1 of 15

Tips on Giving a Workshop

(using recent LODLAMTO workshop as an example)

Alison Hitchens

C4LN May 26-27, 2016, Kitchener, ON

2 of 15

Why a workshop?

Active learning

Hands-on

Engagement

Building skills

3 of 15

Learning objectives

  • What will people know/understand at the end of your workshop?
    • e.g. The difference between human readable web & machine actionable web
  • What will people be able to do at the end of your workshop?
    • e.g. Be able to identify possible entities in a dataset or resource

​

4 of 15

Experiential objectives

  • What experience do you want participants to have?
    • e.g. An inclusive and safe workshop environment
  • What do you want participants to feel?
    • e.g. Excitement at the possibilities of linked data

5 of 15

Consider (& check!) assumptions

  • About learning
    • e.g. Adult learners need to know how this content relates to them in real life
    • e.g. Attention spans wane after 20 minutes of attention
  • About the topic
    • e.g. LAM people need to know about linked data to be able to have input into discussions around Bibframe and other initiatives

​

6 of 15

Consider (& check!) assumptions

  • About your audience
    • e.g. Participants have little or no linked data knowledge
  • About the facilities
    • e.g. Participants will have laptops and wi-fi
  • About the event
    • e.g. This workshop needs to lead into the following one

7 of 15

How will you use the time?

Do you need to account for a break?

How much talking vs. doing?

How long will the exercise(s) take?

How long with they actually take?!

8 of 15

Creating the content (based on the objectives!)

Is there a logical progression of concepts/skills in your topic?

Can you build on concepts already familiar to the participants?

Do you need to break down concepts into smaller pieces?

9 of 15

Will you need help?

How intensive are the exercises?

How many participants will there be?

Are technical issues likely?

10 of 15

Are your slides accessible?

Do you have good contrast?

Are important things highlighted using more than just colour?

Is the font large enough to be read from the back of the room?

11 of 15

Consider workshop accessibility

Are you facing your audience when you speak?

Are you using a microphone if provided?

Are you repeating participant questions using the microphone?

​

12 of 15

Practice on your friends

Check understanding -- do your instructions mean what you think they mean?

Check timing -- how long does it actually take to explain that concept?

13 of 15

Tips gathered from the C4LN audience

  • From Software Carpentry -- using post-its to indicate if need help and if finished exercise
  • Interactive e.g. submit through Google Forms etc., reach those not comfortable speaking in large group
  • Learning improv can improve your teaching
  • Think about whether need slides; maybe whiteboard with large tip markers
  • Shared bulletin board during class

14 of 15

Contact Info

Alison Hitchens�Acting Associate University Librarian, Research & Digital Discovery Services, University of Waterloo Library�E-mail (ahitchen@uwaterloo.ca)�Twitter: @ahitchens�Slideshare (aehitchens)�

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC-BY-SA�

15 of 15

Some Resources

​

​