NetBeansCertifiedEngineerChecklist
Checklist for Trainers of the NetBeans Platform Certified Training Course
The list below is random, unprioritized, and unsorted.
- Bring your laptop, extra power supply, extra batteries (recharged to the max).
- Network connection available at site? Will you need it? (Show them tutorials, Javadoc, etc.)
- Are you sure your laptop will display correctly? Resolution, etc? Best to verify before departure.
- Will you and your co-presenter need to switch connections or can you hook up to the display separately?
- If the room is large, before you start your presentation do this: stand in the back of the room and check that you can see the code in the editor window. To change the size of everything use the --fontsize 14 switch (or some other number). In the Options window (Fonts & Colors | Syntax), you can change font size of the code in the editor.
- If you're traveling to give a training, check that the hotel has Wifi support (preferably free). At least, don't assume that they do.
- Bring a USB stick.
- Will it be paid (a company) or free (an institution)?
- If it is paid, you will probably spend at least some time evaluating a prototype and coding practices, so prepare for that (e.g., ask for specs if possible).
- If it is paid, i.e., some company, make sure that the target audience realizes you're offering a course, not a full blown architecture review. If they want a business consultancy, they can get one, but that's not a course, requires different resources, and potentially a different skillset to what the trainer brings to the table.
- If you're giving the training at a university, do everything you can do to get the training included as part of the official course, so that the students have a reason to complete their assignments.
- If you're giving the training at a university, YOU are responsible for maintaining contact with students afterwards, answering their questions, and reviewing their modules.
- If you're giving the training at a university, find out how the students refer to your contact point, who is possibly a professor, who you may know as "Bob", but who they may only know as, and refer to respectfully as, "Professor Harris". In that case, don't say: "Bob told me that blablabla."
- What level will the students be? What do they already know?
- How many will there be?
- Make sure your laptop's desktop is clean.
- Have one folder where all your completed & functioning demos are stored.
- Normally, prepare a mailing list for the course beforehand, get participants signed up.
- Bring 'Rich Client Programming' or Heiko Boeck's book, at least 1, to show them.
- Will the class have laptops or some other computer with them?
- Will they expect to follow step by step everything you're showing?
- Will the training be in a computer lab or lecture room?
- If they will have their own hardware, which version of NetBeans IDE will they have/need?
- Will you do workshops or presentations only?
- If you do workshops, what is more important to you: that they're happy at the end or that they struggled & (possibly) failed?
- Choose your workshop topics accordingly.
- Consider using one or two tutorials for the workshops: get them to work through them while you walk around & monitor.
- Worst case scenario: your laptop doesn't start up. What will you do?
- Murphy's law.
- Which parts of your demo are most likely to fail? Could you replace or avoid those parts? Or replace the whole demo minus that part?
- If you run out of time, which demo can you drop?
- If there ends up being one or two hours less, which presentations can you drop?
- If you end up unexpectedly with an extra hour, what will you deliver in that time?
- If you go too fast at the start of the presentation, how will you (meaningfully) fill up the time near the end?
- If a question is asked in the middle, and it will take too long too answer (or is unrelated somehow), say you'll deal with it at the end (or later).
- Better to copy code off a slide than from notepad (the former proves you weren't lying, the latter that you can't code).
- You're not there to prove you know everything, but to teach newbies, so consider not covering everything, but just enough for the target audience.
- Better not to self-reference the slides (e.g., "When I wrote this slide, what I meant to convey was..."), because it sounds silly.
- Don't share other similar things, like how hard you worked to prepare a particular presentation. Why are you telling them that anyway?
- Point out to students where they can get the slides you're using, tell them there's no need to copy down from them.
- Make sure to have uploaded your customized NetBeans Platform training slides, if you've customized them.
- Make sure the presentations are practical rather than mostly theoretical.
- Find out beforehand what areas they'd like you to focus on.
- Make sure to set expectations correctly: e.g., they will not be NetBeans Platform experts at the end of the course.
- Figure out beforehand how/if homework assignments will be supported.
- Consider doing some presentations together with your co-presenter, e.g., one is the provider, the other the consumer.
- Consider doing 'case studies': tell students at the start of a presentation that you'll be discussing a problem at the end.
- Try and figure out if/how many would potentially like to be trainers afterwards with 'NetBeans Platform Teaching Resources' site.
- Be sure to also at least mention the latest NetBeans Platform enhancements.
- Prepare speaker notes needed for presentations and share them afterwards.
- Consider giving students a few minutes (10-20 mins) after each lab to try things out.
- If possible, bring diplomas, DVDs, evaluation forms, t-shirts (take L and XL size at least)
- Exchange phone numbers with your co-presenters -- make sure all trainers can contact each other.
- Instead of exchanging 100's of e-mails with your contact point, try and get most/all info in 1 or 2 e-mails.
- One or two phone conferences might help to sync up.
- In your exchanges, ask as many of the questions from this list as possible.
- If traveling somewhere, bring a map.
- Bring a camera (or check that target audience has one) so you can get a group pic.
- For your demos, use the smallest IDE possible (i.e., "Java" distro, not "Web & Java EE").
- Have an installer available locally.
- Have all your demos written down, step by step, on a piece of paper, in case you forget something.
- Have all presentations (yours as well as other presenters) available locally on disk.
- Start with a clean user dir (+ any special modules you might need).
- If your user dir contains special things you'll need (e.g., project groups, which are in 'Preferences'), then make a copy of that user dir in case you mess it up.
- Start up the IDE and have it set up for your first demo before you start your presentation.
- Make sure to have done some basic things, e.g., create a new module and/or app, to make sure everything's good and fast.
- Consider linking your first demo to the previous presentation's last demo.
- As you do your demos, point out small NetBeans tips & tricks (keyboard shortcuts, etc).
- Write down all the questions they ask you, everything, so others can prepare for those next time.
- You won't be able to answer all questions you will be asked, prepare for telling them to write to their special mailing list.
