Posted by freescholar on May 5, 2010 at 12:12am
Many people have asked me to teach them Drupal. I am hoping my new site will be useful to those who want to teach and those who wish to learn the fabulous thing called Drupal - in a one on one environment, locally!
I am building a learning/teaching resources hub at drupalconnection.com
Drupal Kitchen is a part of the hub and is now open for people to meet and learn Drupal.
I would love any feedback and/or offers of help to increase the usefulness of this site for the community!
This is my first Drupal site for the community, so I am open to suggestions at making it better!!!
http://drupalconnection.com
Please note*** there is no content until students and tutors fill in their profiles.
Comments
qualifications???
i guess i am just a little confused, but how can you teach drupal to others when you have only developed 1 website with it? where are your proven qualifications with understanding the fundamentals of drupal development, such as theming, modules, etc?
i think it is great that you are excited about drupal, but i'm not sure developing a single website in drupal proves that you can teach others. forgive my skepticism, but it's troubling to read about folks who aren't qualified teaching others.
I had the same initial
I had the same initial reaction, but I think the site links tutors with students (tutees?). I think the first sentence was intended as background motivation for the site, not personal promotion.
ahah moment
(no...not javascript).
ok...i can see what you mean now, dan. so this site is to connect folks who are qualified to teach drupal with those who want to learn. i can dig that.
hey blipvert...if this is the case, how will you qualify those who want to be tutors? will it be the number of websites developed? number of contributed modules? how active they are in the drupal community? a bit more background on this might help. also, based on "qualifications" will there be different status of tutors (drupal ninja versus, say, drupal blackbelt)?
Qualifications
Be careful of "ninja" and "blackbelt" people when looking for a teacher. It has been shown that the best teachers are the ones who were "C" students in school. I can certainly name a few "blackbelts" from DO who I would not want trying to teach me simply because they have consistently shown the ability to be way over my head. On the other hand, I consider myself more of the "C" student, but I think my "Drupal Cookbook" speaks for itself.
Nancy Dru
interesting point...
that is an interesting point to take, nancy. not sure i agree with you 100% on the "C" student thing though. the challenge with teaching is being able to tailor the conversation and approach to the audience you are working with. regardless, you still need to have a solid foundation in the subject you are trying to to educate others on. you, for instance, would be a drupal "ninja level 9" due to the extensive amount of experience/contributions you have made. ;)
i do agree that maybe using monikers like "ninja" or "blackbelt" might steer a newbie away. instead, "professor" or "teacher's aid" or simply "level 1, 2 or 3" might be better.
Qualifications
I am not going to be qualifying anyone to do anything, basically the site will allow people that want to learn Drupal to connect with people that have posted "Tutor" profiles. I have the 5 star module installed, so students can rate each tutor, but as for me or anyone else pre-qualifying people - nope.
If you would like to take on an admin/editor role, and help me add some descriptive text that would help guide people (obviously NOT my strong point *LOL)- that would be awesome!
Even if you just have suggestions or tips that could help a newbie choose a tutor, send them to me and I'll post them on the site.
Later today I will add to the tutor profile : how many Websites, how active in the Drupal community and number of contributed modules - thanks!!!!
Handbook on Platform Cooperativism, a movement building platforms and tools owned by the people. http://bit.ly/hackitownit
on the right track...
i think you're on the right track with adding those fields. doesn't need to be too involved. maybe add a field for links to various websites they could show as examples of their work. the star system is a good idea too. also...will you be allowing users to give reviews in addition to "starring" a tutor? i know when i shop for things, i tend to read the reviews and weigh them in along side with my other research before making a decision.
once "tutors" start taking on "students," it might be nice to how many students they are currently working with. or if this particular tutor offers a "classroom" style of teaching, add the number of students allowed per class. while all of this could be added manually in the description field of the profile, having each of these items in their own specific field will allow you greater flexibility with search options. For example, maybe setup a view with exposed arguments, so students can search for a tutor who is 'status' is "currently available," has a 'teaching style' of "classroom", which has a 'class size' of "5"). these are all just ideas, but maybe they could work with your setup.
if the admin/editor role question was directed at me, i wish i could chip in, but between my full-time job and then other projects i have going on, my plate is rather full right now. still...if you ever have a question on something and are looking for advice or an opinion, feel free to ping me: jon@digitalsweetspot.com.
First site for the Drupal community...
OOPS - I meant this is my first site "for" the community, and yes, it is just a simple site to allow tutors and students to contact each other.
I agree it is troubling to have people teaching skills they are not qualified to teach... I advise prospective students to ask for references and view their tutor's portfolio.
Handbook on Platform Cooperativism, a movement building platforms and tools owned by the people. http://bit.ly/hackitownit
Great input!
Thanks so much for the suggestions - I will be adding some helpful views to the site. I do hope the site is useful to others, I need to find a way to let people know about it.
Handbook on Platform Cooperativism, a movement building platforms and tools owned by the people. http://bit.ly/hackitownit