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I am prepping for being an instructor on a course this week. I wanted to share some tips that I am providing free to you because I've paid the price of failure for on your behalf, :)
Important references you need (lab credentials, URLs, license keys, instructor instructions, door codes, security systems codes, support emails, support contact info, etc.) you might need should be located on several devices. Most, even printed out for your reference.
You can't count on just one device being available at any specific time when you need these important pieces of data.
And sometimes you can't count on any of them :).
And sometimes you can't count on any of them :).
At the end of the day, don't tell students to leave their materials (courseware, lab worksheets, notes, paper, pens, whiteboard work, etc.) where they are. No matter what you've been told, there's a cleaning staff just itching to clean the room and get rid of all that "trash".
Have a plan for when resources for the class don't show up at all on the first day. This includes books that have been shipped to the location, websites that don't end up working, printed materials not being printed, doors being locked, projectors not working, cables missing....
What, you say, your whole class is online and there's nothing to worry about? What if the student credentials or licenses were not distributed? What if the firewall is blocking it? What if the students show up with no laptops? What if 10 extra students show up?
What if the room the training organizer scheduled is actually the break room? What if the room has only 6 chairs and 12 attendees? What if the students are spread across two smaller rooms? Yes, all this has happened to me. Now I have ideas on how to overcome these challenges
If your course location is new to you, physically go there the day before. Find out it's not just "15 mins from your hotel" or that there is a guard shack and you have not been set up for access? What if you have, but your rental car can't enter because it has not special tag?
If the course is virtual (2020, right?), make sure you understand how to work the virtual course service and are set up as an organizer or admin on the session. Also, find out if the platform allows a session to be logged in more than 90 minutes or some other arbitrary time.
Do you have any "instructor free advice that's been paid for?" to add to this thread?
