Draft participant handbook

[dfm]

Some sections that need words:

• [x] Goals: Right now this is just text from the website. Let's be a bit more specific about what we want to achieve.
• [x] What to expect: broad brush strokes primer for (We will do pitch slides, you'll log in when you want in your time zone and you'll do XYZ, at the end of your session you'll do ABC before you log off)
• [x] Schedule: I think we've settled on something like:
  • [x] coffee breaks every 3 hours: some of these breaks will include activities designed with help from Charley
  • [x] check-ins/report-backs/stand-ups every ~6 hours: what should these look like?
  • [x] research journals/check-out whenever folks log off: this should include a form to provide anonymous feedback, but also a short summary of what everyone has been up to
  • [x] final show-and-tell at the end: What should this look like? One presentation per group? Videos? Slides? I'm probably inclined to aim for one slide per participant summarizing what they learned.
• [x] Pitches: We need to design a pitch template and describe it in the handbook. In particular, I think we want to encourage folks to consider how to make the projects modular and list specific sub-projects that can be assigned.
• [x] How to collaborate remotely: This should have some tips for tools and workflows. These will mostly just be recommendations, but I think we should require(?) that at least some of the key communication pass through Slack. Things like open google hangouts, remote pair coding, github projects, etc. @grd349: Can you take a look at this especially?
• [x] How to lead a project: I'd like this section to include some text about things that we expect from a project lead. In particular, encouraging them to make sure that they check in regularly with the other participants.

Other sections? Other thoughts?

[grd349]

Do we need a 'What to expect' section. I.e., a broad brush strokes primer for (We will do pitch slides, you'll log in when you want in your time zone and you'll do XYZ, at the end of your session you'll do ABC before you log off). It's possible this doesn't work but some sort of setting expectations so people are not intimidated by the format. Make sense?

[dfm]

Yes - I love this! Adding it to the checklist above.

[grd349]

@dfm Yes - I will look at projects. Current thoughts are something like 3 resources: using Git(hub) 101 clone/add/commit/push/pull; Contributing on GitHub issues/fork/PR/review/merge; Using GitHub projects to work with others.

The first 2 could be taken from external sources (plenty out there) and the third could be a medium length video. Equally, the first two could be a video if all are keen. (gotta practice online delivery as much as possible)

Does it make sense to have a slack channel for each 'tutorial' video to collect all questions?

[dfm]

I'm going to open a separate issue about collecting online resources because that's a great idea!

[dfm]

@benmontet: I made some (but not enough!) progress on this today. Any words, edits, suggestions you can add would be much appreciated!

[benmontet]

I think other sections we should have are "Code of Conduct" (which I wrote) and "Tips for First-Timers" (which I did not write).

I also made some (but not enough) progress with words and will hand off. I think we can be finished in 24 hours if we all put a little time aside today/tomorrow!

[dfm]

We're getting there! The main sections that need to be filled in are:

1. The section describing pitches: what they are and how the discussion should proceed. There's some text in the Pitches document, but it needs to be expanded. I think that this is the key one we need to finish before sending invites.
2. The section with all the tips: I really don't feel qualified to do this, but I'm happy to start chipping at it later this evening. I think that the main one that needs to have something in it before we send out the invitations is the "Tips for First-Timers".

Otherwise I think we're in good shape!

[benmontet]

These words all look great! I've been in the unfortunate position of dealing with plagiarism cases all day (grades are due tomorrow) but that's now done so I get to do some writing

[dfm]

I'm going to close this now because we have a full draft. Let's open new issues if things need to be fixed!