Here is some information around what we look for in recurring study groups or hack nights. The main pieces that we look for before starting a group are:
- Interest in the topic/space
- 2 Leads that can dedicate time to going every week (or at least relatively often)
- Hosts for the events
Getting all of these things in place takes some time. So as long as you are interested in the study group and will be for a fair bit of time - reach out to us at WWCodeDC@gmail.com about where we stand regarding the group!
Anyway, if you aren't sure what the difference is between a study group and a hack night - the main piece is that a study group is for following a certain book/online course/something with weekly "assignments" so to speak. A hack night is more free form where people could work on open source projects or personal development that they want to get done!
Currently we are experimenting with splitting our weekly sessions into two groups - one that is focused on "hack nights" and the other that follows a "learning plan." We will update as we learn!
- Language specific or agnostic
- Free for all to work on whatever projects / tools they desire
- Leader encourages 5-15 minute demos of projects and technologies at the start
- Promote members working together to build an app/website/hack for X
- Less structured, “mentors” may float around if in attendance
- Should have some sort of plan for the duration of the study group
- coursera class
- book to follow
- free online lectures (with problem sets)
- Leader could create a lesson plan, but that would require more commitment and understanding of what they want to go over
- Have an leader that is dedicated to going through all of the materials
- Set a timeline for the group (9 weeks of python, 12 weeks of interview prep, etc)
- Members can join late or come in and out
- Awesome opportunity for someone to document their work throughout the course so that if people come late they can use that as a resource!
- At the start of a new group, it could be beneficial to schedule out everything that you will learn so people can follow along. And then after one round you will have a group of people that all know the materials and can help those that join later.
- Promote communication, collaboration, and camaraderie between group members
- Promote that study group members attend larger DC tech events relevant to their work
- JS Study group goes to DC JS meetups, Java to DC Java, etc
- Examples
- Follow the coursera course Intro to Python
- Go through the book Cracking the Coding Interview (Java)
- Do something awesome like what the NYC chapter did with the Internet of Things
Again, reach out to WWCodeDC@gmail.com if you are interested in starting a new group!