arrange anyway
- Max 40 participants
- effective interactions with participents
- ==Large scale online workshops==
- Initiated by CR
- More organizational work for CR
- Low level of obligation (by learners)
- Can accommodate 100s of participants
- Inadequate continues feedback
- Hard to judge learner commitment
- Harder to evaluate productivity
- Harder and not scalable to provide individual help
- All questions are documented and answers reusable
- More prone to technical issues
- Technical problems of learners become more visible as events get larger
- Can be spread across multiple days with shorter courses
- It became harder to motivate persons to join as instructors
- Communicating pre-requisites becomes harder, pre-requisites less likely followed
- More questions get asked and more answers get seen

- ==Large scale workshop with local in-person meetups==
- Better Individual help
- Better continuous feed back issues
- Continous quizzes after each exercise to gauge in real-time how the students understand the material. (must be anonymous)
- More than one host needs to handle logistics
- Disparate learner competence groups
- Better commitment by hosts
- Better commitment by learners
- Possible distraction due to technical issues
- Better to confine to few longer days
- What has the highest cost, physical courses or online courses? Can we estimate cost per learner in different scenaria?
- The room requires breaks and exercise session so that they have enough room/time to work together.
- Based on personal experience, day 3 benefited from local in-person meetups, the remaining days (especially week 2) barely did.

### Some discussion points to think about
- When resources become limited need to prioritize efforts that are sustainable
- Massive online workshops are very good publicity and the "right thing to do", but what CR get back in return is less
- We need to evaluate the productivity in the sense that amount of work needed to host the workshops and how much learners get from them
- Learners should not register just because it is free of charge and not follow the course seriously
- Would it be better to have two open online course per year to keep the brand populate and use it as an advertisement platform
- e.g. Git basics are thought and provide details on how to
- A payment of subscription system for hosts
- All hosts must register and should be listed in website
- All hosts get one workshop free before funding ends
- All workshop instructors and helpers can earn credits for their institute
- Institutes can purchase credits or a subscription entitles them for credits.

### Example summary of findings
==In-person workshops==
The host institution invites participants and covers the costs associated with the workshop, such as travel expenses for speakers.
CR workshop can add value to build completence of employees of host institution. CR can offer training as being part of grant proposals.
Giving paid in-person workshops require high-quality courses which can be achieved for example by training the trainers. The host institution is responsible for some of the work which makes it easier for CodeRefinery to organise. There is a limit on the number of attendees, usually with a maximum of 40 per class. The benefits of in-person workshops include better feedback, increased commitment from learners, improved evaluation of productivity, and individualized help. Sustainability of the program in the long run relies on effective publicity, including networks in various locations, teasers at conferences, revamped webpages, and other promotional activities like webinars and talks.

==Small scale online workshop==
Small scale online workshops can be initiated by the host institution or the organization. If initiated by the host, they should reimburse the speaker. These workshops have lower costs as there is no need for travel funding. The benefits of small online workshops include the ability to spread the content across multiple days with shorter courses, providing continuous feedback, improving learner commitment (if active participation is encouraged), evaluating productivity effectively, and offering individualized help with the support of experts in using different operating systems. The maximum number of participants is typically limited to 40 to ensure effective interactions with participants.

==Large scale online workshops==
Large scale online workshops are typically initiated by the organization running the program. However, they require more organizational work from the organization. These workshops have a lower level of obligation from learners, as they may be less committed compared to smaller workshops. Large scale online workshops can accommodate hundreds of participants, but they may face challenges in terms of providing continuous feedback, evaluating learner commitment, assessing productivity, and providing individualized help as the events get larger. However, all questions asked during the workshop are documented, and the answers can be reused. Technical issues are more likely to occur in large scale workshops, and any technical problems faced by participants become more visible as the event size increases. These workshops can also be spread across multiple days with shorter courses. However, it can be harder to motivate people to join as instructors, and communicating prerequisites for the workshop becomes more challenging, resulting in a lesser likelihood of prerequisites being followed. Additionally, there tends to be an increase in the number of questions asked and answers seen.

==Large scale workshop with local in-person meetups==
Large scale workshops with local in-person meetups offer better individualized help and continuous feedback. One approach to gauge understanding in real-time is through anonymous quizzes after each exercise. However, organizing logistics becomes more complex with multiple hosts involved. There is a potential challenge in dealing with disparate levels of learner competence. Both hosts and learners tend to show better commitment in these workshops. However, technical issues may still pose distractions. It is advisable to confine these workshops to a few longer days. One question to consider is the cost comparison between physical and online courses, and it may be beneficial to estimate the cost per learner in different scenarios. An rough estimate is 100 Euros per participant (budget/number of participants). Additionally, the physical space for the workshop should allow for breaks and exercise sessions to facilitate collaboration. Based on personal experience, local in-person meetups were particularly beneficial on day 3, while the remaining days, especially week 2, saw less impact.

## Summaries for chats /social media

Summary one
In summary, the host institution invites participants and covers the costs associated with the workshop, including travel expenses for speakers. CodeRefinery workshops can add value to the competence of employees, and the training can be included as part of grant proposals. In-person workshops require high-quality courses and may involve training the trainers. In-person workshops have a maximum attendance limit of around 40 participants and offer benefits such as better feedback, increased learner commitment, improved evaluation of productivity, and individualized help. Sustainability of the program relies on effective publicity and promotional activities. Small scale online workshops can be initiated by the host or organization and offer flexibility in terms of spreading content, providing continuous feedback, and offering individualized help. Large scale online workshops initiated by the organization require more organizational work and face challenges in continuous feedback, learner commitment, and individualized help. Large scale workshops with local in-person meetups offer better individualized help and continuous feedback but require logistical coordination. The cost per learner can be estimated, and the physical space should accommodate breaks and exercise sessions for collaboration. Local in-person meetups have shown benefits, particularly on day 3, while the impact decreases in later days.

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summary two

in summary, host institutions cover workshop costs and invite participants, with CodeRefinery workshops adding value to employee competence and offering potential inclusion in grant proposals, while in-person workshops benefit from high-quality courses, limited attendance, and provide better feedback, increased learner commitment, improved productivity evaluation and individualized help, having their sustainability reliant on effective publicity; small-scale online workshops offer flexibility and continuous feedback, while large-scale online workshops require more organization and face challenges in feedback and learner commitment, and large-scale workshops with local meetups offer individualized help but require logistical coordination and have a diminishing impact over time.

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## Social media summary

Summary from #CodeRefinery team session on workshop formats:

In our session on workshop formats, we divided into two groups thinking of small workshops (in-person and online), and large workshops (online, and online with concurrent in-person sessions). For small workshops, we would like to make it easier to request one (practically: a way for an organization to provide funding and get an instructor to run a session for them).

For large online workshops, we need to better evaluate how it goes (live polls), and we need to reduce the complexity of attending, organizing, and teaching in a workshop. We do cool stuff, but cool also means new and complex. It's easy to volunteer to teach for 20 people in a room, a higher threshold for online/livestream/YouTube-posted - even though we do co-teaching and have put a lot of effort into getting instructors started.