Building the Workshop Site

Adding a New Workshop into an Existing Topic


For any of the "encore" On the Cutting Edge workshops (such as those held at GSA Sectional Meetings, pre- or post- GSA or AGU National Meetings, NAGT Regional meetings, satellite meetings or other professional society meetings) there is already a wealth of web-based resources to support the new generation workshops. Make sure that you realize the breadth of resources that are currently available to you, and consider how can these resources best be used and how can we continue to build these resources in this next workshop?

In general, you will want to

1) Create a new sub-module for the workshop that will contain specific information for the new event. That sub-module will contain all of the materials that a typical workshop module contains.

2) Make plans to use and expand the existing resources, either through the existing submission forms, or by creating entirely new types of collections and resources.

As you begin to develop your workshop, you will most likely work on the workshop site first. Here is a description of the pages you will need.

Creating a New Workshop Module from Scratch


Jump down to
Overview Page : Workshop Program : Logistics Page : Participant List
Application Form : Registration Form : Upload Workshop Materials : Legal Considerations

Workshop "index page"

(Example from Affective Domain workshop)

This page contains the following elements:

Title of the workshop, dates and location
Application deadline with a link to the application
An overview paragraph that speaks to the need for and purpose of the workshop
An image
A list of the conveners and their institutions
Standard verbiage about the Cutting Edge workshop series (web team can add this)

Overview

(Example from New Tools workshop)

The easiest way to begin this page is to copy the overview page from another recent workshop and change the relevant material.

Components:

Introductory paragraph – What will this workshop be about? What is the general format?
Goals – Four or five carefully-crafted goals statements. Each of these will be used for the workshop evaluation.
Paragraph describing the workshop format
Dates
Expectations – what should workshop participants submit before or during the workshop? In addition to that there are three standard bullets which can be copied from another workshop page.
Cost – with link to stipends page
Application and selection criteria – with link to application
Facilities
Contact info

Workshop Program

This page can start out being general and get more fleshed out as the details are developed. By the time the workshop is near, this page should include:

Beginning and ending times for each session
Specific title of each talk
Name and institution of each presenter
Location of each session, including room numbers

Each presentation should be linked with the PowerPoint file. This can be done before, during or after the workshop. Posters should be uploaded into their own page (example from Intro Geo). Sessions that result in written outcomes should also have links from the program page. This might include discussion questions used to direct small group discussion sessions, or summaries of whole-group discussions from plenary session.

Logistics

Information should be provided about travel (air connections, driving directions), meals, lodging options, expected weather, what to wear, emergency contact information (where to call if travelers get stranded), communications (will email/internet be available), maps to travel to the event, and maps of the local area. The easiest way to create this page is to find a recent workshop and copy the logistics page into your module. Then change the relevant information.

Participant List

An alphabetical listing of participants and their institutions. In some cases, this page serves as an index to submissions by each participant (example from Intro Geo, example from Metacognition)

Application Form

Most of this form is standardized throughout the Cutting Edge program. However there is a set of questions that will be unique to each workshop. These questions may include the applicant's interests and experience, what they hope to learn at the workshop, what they could contribute, and willingness to lead sessions or help lead follow-on activities. This information can be used in the selection process and also in developing the workshop program and selecting speakers.

Making forms can be tricky, so unless you have experience with this or you enjoy playing with new tools on your computer, the easiest thing to do is compose the question set and send them to your web team person.

Registration Form

Once the participants have been selected, they must also register for the workshop. This can be confusing, and many participants think they have already registered because they filled out an application form. Nonetheless all accepted participants, conveners, and other leaders will need to register. On the Cutting Edge must report to NSF an accurate accounting of who actually attended the workshops, including demographic data.

Like the application form, the registration form is standardized. You may wish to add specific information such as if the participants will be presenting a poster, attending a field trip, or taking part in other optional activities.

There are some release forms... By registering for the workshop, participants agree to allow their image to be used (still photos, video) for programmatic needs.

Upload Form

Your web team member will create a form that can be used by participants to upload materials like presentations, talks, action plans, or session notes.

Legal Considerations

Workshop participants should be made aware of the following on the web page:
  • All products of the workshop will be posted on the website, and will be freely available to the public for use, with attribution, under the terms of a Creative Commons License.
  • These products can be used by the On the Cutting Edge program for future advertising purposes, and in follow-on documentation of the event, scholarly articles, etc.
  • A medical emergency form should be made available for all participants to fill out and submit to the conveners upon arriving at the workshop. This includes basic information about emergency contact information, insurance coverage, pre-existing medical conditions, medications...just in case the participant becomes incapacitated and is in need of emergency treatment. Here is the form (Acrobat (PDF) 5kB Jul20 06) to put the form into a page use the code "file 7247" in square brackets.


CMS Instructions

Step-by-step instructions for everything you do to create and edit your web page are included here in the CMS documentation.
This section is also accessible from the editing interface, so it's always just one click away.