[plug] PLUG sponsored newbie tutorials

[Anthony Jones]

On Wednesday 06 March 2002 14:27, Sol wrote:
> Anyhoo, this seems doable to me, though not all on my ownsome of course. 
> In keeping with the Open Source ethic and the old adage that "many hands 
> make light work" I'd like to know if there are PLUGgers willing to give 
> one lecture/tutorial/workshop presentation, or two even? I'd be happy to 
> coordinate it all, hell I'd do all the lectures myself, but that would 
> not be good as there are huge gaps in my own knowledge and I've only 
> been a pc user for 18 months.  Possible topics may include (as suggested 
> by Anthony Jones and amended by me - but subject to debate I dare say):

I am keen to work with you on the project. Perhaps we could organise a 
meeting for everyone who is interested in this (which I assume for now is 
just you and I).

> (NOTE: the heterogeneity of the Linux environment is a plus in my mind, 
however, it may confuse newbies. Whilst reference should be made to all major 
apps in a software category, possibly on one should be taught. However, we 
should not fall into the mentality of "training" people in an application 
(which is what M$ does and reinforces its monopoly), but of becoming aware of 
how a class of software works - process knowledge, not content knowledge - so 
that people become genuinely empowered software users - which is kind of the 
aim of OSS is anyway!)

Perhaps the best way would be to summarise the pros and cons of a number of 
products in each category then choose one which we will teach in each 
category. I see the main point of this course is to demonstrate that Linux 
can do everything that Windoze can and give people enough information so that 
if they get their machine set up at one of the PLUG workshops then they can 
simply take it home and use it. Think of it as after sales service.

> With regards to questions of time and place, I think that this is still 
open. I'm willing to organize it through Mudrock for an evening or even 
weekend and have confirmation that this can be arranged. 

Sounds good.

> This leads me onto my "icing on the cake" proposal: What do people think of 
the idea of issuing some form of certification (post-assessment) for those 
who've completed the course. My preference would be for a practical 
assessment where students demonstrate competencies and recieve a pass or fail 
as opposed to a written examination which would only test memory, not 
competency.

I'm not keen on a pass/fail type thing. Linux is a community based OS. This 
is a community based course. I think it would be much more community spirited 
to disseminate information without forcing people to compete against 
one-another.

This is just my opinion and we can always ask the "students" what they want 
to out of the course.

Anthony