Thiss may not be the right area to post this, but I still have things to learn navigating this forum.I was thinking in trms of me teaching. I occurs I have things to learn being a teacher myself. If I were to offer an open ended course in the electronic lab, nothing formal to allow people to see what I have to offer and get to know people who might be interested in learning a bit more.When I say informal. No per Diem is involved. This would be an open discussion. From what I’ve seen classrooms can be a contentious issue at Maker space I have knowlwdge but am unsure how well I could teach. Training goes both ways.It is just a thought
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Wendy - Glad to hear from you! We met during open house or a tour night in the ELab where I was discussing my Blynk into the Internet of Things classes.
When you say open-ended, I think you are meaning an open-ended series that may evolve over time. That would be great. I would encourage you to pick and work on one specific class for the start. Given your current condition, it is brave of you to be planning this. Identify someone that would work with you on the phone to help guide in class preparation and critique your plans. This should be someone who would attend your first couple of classes and be able to pick up and present the material if needed. Forget the:
Prepare a class and gladly accept the honorarium! I’m not an EE but play with hobby electronics and would be glad to help you do this if the subject is reasonable for me.
If parts are required for attendees, should they furnish them? To make it easy, I decided to be self sufficient on parts and furnish everything but a laptop for my electronics classes. I used three honorariums to stock and as I policy do not loan them out but I’ll make an exception of you if you can use them for a few times.
It is hard to schedule a classroom within two weeks but I would not call it contentious. Since I furnish parts and welcome beginners, I limit class size to eight. I like to use the Purple room and keep the larger rooms free for others. It has a big screen and everyone would be facing forward while the ELab has workbenches facing different directions. ELab would be desirable if attendees use tools like solder stations or oscilloscopes.
Work with someone on submitting your first class. It is challenging the first time to have everything in place before you Submit.
No shows and late cancellations are a frustration to teachers. This issue has been greatly reduced since I describe the problem and require approval for attendance. I’m not the only teacher that does this. Example:
https://calendar.dallasmakerspace.org/events/view/5210
https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/five-no-shows-a-late-cancellation-and-no-honorarium/28055
Walter Anderson did a number of classes and unfortunately passed away recently. You might consider picking up on one of those subjects in memory of Walter.
Good luck and let me know if I can help.
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You pretty well nailed it as to what I meant by open ended, If this becomes a formal class T he Electronics Lab could always use more supplies hav a lot of weaknesses I may try to use DMS to address.We could pick class projects. The class itself directs where we would want to go.I have fugured out how to get myself to and from bed without assistanceEarly ideas would be DIY power supplies.For projects. I have surgery scheduled next week Whic(I Hope would improve things even more (Truth I am starting to become a a bit scared at the prospect, but it is going to happen so I might as well plan for the best. What happened to Walter?Sad news indeed,
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While some folks can pull off letting the class direct where to go, I like to have the primary points to be structured. My announcements state a general outline, if experience is needed and supplies to bring. I provide a pdf of the Power Point slides and copies of all programs and circuits. I like to think that they can pull up the materials after a few months and redo the lab exercises.
@artg_dms is the electronics chair and a real resource.
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Before I try anything I’m going to put my upcoming surgeries behind me.
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If there is a class regarding Electronics, I’d like to express interest in joining a class. I’ve recently graduated Community College with an AAS in Electronics. Sadly I could not find an employer in the field.
Since I’m not actively practicing my education, I fear I am losing that knowledge. So to reiterate, if there is an Electronics class I’d join (as long as it’s not on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I have weekend shift in a nearby machine shop)!
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You sound like a GREAT candiadate for teaching classes. I mean this seriously.
Besides providing classes that people want, you also can get a few $$$ for your pockets but more importantly on your resume you can list “Teach Classes on Various Aspects of Electronics at Dallas Makerspace.”
This shows a number of things:
- You are truly interested in electronics and active in it
- You have proficiency in electronics
- You have leadership abilities: able to speak and develop training materials
- You are team oriented - cooperative
- Have interpersonal skills
This is also the type of item that gets questions during interviews, like:" WTF (paraphrasing loosely here) is a Makerspace?" You get a chance to tell how you do volunteer work and teaching at the largest Makerspace and transfer your knowledge and enthusiasm for electronics.
So get with @artg_dms and get some stuff going. Also, you’ll probably enjoy doing it. Could be a series of classes.
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You may be interested in this class I have coming up next week.
https://calendar.dallasmakerspace.org/events/view/5210
I also do an occasional class on Arduino: Sensors for Fun and Non Profit which we be coming up in a few weeks. With your background, you may not learn much but it will give an example of another DMS electronics class and you can meet others interested in electronics.
I strongly endorse @Photomancer suggestions that you jump in and share your knowledge. Developing and running a solid class is not easy. It always looks good on a resume.
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Bump
So I’ve noticed that electronics based classes have pretty much dropped off, sans the semi-regular Blynk class. Are there any plans to start them up again in the near future?
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