PEGAt NETC 2008 the Penn State Educational Technologists presented a session on how to develop, deliver and evaluate a Technology Boot Camp for Cooperative Extension Educators. Throughout 2008 we continued to offer face-to-face Technology Boot Camps.

Then, in 2009 we went virtual. During this 45 minute session we will discuss our experiences in conducting virtual Technology Training Boot Camps and share tips on what worked and what didn’t work.

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PEGHere are a few things we’d like to share with you today, PLUS we’d like to hear from you.

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PEGIn the past we have done face-to-face IT Boot camps throughout the state.

Most were hands-on with a few demos or discussion sessions

We have offered various topics (blogs, Multimedia Presentations with Adobe Presenter, Better computer practices, podcasting, wikis,

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PEG

With our travel $’s becoming less and less the NE region decided to go Virtual

They asked 1st!

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SHERRYFor US:

Consider the network limitations, how that might affect the sessions we could offer, the hands-on practice they could doDevelop a plan to ensure all participants knew their PSU password so they could access the meeting room (get to a signature station if not)Working with them to understand why they needed to congregate in conf room andwhat was needed in the room

- Projector, Internet connectivity for at least on computer (more if user’s were bringing their computers)Reminder emails with instructions for connecting and accessing class materialsTime to support/assist in getting the conference rooms set-up and test the audio/video in the room

(click)For THEM:Pick their sessionsgathering in conference room w/ laptop, projector, network connectionHave computer moved to conference room for hands-on practiceKnow the necessary passwords (PSU to get into AC, CAS to get into SP, etc.)Be prepared with class files/guide equipment Have necessary software installed on computers and accounts (ie. Blogger, SM) created

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SHERRYYou can see the different tracks we did for the 2 different days.(click again to see the #’s)

June 2, 200910:30-noon - Marketing Best Practices - 48 participants

Afternoon - Choose one of these:• Computer Best Practices (2 hours) - Vince & Peg - 25 participants• Using SharePoint More Effectively (2hours) - Sherry - 16 participants• Create a Multimedia Presentation with Adobe Presenter (2.5 hour session) - Jacki -- 9 participants

December 9, 2009Photo Manipulation- 47SharePoint Tips & Tricks - 47Online Survey Tool - 16

We had to drop the Create a Blog session for the Dec 9 camp but I offered it later in January.Jan 8 - Create a blog for the ones registered but didn't offer during camp - 8

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Jacki

It did work!!!We had two camps with different topics -- June 2 and Dec 9, 2009 More people attended 2nd camp They started thinking about what they needed for their conference rooms to do this again

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Jacki

Limit class size…participants registered for sessions, but class sizes were not limited. At the first camp, we got lucky and the participants were well distributed among the classes. The second camp we were not lucky and we had 50 register for a single session. We knew that one instructor could not handle that large of a group with hands-on materials. We ended up having to change the schedule around, move some people to different sessions, etc. to accommodate.

People need to read - participants didn't read enough to realize the class wasn't for beginners.. Messages were not relayed to participants

- needed to be in the conference room for the session to see Instructor & AC- needed to go back to their individual offices to do the Hands-on due to limited # of

connections in conference room (this was for the SP and Online Tools sessions) work in groups. others in my office aren't as advanced as i and were lost. i had to keep leaving my office to help them.Beginning and Advanced levelsIf we would have had a staff member who could have helped the beginners - it would have been much better. Maybe in the future have all staff attend one session in the am and one in the pm. That way we could help each other, and everyone could use a projector screen.Distance learning does save the travel time.....however, not as effective a being in a computer lab and having everyone sit in front of a computer and apply the techniques reviewed

Evaluation comments:Dec 9Photo Manip: I felt that we should have worked in groups. I was more advanced then others. I could have assisted others but was unable to do so when you're in your own office. Also, the tips sheets are pretty self explanatory.Photo Manip: A beginning level and a advanced level was needed. SharePoint: This session was very well done. Having the class post things to the training site so the class could see it up-date in real time was a great learning techniqueSharePoint: It was very fast and confusing for a first time user. It probably didn't help matters that we had three desk top computers all in the same room, speaking at different rates of speed. My internet connection wouldn't connect at first and until I got it connected - I was

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Jacki

Thanks for coming!

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