This is how our workshops are run. If you buy a ticket or make a group workshop booking, this is what you are in for
Here is what you can expect if you buy a ticket to one of our workshops:
The first thing that happens is that you buy a ticket to the workshop.
A few days before the workshop, you will get an email with a whole lot of necessary details. This email will include an invitation to join a Discord server.
If you are not familiar with Discord, it is a voice and text chat platform. It is very versatile. It is the main communication platform used in these workshops.
This YouTube video does a great job of explaining what Discord is about.
Please respond to the welcome email as soon as you can! This will let us know that you got it and it isn't sitting in your spam folder or anything like that. We'll keep trying to get hold of you until you answer and that is no fun for anyone!
You will be allowed to join the Discord server immediately, there will not be a lot to see yet. You will see the code of conduct, and you will be encouraged to introduce yourself to the other folks in the course.
If you are new to Discord then it would be good for you to spend a bit of time poking around and familiarising yourself with it.
Note You'll notice that there are not a lot of people on the server. This is intentional. We make sure that the groups are kept quite small so that everyone gets the support they need, and so that the people taking the course can make genuine connections with their peers.
Note It would be good for you to join hte server as soon as you can in case there are any difficulties.
When the workshop time starts, you will be given access to a whole lot of content on Discord. This will include:
The fact that these are sent to you so that you can go through them at your own pace makes the kick-off mechanism user-friendly for people in different time zones.
Since you will already be on Discord, you will be able to ask questions and get quick answers about anything that is covered.
At this point you will have access to all the workshop content. You will be expected to go through the content and exercises in the right order, at your own pace.
We do self-paced learning because it's just better for people:
You will be allowed to move at your optimal pace, and you will have an expert on hand for whenever you need a bit of help.
The content itself will lead you through a series of practical exercises of increasing complexity. You will build your skills, mental frameworks and confidence by writing code and solving problems.
The content will often include a number of extra challenges and side quests for those who want to stretch themselves further. This will be different for different workshops.
Once the workshop begins, you will be given access to a lot of content and text channels. If the workshop content has 18 sections, then there will be 18 text channels. One per section.
As you move through the workshop content, you will be able to ask questions about what you are doing in the relevant channels. You will also be able to see past discussions with other participants, this is often helpful.
If you are a bit shy about posting your questions in places where others can read them, then you will also be able to send private messages to the educator.
There will also be a dedicated "office" voice channel where you can go to have a conversation with the educator. You will be able to pop in at any time during the workshop hours and get the attention you need. This is a good place for solving weird bugs and doing screenshares and other exercises.
Last but not least, if you are being quiet in all the channels, then the educator will reach out to you to check if you are doing alright.
This is why we only run small group workshops: Giving people all the support they need takes a lot of care and attention!
You will see a bunch of optional but recommended live "check in" events displayed in the Discord server. These will be live, group discussions that you can join.
In these events you will be able to:
There will be a lot of these scheduled in order to cater for people in different time-zones. In general, it is useful if you attend at least two of these per day.
These check in meetings are very useful for your own connectedness and motivation. Talking about your plans and progress in a group is very helpful.
Eventually time will run out. We will have our final check-in meeting and say our goodbyes (or our "see you later"s).
The Discord server will be left online for a number of weeks after the workshop to allow participants to refer to old conversations and to connect with one another.
Shortly after the workshop, you will receive a short survey asking you for feedback, and seeing if there is anything else you would like to learn with us.