Open Learning Agency: Workshops
Business need
Open Learning Agency (OLA) develops and delivers courses and web-based training for life-long learning. They are moving toward using structured information languages, SGML and XML, to create, manage and reuse their course materials more effectively.
OLA wanted their course development staff introduced to structured information concepts, and to be excited at the prospect.
Alantext solution
I created lively introductory workshops, which I delivered at the client site. The request had been for a half-day seminar for 70 people. To enable maximum interaction and hands-on work, I split the group into two half-day workshops.
I introduced participants to the basic concepts and taught them some specific skills. Participants then worked in groups to apply and consolidate these skills in some novel exercises. The exercises I created included analysing Chinese take-out menus: seemingly simple documents that actually turn out to be quite complex structurally.
To extend the value of the workshops, I provided OLA with:
- List of relevant web sites for further learning.
- Some case studies I had written previously.
- Recommended books on the topic.
- Ideas for staff learning and practice through fun activities.
“Alan created seminars customized to our specific needs. The challenge was to stimulate the interest of SGML-novices while increasing the understanding of those of us who already knew some of the basics. And he certainly succeeded in that.
I particularly appreciated the exercise of conducting a (high-level) structural analysis of found objects — in our case, a handful of Chinese restaurant take-out menus. That was just the sort of memorable exercise needed to drive the message home for our group.
It was a great success. And a good time was had by all.”
Alex Laks, Program Manager, Learning Systems Institute, Open Learning Agency.