Webinar with design students. Source: alexpak.work/assets/zoom

Introduction

In 2020 and 2021 a lot of my work was done remotely including online workshops and design sessions at Yandex Practicum.

My role there was focused on guiding several groups of 40-50 people through the educational process, sharing my experience and giving them practical advice through video webinars and chats, reviewing their work, answering their questions, guiding, and providing feedback.

Graduate testimonials. Source: LinkedIn

Online workshops are the main communication tool I use to work with design students and it's very important to do it right. It took me some time to learn the best approach to online webinars or workshops yet, which I would like to share.

Prepare well

Based on my experience, preparation for a workshop on average takes twice as long as the actual workshop, you need to prepare thoroughly and to think everything through to make sure that both you and your mentees will achieve the goals set for the workshop.

During the preparation process mentors should do the following:

• determine the goal and the educational results of the workshop;
• design the structure;
• form its content;
• prepare a presentation if necessary;
• write an invitation/teaser that sounds interesting and exciting.