FOSS4G2007 Information for Instructors

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= Introduction = This page provides information for the Instructors of the Workshops and Labs at the FOSS4G2007 conference in Victoria, BC, Canada (September 24-27, 2007).

Status
This section will be updated for each significant change to the content of this page.
 * 2007/07/23 Initial version of page

= General Information =

Pre-conference communication
All Instructors are expected to join the FOSS4G2007-Workshops mailing list.

For Workshops or Labs with multiple Instructors, all the Instructors should join the mailing list, even if one of the Instructors is handling all the pre-conference organizing for the group.

If you are an Instructor, and have any questions that are not answered by this page, please send an email to the FOSS4G2007-Workshops mailing list.

As this page gets updated, periodic reminders may be sent to the FOSS4G2007-Workshops mailing list.

Communication during the conference
The package you receive when you arrive at the conference will contain information explaining who to contact, and how, if you have any questions or need any assistance during the conference.

Classroom Materials
Materials are things that you may need to hand out in your Workshop or Lab, such as printed handouts, workbooks, quizzes, CDROM, etc. We ask that you do not hand out business cards, however, attendees are free to ask you for your business card.
 * 1) Bringing your own materials
 * 2) * you may bring your own materials to hand out in your Workshop/Lab
 * 3) * you may bring those materials to the Registration desk when you arrive at the conference, and we will store them and deliver them to your classroom for your Workshop or Lab
 * 4) Having your materials delivered prior to the conference
 * 5) * you may arrange to have your materials delivered to Victoria ahead of your arrival
 * 6) * the preferred method would be for you to make such arrangements yourself (e.g. have the materials delivered to your hotel)
 * 7) * we can put you in touch with a company that the conference is using, who can assist you with making shipping arrangements
 * 8) Having your printed materials printed by the conference organizers
 * 9) * the conference committee will provide the option of printing your printed Workshop/Lab materials
 * 10) * printed materials need to be formated for printing on 8.5"x11" paper
 * 11) * more information on the electronic format(s) to use for your materials for printing, how to get the materials to the conference organizers, and any associated deadlines will be available in the near future
 * 12) Non-printed materials
 * 13) * the conference organizers will not be providing services such as CDROM duplication

Data
You will not be able to load data onto the classroom PCs during the conference.

If you have any data that you will need for your Workshop/Lab, you must provide it to the conference organizers prior to the conference. The mechanism for providing your data will be announced soon, along with the deadline for providing the data.

Conference GeoData
For this conference, there will be free, publicly available Canadian GeoData available for use. This data, and services to access it, will be available to Instructors, via the Internet, prior to the conference. While it is recognized that some Instructors may be using materials for their Workshop/Lab that are already prepared, making some use of the Canadian GeoData in your Workshop/Lab is encouraged.

Hardware

 * all PCs will be substantially the same, with slight variations in the hardware
 * a typical PC will have:
 * P4/2.8GHZ CPU
 * 768 or 1024MB RAM
 * 40GB Hard Drive
 * CDROM Drive
 * 3.5" Floppy Drive
 * Onboard Video
 * 10/100 Network connection
 * 17" LCD Monitor
 * Standard Windows keyboard
 * Mouse (possibly with scroll wheel)

Network

 * All classroom PCs will be connected to the conference LAN, which will provide access to the server(s) hosting the Canadian GeoData
 * Although the Conference Center will have WiFi access to the conference LAN, it is expected that classroom attendees will use the classroom PCs for the Workshops and Labs, not their own Laptops

Software
The majority of the PCs used for the classrooms are being rented, with the rest being on loan from the City of Nanaimo. The PCs will be prepared by installing and configuring various software onto a small number of 'master PCs'. Those 'master PCs' will then be "cloned" to create the full complement of 120 PCs. The timetable for preparing these 120 PCs will cause there to be certain deadlines, such as a deadline for when the conference organizers must have data that you will need for your Workshop/Lab. As soon as the timetable is finalized, any such deadlines will be announced.

Operating System

 * All PCs will have Windows XP installed, with the latest service pack and patches (as of mid-September)
 * LiveCD
 * Instructors who wish to use a LiveCD for their Workshop/Lab must provide the LiveCD
 * Virtual Machines
 * a Windows XP virtual machine with all the same software as on the host Windows XP installation
 * possibly one or more virtual machines that do not have some software installed, for Workshops/Labs where software installation is part of the instruction
 * a Linux virtual machine

Application and Utility Software

 * Instructors can assume that all the listed software will be installed and configured
 * Information such as user ids and passwords, database connection details, etc. will be provided to Instructors at the conference
 * If your Workshop/Lab involves installing software, the conference organizers will need to know that ahead of time, in order to provide an environment on the PCs where that software is not already installed
 * The English-language version of software will be installed
 * Web Browsers will have their homepage set to http://www.foss4g2007.org/
 * The following is a tentative list of software that will be installed and configured under Windows XP:
 * If a version number is not listed, or only a major version number is shown, the version that is installed will be the latest non-beta release that is available when the 'master PCs' are being built
 * 52n
 * 7-Zip
 * Acrobat Reader
 * Ant
 * Apache
 * CartoWeb
 * Eclipse 3.3 RCP Europa from here
 * Filezilla
 * Firefox
 * Flash Plugin
 * FME
 * FWTools
 * GeoNetwork
 * GeoServer
 * GeoTools (Is this needed? maven repository should hold us)
 * gettext
 * Google Earth
 * Internet Explorer 7
 * IrfanView
 * Java Runtime Environment 6 update 2 with JAI 1.1.3and ImageIO 1.1
 * Java Software Develoment Kit 6 update 2 with Java Advanced Imaging and ImageIO extentions
 * Maven 2.0.5
 * Mapbender
 * MapBuilder
 * Mapguide
 * MapStorer
 * ms4w
 * OpenLayers
 * pgAdmin III
 * PHP 5
 * PostGIS
 * PuTTY
 * Quantum GIS 0.8.1
 * text editor
 * Tomcat
 * uDig 1.1 (includes JRE 5)
 * VTP
 * Windows Media Player

Other

 * Every PC will have a C:\FOSS4G07 folder, and under that will be one folder for each Workshop and Lab. For example, for Lab-01, C:\FOSS4G07\LAB-01. This is the location you should use for any files that the attendees will be creating during your Workshop / Lab.
 * The Default Input Language, and installed Keyboard, will be English (United States)

= Workshops = Workshops are 3-hour hands-on courses in full computer classrooms. They are only open to registered workshops attendees.

Workshop Dates and Times

 * Monday, September 24, 2007
 * 09:00-12:00 six Morning Workshops (W-01 to W-06)
 * 13:00-16:00 six Afternoon Workshops (W-07 to W-12)

Workshop number of attendees
The conference secretariat will notify Instructors via email on Thursday, September 20, 2007 how many people are registered for your workshop. For Workshops that have not reached their maximum size (based on the classroom sizes), that number may change because people can register for the Workshops at the conference, on Monday, September 24, 2007.

Workshop Classroom Details

 * Six of the conference center rooms will be setup as computer classrooms
 * Two attendees per computer
 * The Classroom PCs Configuration section shows how the classroom PCs will be configured
 * The Instructor will have a PC
 * it will have the same configuration as the classroom PCs
 * it will be connected to a projector, with a screen at the front of the classroom
 * There will be a 'Room Monitor'(a conference volunteer) for each Workshop
 * they will be checking attendees against the registration list as they arrive
 * they will remain for the duration of the Workshop, and can assist the Instructor with any issues related to the room
 * they will collect the evaluations from attendees and the Instructor(s) at the end of the Workshop
 * no food or drink is allowed in the classrooms
 * water will be provided at a table at the back of the classroom

Workshop classroom access prior to class start time
Workshop Instructors will have access to their classroom 30 minutes prior to the start of their Workshop. Attendees will be allowed into the classroom starting 15 minutes prior to the start of their Workshop.

= Labs = Labs are 1.5-hour courses, usually hands-on, in full computer classrooms. They are open to all conference registrants.

Lab Dates and Times
The allocation of the Labs into the time slots will be done by the conference committee closer to the conference date.
 * Tuesday, September 25, 2007
 * 13:00-14:30 two Labs
 * 15:00-16:30 two Labs
 * Wednesday, September 26, 2007
 * 08:30-10:00 two Labs
 * 10:30-12:00 two Labs
 * 13:00-14:30 two Labs
 * 15:00-16:30 two Labs
 * Thursday, September 27, 2007
 * 08:30-10:00 two Labs
 * 10:30-12:00 two Labs

Lab number of attendees
The maximum number of attendees for a Lab will be determined by the size of the classrooms used for the Labs. That maximum number will be communicated to all Lab Instructors, via email, as soon as it is known. The actual number of attendees in a Lab cannot be determined in advance, as no advance registration is required for Labs - it is "first come, first served".

Lab Classroom Details

 * two of the conference center rooms will be setup as computer classrooms
 * Two attendees per computer
 * The Classroom PCs Configuration section shows how the classroom PCs will be configured
 * The Instructor will have a PC
 * it will have the same configuration as the classroom PCs
 * it will be connected to a projector, with a screen at the front of the classroom
 * There will be a 'Room Monitor'(a conference volunteer) for each Lab
 * they will be controlling the 'first come, first served' admittance to the classroom
 * they will remain for the duration of the Lab, and can assist the Instructor with any issues related to the room
 * they will collect the evaluations from attendees and the Instructor(s) at the end of the Lab
 * no food or drink is allowed in the classrooms
 * water will be provided at a table at the back of the classroom

Lab classroom access prior to class start time
Lab Instructors will have access to their classroom 20 minutes prior to the start of their Lab. Attendees will be allowed into the classroom starting 15 minutes prior to the start of their Lab.