It is equally important that plans for follow-up be discussed and decided
upon BEFORE you and the participants bid each other farewell.
It is unlikely that projects begun during the workshop will be finished.
It is, therefore, essential that you have thought in advance about how
the participants' work should continue. In order to head off any
misunderstandings and to insure that the participants know what is expected
of them BEFORE the workshop takes place, here are some ideas and
suggestions:
-
Obtain E-mail addresses for the participants and set up a distribution
list (workshop listserv) to facilitate communication.
-
Send an E-mail to those who have signed up for the workshop. In this
E-mail you should explain in as detailed a manner as possible what you
expect of them. If they are to work in groups on specific projects,
then you should let them know that they will be expected either to finish
their work during the workshop (probably only possible if you are giving
a 2 or 3-day workshop) or to continue working with each other after the
workshop is over.
-
If you intend to have the participants working on group projects, make
suggestions in your E-mail as to possible topics for their group work.
Of course, tell participants that they can also work on a topic of their
own choosing.
-
Encourage them to form their groups in advance via the workshop E-mail
list.
-
Put together a web site for the workshop (including resources for participants
to use in creating their group web sites).
-
Establish final dates/deadlines for submission of final projects.
-
Put participants' final projects on a web site so that they are accessible
to as many teachers as possible. This site can either be part of
the workshop site you've created (i.e., on your server), or it can be on
the workshop organizer's (e.g., the Goethe Institute's or local university's/school's)
server.
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