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 for typing tests required for certain lines of work, and prepare students for various educational opportunities at FREE GEEK)

• 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) In Progress! Yes!

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 – The objectives posted in pre-build are wonderful. I want to post station-specific objectives throughout FREE GEEK.
  • Explanation of 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 sample flow chart on her wiki page...something along those lines could be helpful)
  • 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).
• Use Moodle for Course Syllabi

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

• we currently have 4 options: (they all take there own type of special person)
  • Advanced testing, testing harddrives, memory, procs & mobos, cdburner & dvd players, and various cards.
  • laptops, set up just like build, the hardware is much more intricate
  • Macs (apple), also set up just like build, the hardware is easier to teach and deal with.
  • build teaching, assisting: this is an option in all the build areas.