[p2pu-webcraft] Things I learned about peer learning communities while conducting Javascript 101 last semester

[Parag Shah]

Here are a few things I learned about facilitating peer learning communities
while facilitating Javascript 101 last semester... maybe other people can
add  their own learning... A few of my points might give the feeling that I
am being critical of the participants, but that is not the case. I am only
documenting my observations...


   1. Participants at an average can dedicate about 5 - 8 hours a week along
   with their work and other responsibilities. Anything more than that will be
   difficult for everyone to keep pace with.
   2. It helps if the study material for every week is clearly cut out,
   along with activities, and expectations. Vague and open ended material will
   confuse a lot of people
   3. Frequent communication is very useful... something like a daily update
   which notes important questions, answers, activity submissions, some kudos
   and recognition for good work etc will help drive participation
   4. Some participants can be very unforgiving, often forgetting that the
   facilitator is also volunteering their time... do not let it bother you :-)
   5. Providing quick responses to questions can also be an important factor
   in driving participation. The responses may not be direct answers, but can
   be hints also
   6. It takes a huge amount of time to assess a participant's response to a
   challenge (for badges). It would help if it is possible to upvote individual
   responses of a large challenge.
   7. Having the material for the entire course ready upfront will help,
   because some participants may proceed fast and will be ahead of the group
   8. Having study buddies would be very helpful for many participants...




-- 
Thanks & Regards
Parag Shah
http://blog.adaptivesoftware.biz
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.p2pu.org/pipermail/p2pu-webcraft/attachments/20110429/a758e4ad/attachment.html>