Lessons Learned: 5 takeaways from Free & Remote STEM Camp
Challenge Every Bias
I don’t like coding, and that is the reason why I designed this course. For some reason, I grew up with a bias that girls are not as techy as boys. While navigating my future path, I made one of the craziest decisions (the other is marrying my current husband after meeting only three times); I signed up for the boot camp to become a web designer. Not because I was interested, I followed my mentor’s advice, who happened to be an artist. In retrospect, I don’t regret these choices which led me here and now. I still had doubts about designing this online course, Create Your Website: HTML, CSS, with six students with little to no programming experience. Can they create their blog website from scratch, let alone giving up showing up at some point?
Don’t worry, They’ll get it : we liked slides & videos
Video from Live Class Recording: David created the simple blog website and presented to the class which would be their final project
They are uploaded for students to review right after the Live Class: Students found it helpful to do assignments. We created Final Project Video: Students know what they sign up for.
David created two videos weeks before the course started; we had our slides ready before the class for the readiness of the live course and made sure they are shareable with the students in the Google Classroom, which was our LMS (Learning Management System). Students told me that they were helpful when reviewing the lesson they learned from the live class to do their homework. Not only students, one instructor asserted the value of creating the slides for him to get ready for the course.
2. Learn it by doing it : Write a code NOW
Image from Live ZOOM session. We asked and students agreed to turn the video on for the interactive small group session.
When prepping for the class, we asked why we need another HTML, CSS course when students can watch hundreds of great YouTube videos. The problem is they don't watch it. I tell this from my experience as a parent of two young children who love watching YouTube, checking the latest Apple Products and Kids Shopping mall, and Baby kittens. I can tell from my own experience when I learned about the Web Design boot camp. I wouldn't have written a single HTML code unless I had to from the instructor in blood and flesh. Admittedly, the ZOOM class is not the student's number 1 choice of learning after one plus year of an online class. Our course was done during the long summer when students have nothing better to do to engage with real people in a meaningful way. Some students tell the interactive class when the teacher shows a live demo of coding and asks students to open their editor to write lines of code.
3. Cool Things Happen When You Take a Step Back: Take a break
Video recording on Day 5 when we played Kahoot! Game to review HTML, CSS
Sometimes, it felt long during the 60 min class, and we did a water break for like 5 min. We noticed that we could not start on time if the class starts on time! So we reminded the students to join 5 min earlier to check the connectivity. As expected, some came in advance, while some students came just on time, which is good to start on time! To break the ice, David received the music on-demand to play while waiting, which students liked. Game- we did Kahoot! The class had a blast. We designed the course for eight sessions, and we noticed that some students have difficulty digesting what they have learned for the past five sessions. We decided to update the syllabus just slightly and squeezed the review session using Kahoot! Game. All questions were related to the HTML and CSS and were supposed to be boring, but they weren't, thanks to the upbeat music and the fun game elements! I think it was the most focused class throughout the course, along with the final presentation.
4. She did it, He did not, Why not YOU? : Our journey continues.
All six students, five of whom are girls demonstrated their website, explaining their code on GitHub.
Finally, this was the moment that we were waiting for! On Day 8, all students gave a presentation of their websites. Each student had 5 min to demonstrate their work in front of the class. They shared their screen to present their blog website going over menus, contents, and cool features on the page. They went over explaining HTML and CSS codes and Image files on their GitHub accounts. David was right- all made it, and they built a slightly better website than their teacher showed on the first day of the course.
5. Retrospective : I did it and want to continue!
““That it helped me make my own website ( even though I did not know one single thing before this class ), gave me lots of info, and so much more!! ”
As a PMP, I tend to follow the PMI's five procedures, and it is no secret that closing is my favorite part. As a project manager, I tried to document everything we shared and learned throughout the journey. And this is the reason we wanted to leave these lessons learned to make a continuous improvement. Click here to read more about what students and parents are saying about our course.
Bonus Tip : Communication matters a lot
We learned that not all parents read emails, and there is no way that I can make sure the essential messages are delivered on time like the Zoom link or class schedule update, in rare cases. So we had Plan B and C. We created a Slack group for parents and sent out the class reminder and the link. Soon realized Slack is not everyone’s go-to communication tool. For parents who are not reachable, either email or Slack, I texted them by this point- I got the reply 100%.