Reaching Out

We've been so lucky to have new members of the community coming to share in our Girls' Open Source Group.  Last Wednesday was a lot of fun as we saw the introduction of some enthusiastic participants.  We'd love to keep that magic going this week.

While we were happy to help get new people rolling, we also faced a few challenges:

1) The web chat was one-to-one and did not allow the whole group to see what was going on.
2) There was no means for remote participants to easily work on code with attendees.
3) With only one "veteran," it took a while to get help when someone got stuck.
 We've taken action where possible to make next Wednesday's experience even more beneficial.  Firstly, there is now a page that encourages girls to get prepared for GOSG.  This can be used either the day before group or as a guide to activities for the first day you attend.

Next, we've integrated a new chat system where discussions are not only instant and inclusive, but the chat log hangs around after logout so that people can refer back to conversations they may have missed.

We've installed TeamViewer as a way of allowing participants to remotely share a desktop and work together on code.  This program allows for separate chats and video sessions so groups can break out to work on specific projects together.

We are also looking into a ticketing system for questions, but the purpose of Wednesday GOSG groups is not to have a "group leader" type scenario, but to have students feel safe in seeking out solutions on their own.  We want to encourage people not to shut down when they get stuck, but to see it as a learning opportunity and use the resources available to them (books, web search, exploration) to solve the hurdles that they encounter. 

We hope to have more "experts" in the coming weeks, but please don't let that stop the new comers!  We're happy to have you all.