Technical requirements evaluation

Overview

Every workshop has specific technical requirements. These requirements translate into things that need to be bought or installed/configured. Installation and configuration may need to be done on the Outreach Laptops, at a school (e.g. website unblocking) or at At-Bristol. Technical requirements evaluation not only involves identifying the requirements, but also where those requirements are going to be implemented.

Purpose

The purpose of this task is to identify all expected requirements and any potential problems (including ones that we know regularly occur). The second stage of this task then involves proposing solutions and identifying who is required to take action to implement those solutions. Performing this task thoroughly ensures that events run smoothly and as little time and effort as possible is wasted further down the line.

Details

Not all of these steps are applicable to every scenario. Use them as a guide, so adapt them depending on what you're doing.

1. Identify which event you are preparing for. This will tell you the venue; the equipment that could be available (e.g. computer in schools, connectivity/wifi, etc); and which workshop(s) will be running at the event.
2. Confirm whether the venue will be providing computing equipment or not e.g. schools may have IT suites
3. Confirm whether the venue will be providing connectivity e.g. wifi, ethernet
4. For each workshop, determine its requirements. For example, identify the following:

• Required hardware (laptops, Micro:bits, WeMos boards, Raspberry Pis, LEDs, other electronic components, computer mice, projectors, etc)
• Required software (e.g. web browser, Arduino IDE, Minecraft, Scratch, etc)
• Required software licenses
• Required websites (e.g. GitHub, Microbit.org, Hedgehogbot.co.uk, Arduino website, ESP2866 config website, YouTube, etc)
• Required materials (e.g. worksheets, answers sheets, pens, paper, felt, glue, etc)
• Required accounts (e.g. laptop accounts, Minecraft accounts, etc)

5. For each required item, determine if it has already been dealt with (e.g. web browser is already installed on laptops)
6. For each unhandled requirement, work out who is going to have to deal with it (e.g. IT Services, workshop creator, At-Bristol, School IT Manager, etc)
7. For requirements which will need something to be purchased, discuss it with Caroline as it will come from the Outreach budget (e.g. software licenses, hardware, materials).
8. Contact the person for each requirement and politely request them to undertake the necessary action. If you are unsure of the right way to solve a problem, ask for suggestions.

• A lot of Bristol primary schools do not have a dedicated IT person. Instead, someone from the council is on duty one (often half) day a week to manage the IT of the school. The school will hopefully put you in contact with this person so you can discuss any websites which need unblocking. Be aware the YouTube generally cannot be unblocked but things like the Micro:bit website can be.
• If you are the person handling something, don't send yourself an email ;) (But do remember to put it on a todo list and do it...)
• Not all changes to Outreach Laptops require IT Services to do it (as they have limited time). See Outreach Laptop Management for more info.

9. Confirm at least 24 hours before the event that all requirements have been met.

• If there are any outstanding issues, don't panic. Panicking won't help. Concentrate on finding a solution to the problem - typically a workshop creator or leader can find an alternative way of running their workshop. Caroline will have the contact details of the various creators/leaders.