We recommend Learning Lab as a hands-on activity in many settings. It's self-paced, and highly involved, which means that users can get to work in a way that will work for them.
Facilitating Learning Lab in groups is a slightly different experience than trying it alone.
Things can get very boring, very quickly if everyone will be expected to follow along on their own computer, but someone forgot theirs. Make sure it's clear to everyone participating that they should bring a computer to the event.
Even if everyone has their computer, a shortage of Wi-Fi or power outlets can be a real downer. If it's a short event, the outlets might not be necessary, but it's always best to plan to have plenty of network connection and power connection.
Introduce participants to Learning Lab by showing it on the screen, and making sure the URL is clearly visible
Since everyone will be working on their own, it's usually best if it's a quieter space with plenty of room for everyone to work on their computers. Some situations that aren't ideal might consist of:
- Too much noise or foot traffic through a common area
- No tables or desks, so people are working with a computer on their legs
- Lunch or cafeteria area where there are food and drinks around computers
Plan to have several "mentors" or "helpers" walking around the room during the hands on time. Frequently, people have questions or are stuck, but don't want to call attention to themselves. Having a helper quietly walking by and asking them how they're doing gives them a low-pressure opportunity to ask for the help they need.
Anyone helping should be introduced to the group, and differentiated, so others feel comfortable talking with them. At GitHub Workshop events, we typically have all "mentors" wear a GitHub sticker on their name tag.
These are some questions you might expect to get, and how we recommend answering them.
Yes, a GitHub account is necessary to use Learning Lab.
If you choose to install Learning Lab on all of your repositories, Learning Lab will never gain information from repositories other than the ones you're using in the course. This scope of permission is the fastest way to get started, but if you'd rather install on only one repository, that's fine too. You need at least one repository to use GitHub Learning Lab.
We recommend starting with "Introduction to GitHub", and moving on from there.
Yes. If you choose to pause your work or if you'd like to work on another course later, Learning Lab will save your progress. Log in from your GitHub account, and you'll be able to pick up where you left off.
Hopefully, as the ambassador, you'll be able to figure out what's going on. However, if you have found a bug or the program isn't working as expected, always feel free to do one of the following:
- Contact us in our shared Slack channel
- Start a thread in the Community Forum
Let's try out Learning Lab now. While you're going through the courses, keep in mind what you might feel if you were doing this in a large group.