New Learning Center

[efgen]

I think you really need a workshop that people can take either before they buy or while they are waiting for results. I think workshops on Family Finder, Y and MtDNA could help people get lots more out of their tests, and give them a less frustrating experience both while waiting and after they get the results.

See our Webinars page in the Learning Center

http://www.familytreedna.com/learn/ftdna/webinars/

Regards,

Elise Friedman
Webinar Coordinator
Family Tree DNA

[Thomsund]

I would like to test it, there is a lot to ask about!

[JohnG]

See our Webinars page in the Learning Center

http://www.familytreedna.com/learn/ftdna/webinars/

Regards,

Elise Friedman
Webinar Coordinator
Family Tree DNA

Thanks, but I am talking about something a bit different. The webinars are essentially lectures with slides, no handouts or exercises. A workshop usually involves long hands-on exercises with data provided (carefully designed data usually to show lots of things). It would involve not just the tools offered on the side but how to use those tools and logic to discover connections. Sometimes there is a bit of hand waving between the steps. With Family Finder you might have discovered some matches and then the handout would have some pseudo email to and from the match that would prepare for the next steps. Workshops are also more self paced, letting some students work on faster and others can take longer.

[Rebekah Canada]

Hi,

We are talking about this internally. Do you think short 2 to 3 week classes or longer 8 to 10 week classes would work better?

...A workshop usually involves long hands-on exercises with data provided (carefully designed data usually to show lots of things)...

[Pdrh]

Feedback on new Learning centre

First page is too focused on new customers. I suggest having an entry page with links to Proucts, Learning Centre, Advanced.

I couldn't open the links on my iPad for Advanced DNA,
User Guide, and FAQ.

I'd like to see a link on how to interpret your results & what you can do with them ( eg how to find MRCA ,etc).

[wighty44]

Webinars...

Just found this topic and after roaming a bit on the learning center, I found it difficult to find the link to a "Webinar" page.

Example, I come to the learning center page and would like to see what webinars are scheduled and which of those that have taken place that might be viewed as a video (or other media). Where do I go?

Looking at the top level page navigation, my mind selects FAQ from:
News
DNA Test Basics
Advanced DNA
MyFTDNA User Guide
Group Administration
FAQ
Glossary

But that selection is not present. If it were, I would expect it to have a schedule for (or link to) upcoming webinars and then a listing of past webinars available - grouped by topics such as mtDNA, Y-DNA, atDNA, X-DNA, etc.

[MaryLea]

Yes, I would welcome the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the site.

[JohnG]

Hi,

We are talking about this internally. Do you think short 2 to 3 week classes or longer 8 to 10 week classes would work better?

I am not sure how to answer. I had thought of a series of modules, each that might take several hours to work through and with some optional reading. What I have been used to in workshop based situations is an introductory presentation and distribution of materials and exercises. Then asynchronous work on the exercises, sometime with an opportunity to collaborate with others students, sometimes with a scheduled opportunity to chat with the instructor and get answers to sticking points. I have had 8 hours in one day or one assignment a week. The first one I did, for army clerk typist training in the 1960s, was totally flexible, you could finish in one day or 8 weeks. An image processing one was 10 weeks with 20 exercises; the NGS one was 4 modules Intro and QC, Assembly, Annotation, and Biomes. We spent about 2 hours on each but each could have been many more hours of useful learning.

I am happy to give more feedback if it is useful.

[Alp Celt R-Z49]

Nuw Learning Center

Yes, definitely! (-;

[pmac]

Hi,

We are very close to the swap over from the current FAQ system to the Learning Center. Could everyone check to be sure their favorite FAQs were not left out by mistake?

Well for starters I don't see any of the 67 FAQs listed under the current FAQ heading Understanding Results: Family Finder

[JohnG]

When I look at postings and at my search for connections, it seems one of the most important things the learning center could teach is how to be a good, active member of the community. The two big things that could be encouraged are:

1) Prepare your tree and upload it, or at least upload a list of the surnames you know. This is a great thing to do while waiting for results. When new matches appear it often takes weeks or months for folks to upload their information and by then they are part of the crowd, not the bright shiny new match.
2) Answer emails, even if you don't feel you know anything, just for politeness and the good of the community.

So far, despite all my analyses, spreadsheets and coercing relatives to test, most of my new great greats come from simply looking for surnames in my match list. It helped when I got smart enough to look for the married names of my great great's siblings, too.

[wighty44]

I received email notices that the learning center on now online, but I was not able to find a link to it on my FTDNA home page. Did I miss it?

[Rebekah Canada]

Soon...

Hi,

It will be linked on all pages when the 301 redirects make it through quality control. Guess whose job it is to do the quality checks on the redirect link list? :-)

I received email notices that the learning center on now online, but I was not able to find a link to it on my FTDNA home page. Did I miss it?

[wighty44]

Would it be too much to ask what target ("ball-park") date one might expect those links to appear...?

[tab1968]

New Learning Center

I think the best part of the new Learning Center is that FTDNA is being more interactive with their customers, explaining results and resolving issues.

For people new to genetic genealogy like myself this is a big plus!

Todd