Discussion Board: Pros/Cons of Different Types of Facilities F19
This discussion board is set up to allow you to comment on the Pros/Cons of Different Types of Facilities. Please post two benefits and two challenges for each of the facility types that you chose to reflect upon. When you have completed your post, please take time to read through the comments of others. Compare their notes to yours and jot down any information that you feel may be useful to you as you begin to look at venues for future training.
Click “Post Reply” once you have finished sharing your benefits and challenges.
Hotels might be good because they have conference rooms with adult size chairs, tables, and possibly internet and screen access. Having them available might be a problem or challenge.
A place of worship could be good because it allows for a speaker and a large place for participants to sit. The drawback of a church would be the use or availability of technology if the church is older or doesn’t have the equipment needed.
Could be a charge at hotels and churches would be a good option as long as it was up to date with internet access
Hotels are very good because they have conference rooms. They are usually very comfortable settings. The only drawback would be their location, possibly in a congested area, downtown, etc. The availability is also an issue.
A place of worship is good because they can accommodate a larger group of people. Parking is usually pretty good as well. I agree with Jodie, the availability of technology could be an issue.
A place of worship is great for me, because I am a staff worship leader, and so can use the building for free. Our youth center would be great for a smaller training, and has an attached kitchen, its own bathrooms, some couches in addition to chair seating, and full tech and tables and chairs. Our gym space where we have our contemporary service could be great for a large training. Full tech, two screens, a stage, lots of padded chairs. Downside would probably be just securing dates that the space isn’t being used.
Community meeting rooms in the hospital could be a nice space, (I work for a child development center for hospital staff) and many rooms have movable setups, and the technology is probably pretty locked down. The rental fees are high, however.
I have attended meetings/trainings at hotels. Hotels provide adequate space for participants and well as typically have great technology. Down side to hotels are lack of temperature control of the room. Most hotel conferences have been to the rooms were too cold which made it hard to concentrate.
Libraries are a common meeting place. They usually provide adequate space and have ample electronic capabilities. A challenge that might would be limited parking space depending on time of event and number of people scheduled to attend.
Great point about not being able to control the temperature at hotels! SO TRUE!!! I’m usually FREEZING when I go to a training at a hotel.
And, I am usually too warm;)
Hotels would be a nice place because of the large conference rooms and usually they have UTD technology to access. Their facilities are nice and if you are an out of town guest you can stay at the same place the training is located. A challenge could be availability and the cost.
Child Care Centers can be beneficial if you are training staff in a certain location. Staff could stay there to attend and not have to worry about parking or traveling to another location. A challenge is that it could be a loud and distracting place to hold a training.
I’ve attended many trainings at community colleges/schools. Typically, this is convenient because there is plenty of space for all participants. Not only is there plenty of space for training, but parking is usually easier at community colleges/schools as well. However, community colleges/schools can be difficult to navigate around. Sometimes buildings on a campus are difficult to find as well as the classroom or conference room where the training is being held.
I’ve also attended meetings at hotels. Hotels are super easy, especially for individuals who are traveling. This avoids any traffic issues and provides easy access to individuals who decide to stay at the hotel as well. Although this can be a great location, not every hotel has enough space for the amount of attendees which may leave options limited. In addition, there are typically a lot of people at hotels–not just for the training. This may make it difficult to get around or may make for taking longer bathroom breaks due to lines. (This has actually happened to me during a training before…we had to extend a break because the line was backed up…)
After reviewing the list, libraries and places of worship stick out to me.
Libraries may be too quiet to conduct group work or busy activities. Some library spaces are limited as well. If you’re conducting a class in the open, people not associated with the class could wander into the session…and you’d have to allow them to stay, based upon library free access criteria.
Places of worship could create uncomfortable feelings for the learners, especially if the place is a different type of worship style than what the learner is used to. Also, some worship places have religious restrictions. For instance, some religions don’t see females as teachers. Some discourage younger teachers from teaching older students. The facilitator would need to know the nuances before approaching a place of worship.
The majority of the trainings I have attended have been held on a college campus. The great thing about these trainings is they had plenty of room and everyone was comfortable with their own space. They also made it possible to bring a computer and connect to wifi which was handy. That should make it smoother for the presenter as well. Just as someone else had said a challenge maybe navigating the campus, some are very confusing.
The other place that I have been to training is a child care center. A positive point is workers do not have to leave the facility to go to another place for the training. Another positive is if the training is taking place in the center where the students work then the trainer can make the training more personal to them. The down fall is unless the center has a staff workroom, the facility is built for children. All furnishing will be child sized, which is very uncomfortable for adults.
Training at child care centers can give teachers an opportunity to see other classrooms and get great ideas they can borrow! Possible challenges include:
kid-sized furniture which can be uncomfortable for a lot of adults for a lengthy training
lack of technology available for presenting content
I have attended a lot of trainings at places of worship. The benefit is that the space is usually set up for adults with adult-sized furniture. Most now have technology available for use- projectors, computers, screens. Often, use of the space is free or inexpensive. The only challenge I have experienced at a training at a place of worship was that the chairs were metal folding chairs and were very uncomfortable for long sitting, although this could happen at any location depending on the type of furniture available for use.
I feel that hotels and community college classroom have large rooms, comfortable seating, adequate parking lots . The classrooms or conference rooms are usually prepared for technology. Hotels are great to provide lodging and usually refreshments.
Negatives: community colleges may be hard to navigate around. Depending on the size of the training it may cause some congestion in areas such as the restrooms. A negative for hotels may be traveling to the hotel and the traffic.
I have attended trainings at community centers, which have been beneficial with adequate space for a large group of people. There is usually plenty of parking and a short distance to walk to the community center. When I have attended these trainings usually it is mapped out with large rooms with different trainings that you can attend. However some of the challenges are that you can not control the thermostat and we are usually freezing. The rooms are divided but are close to one another. At times you can hear what is going on in the next room, especially if they play music.
I believe child care centers is very beneficially if you are meeting right after work and within a certain location. You are attending these trainings in your classroom environment and when teachers meet they can collaborate on ideas that are going on in their classrooms. However some of the challenges are the tables are low and kid size chairs are not comfortable to be setting in for a long training.
When I think of a training at our child care center, one of the pros would be the learning environment and Montessori materials. I beleive they lend to participatory learning if presenting on learning materials and classroom set up. There would be no fee to set up. This may not be the case for all child care centers. Another plus would be familiarity for me and other staff members.
One drawback to having a face to face training at our child care center is space. We would be limited to a much smaller group. For employees of the center, it does not provide a break from their workplace.
The second location I chose was meeting halls/community centers. These could provide a larger meeting place with little or no cost. The challenges to meeting in a meeting hall/community center is unfamiliarity. There may not be dependable technology.
Benefits of childcare centers-parking its usually and the most centers are roomy enough to handle adult learning classes,and there may be not charge if the daycare owner is willing to host.
Con with daycares, the owner may want to get the class free for some of its employees, or may not want the center open later than normal.
benefits with libraries,they are always willing to help with these type of classes the only draw back for libraries is scheduling. they host alot of things so getting in there might be a small struggle
Libraries and Places of Worship both stand out to me, simply because of them both being a part of the community, they would generally be able to be used free of charge, they are usually centrally located and have easy access. They also generally are equipped with comfortable furnishing for adult trainees. However some challenges you may be face with are, scheduling. Because these two locations are generally free they seem to be booked up far in advance. You may also run into issues if you are having evening hour trainings with the facility not being open. Another issue you may even run into with a Place of Worship, is the different beliefs of your participants…that may keep them from attending.
Hotels are nice because they tend to have large enough facilities to host the trainees in attendance. Plus it provides lodging for participants that have a long distance to travel. However, the down side is that many hotels have a larger fee to cover the use of the facilities.
Churches work well for training sites because they tend to have a large area for groups to gather and sufficient parking. However, utilizing a church could limit the possibilities of your training. For example, will you have a place to do table work if necessary, how easy will it be to break into small group work.
I prefer trainings that occur in child care centers as I love seeing how other educators design and use space and materials. In this situation, the environment is part of the professional development. Of course one has to bring in appropriate size tables and chairs for the participants.
It is not on the list, but I have loved and plan to host trainings that occur at retreat centers in natural settings. Teachers work so hard and deserve some restorative, self care activities such as time in nature, arts and crafts, and maybe even techniques like meditation to help us do the work we do.
Hotels may be good because the amount of space you could have for your training. You could also have the proper equipment to use as well. The challenge could be that the hotel is not easy to find nor has any accommodations for your training.
Childcare Centers are good because you have the setting that the student learners work in. It is easy to show examples and give details when your in the work environment. The challenge would be the student learners are too comfortable and their attention span may shut off.
I enjoy trainings at hotels due to the location is usually easy, plenty of parking, and alot of room. Down side is they are usually cold, expensive, and sometimes the space can be too large.
Churches are good for trainings due to ample parking and are able to accommodate large crowds. Downside could be difficult especially if tables were needed to do group work, or dependable internet.
Most of the training I have attended in the past have been in hotels or community center type settings. The hotels get expensive. I have assisted with training’s that have been sponsored by a specific child development center that has the space. They can invite others to attend and the facility is free of charge. I believe this is a great idea, if you have the resources to facilitate. You also get to see how other centers in the community are set up and this is an additional plus in my opinion.
I have attended trainings at libraries and meeting halls/community centers. Libraries are open to the public and free to use (within certain guidelines). Because library meeting rooms are free, the dates fill up quickly. Meeting halls/community centers are easy to find and usually provide a large open space but they may require a fee.