What is workshop
I am in tended to conduct my workshop for the
high school learners; I will take the Grade 8-10 learners. The topics that I
want to look at is Drugs at Schools .And before I want us to talk about
what is workshop.I will start to look at the definition of workshops as
providing an in-depth review of a topic of interest to the
community, typically providing participants with materials and/or ideas that
are immediately useful in the classroom, and ideally devote significant time to
hands-on activities by the attendees. 2.Workshop is a single, short educational
program designed to teach or introduce to participants practical skills,
techniques, or ideas which they can then use in their work or their daily
lives.A workshop is not limited to one person.The facilitator will
have co-facilitators make everyone's job easier. Each
core-facilitators might be responsible for particular parts of the workshop, or
all may work together depending on the structure and purpose.
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/training-and-technical-assistance/workshops/main
When designing a workshop you need to think
about the type of workshop that you need to conduct and different types of
activities that will meet the needs of participants with different learning
styles and, when presented together This article suggest that most workshops
use four different types of teaching-learning activities w. This is a brief
description of the four types of workshop activities:
1.Reflecting on
Experience activities are used to capture the motivation, imagination and
energy of a workshop audience. Reflecting activities encourage workshop
participants to look back on their own personal or professional behavior in a
way that prepares them for new learning and change.
2.Assimilating and
Conceptualizing activities are used to provide workshop participants with new
information. These activities can provide outside information in the form of
theories, data and facts, or can inform the group about itself or individuals
about themselves. These activities also encourage workshop participants to
apply concepts to their own lives.
3.Experimenting and
Practicing activities encourage participants to use knowledge in a practical
way. These activities provide an opportunity for participants to practice and
involve themselves in new behaviors and skills. The workshop can provide
participants a safe environment in which to try out new things before putting
them into practice in the "real world.
Planning for Application activities provide a
stimulus for implementing and utilizing new learning outside the workshop
context. Planning activities prepare participants for and increase the
likelihood of transfer of learning. These activities are often used at the
conclusion of a workshop or when the focus of the workshop is about to shift
from one topic to anotherFour
Fundamental Types of Workshop Learning Activities This summary is based on
Chapter 4 of Workshops: Designing and Facilitating Experiential Learning by
Jeff E. Brooks-Harris & Susan R. Stock-Ward (1999). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications
Why would you
give a workshop?
Why choose a workshop, when you could use some other
method like a study circle, a course, on-the-job training, etc.? Because there
are a number of different ways to teach people things, and because people learn
things in different ways, a workshop has some advantages (and some
disadvantages, too, most notably the lack of time it provides) over these other
methods that make it a good choice in certain circumstances.
•A workshop provides a way to create an intensive
educational experience in a short amount of time, when the time for a more
comprehensive effort may not be available. Participants may be working, they
may be too far apart to gather together regularly, or may simply be unwilling
to commit large amounts of time. A workshop can introduce a new concept,
spurring participants to investigate it further on their own, or can
demonstrate and encourage the practice of actual methods.
•It's a great way to teach hands-on skills because it
offers participants a chance to try out new methods and fail in a safe
situation. Failure is often the best teacher, and failure in this instance
doesn't carry a cost. At the same time, feedback, from both the presenter and
peers in the group, helps a participant understand what she can do to avoid
failure in a real situation. •A workshop is a way for someone to pass on to colleagues ideas and
methods that he has developed or finds important. Teaching a graduate course
may not be possible, but he may be able to reach large numbers of people by
conducting workshops in various situations.
•Especially for people who work together, a workshop can help to create
a sense of community or common purpose among its participants http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/training-and-technical-assistance/workshops/main
When would
you want to conduct a workshop?
A workshop, as explained above, is valuable in certain
circumstances. When do those circumstances arise, and when might you choose to
conduct a workshop over other methods of education or training? There are a
number of situations in which a workshop would be the best choice:
•The beginning of something new. If your organization is
adopting a new method, or your community initiative is taking a new track, there
are often new pieces of information or ways of functioning that people must
learn. A workshop, or series of workshops, is a way to introduce these in a
short time and get people ready for the change.
•The initial training of staff or volunteers. Workshops
are often a good way to train new staff members or volunteers in the
philosophy, methods, and functioning of your organization, or in techniques
they'll need to do their jobs.
•The in-service or ongoing training of staff or
volunteers. Workshops in different issues, techniques, etc. are a good way to
keep staff and volunteers fresh and thinking about what they're doing.
•Staff development. Workshops are often used as a way of
honing professional skills and learning about new developments in the field.
•The demonstration of a new concept. If someone in an
organization has been exposed to a particularly exciting new idea or technique,
he may want to conduct a workshop on it for his colleagues, or the organization
may want to bring in someone to do so.
•The explanation of something to the public. An
organization may conduct a public workshop on its issue, in order to make sure
that people are informed about its cause or about what it is doing. An adult
literacy program may hold a workshop on illiteracy in its local area, for
instance, or a shelter might hold one on the causes and consequences of
homelessness.
How do you conduct a workshop
Even if you've never done it before, you can conduct a
good workshop by paying attention to all the phases of the process. There are
three phases to conducting a workshop: planning, preparation, and
implementation (actually doing it). In addition, once you're done, it's
important to follow up with participants to get feedback on the workshop, so
you can improve it the next time. We'll look at each of these phases
separately.
1.Planning
Once you know what your topic will be, planning a
workshop ultimately means figuring out what you want to do to guide
participants through the experience, and what you hope they'll learn from it.
In order to do that, you have to consider a number of factors:
·
Consider your topic.
·
Consider your audience.
·
Consider the workshop size
·
Consider the time available.
·
Vary activities.
·
Plan a break.
·
Participants need time to talk and connect
with one another. -Group discussions
·
Consider the purpose of the workshop
2.Preparation
·
Find
out about the space you'll be using, if possible.- type or size of room, or may
be able to get it set up in a certain way (chairs in a circle, comfortable
furniture, etc.
·
Bring everything you need.-Bring marker,
kokis, copies, easels, newsprint, and markers for recording ideas.Don't forget
about food, coffee, etc., if you're providing them or having them provided. You
either need to arrange beforehand to have what you need in the room when you
get there, or your coffeemaker, coffee, creamer, paper cups, etc. should be in
your back seat along with everything else the night before.
·
Arrange well beforehand for any equipment
you'll need.- overhead
projector, VCR and monitor, computer, etc.) or plan to bring it yourself.
·
Make materials and hand-outs as attractive
and interesting as possible so that participants will return to them.
·
Be over prepared. If you think a block of the
workshop will probably last 30 minutes, be ready with at least an hour's worth
of material for it.
·
Make up an evaluation form that people can
fill out quickly at the end of the workshop, but that covers the areas you
really want to know about
·
The standard for this sort of thing is
usually a multiple choice form that either asks participants to rate each area
from 1 to 5, or to check off one of 5 choices ranging from "strongly agree
" to "strongly disagree." Some areas you might want to cover
include:
·
Finally, get a good night's sleep the night
before and allow yourself plenty of time to get where you're going, so you
don't feel rushed and frazzled
Implementation
Planning and preparation are done. You're incredibly
organized; you have all your handouts color-coded and arranged in the order you
want to distribute them; you have activities planned down to the second, with
plenty of extras if they don't fill the time completely; you have the room
arranged so it will welcome participants and work for the activities you have
planned. Now all you have to do is actually pull it off.
A workshop, especially a longer one, has distinct phases.
There is the introduction, which covers the time from when the first
participant walks into the room to when the first topic-related activity
begins; the substance of the workshop includes the presentation and activities;
and closure involves review, reflection, evaluation, and ending.
Substance of
the workshop
There are some general guidelines, some of which have
already been mentioned, that can make your workshop more effective and
enjoyable
·
Match the presentation to the content and
philosophy of the workshop.
·
Try to present material in a number of
different ways.
·
Try to be, and to make your activities,
entertaining
·
Be enthusiastic.
·
Encourage participants to relate the workshop
content to their reality
·
Allow ample time for reflection and
discussion in all activities.
Closure
In the final phase of the workshop, you'll need to wrap
things up and give participants a chance to react to what they've just been
through. You may want to go through some formal activity for this purpose, or
you may want to just throw out some questions and listen to what people have to
say
·
Sum up and review agenda.
·
Revisit expectations
·
Give participants a chance to sum up
·
Ask for feedback on the ideas, techniques,
methods, etc. that you presented
·
•Collect evaluation forms.
Follow-up
After the workshop is over, there are still a few loose
ends to tie up.
•If you agreed to send anything to participants
(materials, bibliographies, etc.) you should do it as soon as possible, both so
that you don't forget, and so the material is still fresh in people's minds
when they get it.
•If you have notes on the summation and feedback, you
might want to type them up and send them to participants also, if they would be
helpful to their understanding of the workshop.
•Go through the evaluations and your feedback notes soon
after the workshop, so that it's still fresh in your mind. What do most people
think you might have done differently? What areas seemed particularly strong or
particularly weak? This is the moment to think about what you'll change the
next time you conduct a workshop, and there should be a next time. Start
planning now!
