Education Program Ideas

New Course Ideas

• Advanced Adoption Courses (Open Office, GIMP, Tech Support Courses)

• Staff and Volunteer Teacher Training (Teaching the Teachers how to Teach!)

• Keyboarding Classes Using Free Online Software (This could help to prepare people typing tests required for certain lines of work, and could help people succeed in Free Geek's educational opportunities)

• Problem-Based Command Line Course (To Follow Basic Command Line and Advanced Command Line...Rob Love said he would be interested in teaching a problem-based course every other time he is here)

I would like to Work on/Improve:

• Follow-up:
  • Certifications/Graduation/Sense of Accomplishment for Students
  • Retention - we keep them coming back, and they keep the knowledge acquired
  • Surveys - I am interested in the response to the prompt: What did you learn? How do people explain what they have learned? How does Free Geek prepare people for different jobs/educational opportunities/hobbies?

• Curriculum - Can our substitute teachers step in and teach a course with ease?

• Classroom Space
  • Stock of Paper/Pens in classroom
  • Aesthetics and acoustics of classroom
  • Course Objectives in each learning area – like in pre-build (make sure students are made aware of objectives. point them in the direction, and advise that they read them/read aloud/help those with trouble reading.)
  • Explanation flow-charts and how to use them! For those who have NEVER used a flow-chart before, mastering a new tool and new vocabulary at the same time can be overwhelming. If we teach the tool (flow-Charts) using familiar vocabulary, then the learner can plug new information into a familiar tool and feel less intimidated. (See Ali's example on her wiki page)
  • Spell out Colors on Color-Coded Flow-Charts This is just one more tool to help people know where they are supposed to be looking! I want to spell colors out because some people are color-blind and some people are just not very observant (example: I didn't notice charts were color-coded until it was pointed out to me).

Some Questions: What do we have to offer people who finish build? How do we keep them at FREE GEEK and challenge them appropriately?