Alamb: /* Infrastructure/Education */

2012-02-15T21:42:08Z

Infrastructure/Education

Alamb: Created page with "'''BUILD INSTRUCTOR TRAINING 7/28/11''' ==In attendance:== Nate, Jeffrey, Sean E, Alan, Gordon, Steve, Max, John, Jason, Blaine, Keith, Amelia, Meredith ==Conclusion from int…"

2012-02-15T21:32:23Z

Created page with "'''BUILD INSTRUCTOR TRAINING 7/28/11''' ==In attendance:== Nate, Jeffrey, Sean E, Alan, Gordon, Steve, Max, John, Jason, Blaine, Keith, Amelia, Meredith ==Conclusion from int…"

New page

'''BUILD INSTRUCTOR TRAINING 7/28/11'''

==In attendance:==
Nate, Jeffrey, Sean E, Alan, Gordon, Steve, Max, John, Jason, Blaine, Keith, Amelia, Meredith

==Conclusion from introductions:==
It's the rest of the world that's quirky, we're the normal ones.

==How do we organize our thoughts around volunteer management in Build?==
'''We did the following exercise, and this is the feedback that people gave:'''

*My favorite thing about instructing volunteers in Build is:

**The variety of people
**Seeing the light come on
**Answering technical questions and showing people how to do things
**Working with weird systems
**Getting to do something new
**Figuring out how to answer particular questions for particular different kinds of people
**Teaching people how to diagnose
**Bringing technical concepts to people who are deeply non-technical (analogizing)
**Demystifying the computer
**Learning from Builders about what they want to accomplish
**Recruiting people into Post-Build
**Waking the kids (and their parents!) up to the possibility that they can be builders

*My least favorite thing about instructing volunteers in Build is:

**Running the Build room with only one person when it's busy
**Lack of resources
**Volunteers who are just here to get in, get a computer and get out (and are rushing)
***Possibility of upping the number that people build before taking one home
***These “client-volunteers” are doing really important work for us and spreading the word when they leave
**Lack of clarity on the goals for Build instructors
**Trying to help folks know when they can get a build credit for a Rejected system
**Equipment shortages
**Especially when it's one little cosmetic thing, like an I/O shield or hard drive caddy
**How can we make sure this is being reinforced in System Eval?
**leaning solutions & gunk removers
**Tools that migrate
**Machines that are incorrectly categorized in the warehouse
**Better signage/process for recycling & sorting in the Build room
**Volunteers who are angry and/or irrational
**Volunteers who don't take direction or constructive criticism
**When long-term volunteers stop showing up out of nowhere

==Recap of last Build instructor training==
*Encouraging peer-to-peer learning
*Encouraging volunteers to assist & orient new Builders (delegation)
*Facilitate troubleshooting techniques and skills
*Remind Builders that it's not about the knowledge that they have, it's about having the skills to troubleshoot and figure things out on their own
*Brainstorming about documentation and education
*Making Build accessible to a wider variety of people
*RAM policy
*Troubleshooting methods:
**Asking questions to determine what they know
**Simplifying (scientific method)
**Utilize previous experience
*Minutes from previous Build instructor trainings are on the wiki now! See: http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Build_Instructor_Trainings

==Optical Drive Testing==
'''Issues that have cropped up:'''
*Needing to install & use k3b when drive won't blank
*k3b has a similar bug in which it won't automatically unmount
*Build overflowing with incoming untested optical drives
*Volunteer frustration (estimated 3-4 times a shift)
*Need clear set of diagnostic tools that are easily accessible
*Not knowing whether drive or media is what's bad
**Having a known good drive for comparison would help

'''Brainstorm of possible solutions'''
*Use “3 times and you're out” rule to determine when to recycle drive
*Using stickers rather than x-es?
*Moving optical drives that have failed into a different bin?
*Optical drive testing station in Build
*Potentially partnering with AT to test the ones that have failed twice

'''Commits from this discussion'''
#Sean will send an e-mail with command line tips for seeing whether optical drives are working or not
#Jason will look into updating the KVM

==Laptop QCs==
It's here! And it has its own documentation! This is on the wiki, linked to the main Build page.
*When printing, put it on different colored paper.
*Bring laptops back to Laptops for battery testing (which has its own station)
*Wireless: if Builder is not connected via ethernet cable, update manager will try to update software and not be able to (apt-get errors)
*On behalf of our bandwidth, please make sure that Builders are installing updates via the wired connection, not wireless. Everything will go much faster for everyone.
*Builder instructors should aspire to try to go through this documentation and process themselves so that they can be more comfortable teaching it to other volunteers.
*If we're out of laptops to QC in the TARDIS during a Build shift, feel free to go over to Laptops to see if they have any more lying about.
*Make sure to update the Keeper label, it tracks the progress of the build.
*Put printmes inside the laptop - there's no need to tape them.
*Some confusion coming from what's okay in terms of optical drive function and what needs to be recycled (and for desktop Build too!)

==Infrastructure/Education==
Troubleshooting guides are up on the wiki! Check out: http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Build_Troubleshooting_Guide

'''Infrastructure'''
*ounting monitors on the walls so that people of different heights can be more comfortable. Probably will begin with a few to start out with and see how people respond to them.
*Upper shelves also function as a place for useful stuff that isn't stored anywhere else
*New shelving unit is coming soon! This should help with optical drive storage.

'''Education'''
“Learn More” packets – more in-depth than troubleshooting guides

==Policy Documentation==
Sean has been consolidating these on the wiki. See: http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Category:Build_Policies

@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 '''Infrastructure'''
-*ounting monitors on the walls so that people of different heights can be more comfortable. Probably will begin with a few to start out with and see how people respond to them.
+*Mounting monitors on the walls so that people of different heights can be more comfortable. Probably will begin with a few to start out with and see how people respond to them.
 *Upper shelves also function as a place for useful stuff that isn't stored anywhere else
 *New shelving unit is coming soon! This should help with optical drive storage.

BIT 110728 - Revision history

Alamb: /* Infrastructure/Education */

Alamb: Created page with "'''BUILD INSTRUCTOR TRAINING 7/28/11''' ==In attendance:== Nate, Jeffrey, Sean E, Alan, Gordon, Steve, Max, John, Jason, Blaine, Keith, Amelia, Meredith ==Conclusion from int…"