[ubuntu-us-ut] Workshops and Classes - formally known as "Still a team?"

Rob Oakes lyx-devel at oak-tree.us
Thu Sep 30 19:14:18 BST 2010


Hi Aaron,

While re-reading your emails, I came across one promotional idea that I really liked.  You mentioned that you've taught computer courses at the SLC public library on Ubuntu before.  I was curious about how you went about setting up those courses (or if it was handled by XMission for you).

One way that we might promote Ubuntu would be to set up workshops highlighting the awesome things that Ubuntu can do.  They could be taught through the public libraries, or I know that some high schools allow for people to register continuing learning workshops.

When I've tried to get friends/family to try Ubuntu for the first time, I've found that I need to offer more than, "This is Ubuntu.  It's different (and better) than Windows.  Try it, you'll like it."  When I wait for Ubuntu to sell itself, invariably, people get frustrated and go back to Windows.  Though it's a wonderful operating system, and works well, it's different enough that people are uncomfortable.

I've had much better experience saying, "This is Ubuntu and here is how it can make your life easier" and then demonstrating specific technology that help people more productive.  I've been most successful showing it to science people and those in education.  If you give people a good reason to use it, they usually will.  I think this is why Steve Jobs is such an effective spokeman for Apple.  He rarely talks about features, but rather about how technology can change people's lives.

One such workshop I'd like to organize might be called, "Using Linux for Design."

For the past year or so, I've been working on a book about writing with open source tools and I am now "rapidly" approaching the completion of the first draft.  One of the good (bad?) things about finishing a big project is that you can see all your mistakes in crystal clear hindsight.

One of the big ones I made was not test driving my ideas a little better. I'd like to do is speak to new writers/Linux users, but the book ended up being more complicated than that.  A great way to test some of the material out would be through a workshop.  That would allow me to see if people are understanding things.

When you mentioned the free library classes, it seemed like a natural fit.

There are other seminars that might be interesting as well.  Maybe a course on video editing with OpenShot? Or podcasting with Audacity?  Or building a website?  Or on writing fiction and screenplays (using Celtx and LyX-Outline)?  Or on digital painting with GIMP?  Or on photography and photo manipulation?

I'd recommend topics that Apple would refer to as "lifestyle" and fits within the iLife realm.  These seem to be the sorts of things that make people sit up and take notice.  They were also the sorts of things that got me excited about Macs.  Other than the design course (which is something that I intend to do anyway), it might be awesome if we put together materials (handouts, presentation slides, etc) and then made them available to other LoCos to teach the same courses.

We could even make use of existing resources.  The Ubuntu manual that was released during 10.04 might be a good start.  If working on artsy stuff, I have tons of material that I gathered for the book and am not planning to use.

Before I wander too far off topic, I have two specific questions:

1.) Might there be any interest in creating materials for a series of workshops?
2.) Who do I need to get ahold of in order to teach a design course through SLC public library?

Cheers,

Rob


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