[GRASS-dev] We need mentors for Google Code-In

[Margherita Di Leo]

Dear Anna,

On Wed, Oct 4, 2017 at 7:41 PM, Anna Petrášová <kratochanna at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Vero,
>
> On Wed, Oct 4, 2017 at 11:24 AM, Veronica Andreo <veroandreo at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hey devs,
> >
> > As the subject reads: We need more mentors for Google Code-In :)
> >
> > GCI is a competition addressed to high-school students aged 13-17, as an
> > introduction to the open source world. They are supposed to complete as
> much
> > tasks as possible to win the contest. These tasks should be short simple
> > stuff (3-5 hours), but since they have to complete several to win, we
> need
> > to plan lots of them and be available to review what the students submit
> > rather quickly, so they can start with a new one. For that reason, it is
> > better if we are more mentors.
> >
> > Here is the GRASS wiki [0] with more details and a collection of ideas
> for
> > tasks that should then be further explained and developed in the format
> of
> > tasks. I think the ideas are nice and this could be a funny experience.
> > Moreover, we could attract new generations and benefit from their
> creativity
> > ;)
> >
>
> this is probably not very helpful response, but I am little bit
> skeptical about this and maybe you can clarify some things. My main
> problem is that GRASS is not the type of software you just start to
> use and understand it right away. Even making useful screenshots
> requires decent knowledge of the software and geospatial data/models.
> Do you think these students have any ideas about GIS? I confess I
> haven't spent much time thinking about this program yet, but I see a
> lot of time spent by mentors defining precise tasks without too much
> gain. I can see this could be useful for things like designing
> promotional materials, but not much beyond that. But I am open to be
> convinced otherwise.
>
>
>
I had the same doubts as you have, and I think only experience can give us
the answer. I partly overcame my doubts talking to other organizations that
run the code in. They suggested preparing some beginner tasks like
- "Install the software following the instructions here XXX and make a
screenshot"
- "Follow this tutorial XXX and make a screenshot of the result"
- "Prepare a video of 20 minutes, explaining how to get started with the
software to your fellow GCI students"
I think the more complicated is the software, the more work we need to
prepare tasks that are approachable. The good news is that, after the first
year, things get smoother, mentors learn a lot from the students, students
prepare some good material that can be reused for next editions and also
for promoting the software, and students often even come back to mentor
other students.
I have the feeling that if we never try, we never know how will end up.. ;-)


-- 
Margherita Di Leo
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