Practical Guide: OER Hackathon How To

OER hackathons are used to bring together peers create or develop content together, in a face-to-face setting. Hackathons can take many forms, depending on the dynamics of the individuals involved and the immediate needs of the given OER project. The idea is to provide a real-world venue where author peers can have face-to-face engagement around their content, and draw on one another for motivation and support. The tips below, which were developed based upon actual hackathons within the Free High School Science Texts project, are meant as a way to help other OER projects organize their own, tailored hackathons that consider the needs, practices and resources that are unique to them.

1. Assess the need and outcomes

Is your OER project centered around the creation of content through online authoring platforms or tools? Do you seek to increase author engagement and motivation around your project? Is your project desperately in need of content in a specific subject area or format? Hackathons provide a way for authors to interact and motivate one another as they create content, and to get questions answered about their content, the authoring process or use of the content authoring platform and technology. Each hackathon will likely vary depending upon the given stage or the immediate needs of your OER project.

2. Determine venue and timing

Hackathons can be held in any location, from campus computer labs to local coffee shops. Draw upon the resources you have access to as well as what will be most appealing to the hackathon participants when deciding where to host. Remember that you may need WiFi capabilities, and that some participants may not have laptops. When it comes to timing, it is likewise important to consider the needs of the participants. For example, some may prefer weekday time slots, while others are more available on weekends. A good rule of thumb is to allot at least two hours for your hackathon, so that participants have time to get settled and get early questions answered before they dig in to the brunt of the work.

3. Spread the word through multiple channels

A good way to announce the hackathon to your OER community and authors is by taking advantage of all of your existing channels of communication. Do you communicate with your community via email? Through your website? Through a newsletter? Also, consider how you might advertise the hackathon to the external community by, e.g., distributing fliers and inviting people through social networking sites such as Facebook. Finally, you might invite existing authors to bring along friends to the hackathon. It is a good idea to ask interested participants to formally sign upfor the hackathon, so you can plan and structure it accordingly.

4. Provide structure and flexibility

You might decide upon initial, yet flexible structure for the first hackathon. For example, the hackathon can begin with an icebreaker session for people to interact and get acquainted. The participants can then divide up new content assignments, based upon their interests. The facilitator can also guide participants (especially newcomers) through an overview of the content authoring process and associated technology if necessary. If the hackathon is large, it could be a good idea to have a number of experienced authors to help in answering questions and troubleshooting. Participants can then begin to work on their content individually, asking questions along the way.

If, however, participants are hesitant toward using the technology, the facilitators might appoint one or two individuals to input any new content into the system, so that participants can focus on the creation of content in a software program they are comfortable with. Other ways to structure your hackathon might be to use the time as a way for people to exchange feedback and do revisions on content already written.

5. Offer refreshments and keep it fun

It is a good idea to give the hackathon participants something to look forward to. Pizza, coffee, sweets—whatever it takes to create a fun, enticing environment.

6. Share the success of your hackathon

Did the hackathon lead to a bulk of new content? Did it inspire participants to get more deeply involved in your project? Did it result in new authors who are anxious to write more content? Did the participants vow to return to the next hackathon just to get more free pizza? Consider sharing these successes with your wider project community. Doing so serves as an indication to others that the project is progressing, and as a reminder that they, too, should keep working and contributing content.

7. Cultivate hackathon evangelists

You may want to identify existing authors who are enthusiastic about your project and talk with them about initiating informal hackathons in their local communities. And as with the case of FHSST, you might find that authors begin to self organize on their own, without your prompting. In such cases, you can potentially inspire more of this self organization through a viral process by making online announcements about locally-initiated hackathons, which might plant the seed for others to do the same.