Learning to build, in two countries at once

From late January to the end of April 2017, participants in Kalisz and Espinho took part in parallel weekly programming workshops.

Both groups worked through the foundations of web development, project planning and collaborative problem-solving, with no previous programming experience expected. Through practical exercises and project work they learned how websites and applications are structured, how to find solutions, and how to develop an idea step by step.

Although based in two countries, they shared one project identity, communicated remotely and prepared for the work they would later undertake together in Portugal.

Getting in

Recruitment opened on 1 December 2016 and ran in four stages: applications through the project website until 23 December, shortlisting over the turn of the year, individual interviews in the first week of January, and final selection by 13 January 2017.

Fourteen places were planned for the Polish group; contemporary reporting from inside the room describes sixteen. The only firm requirement was basic English — not for the code, but because participants would be working with a Portuguese group.

An information meeting for prospective participants and their families was held on the evening of Thursday 15 December 2016, in the new building of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts at Adam Mickiewicz University, on ul. Nowy Świat in Kalisz. The Kalisz workshops themselves were also held at the faculty.

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The commitment

Participation cost nothing. Teaching materials were provided, the instructor was available for consultation outside class hours, and the trip to Porto — flights, local transport, accommodation and meals — was covered in full.

In exchange, participants committed to attending all fourteen sessions and the hackathon. Only documented health or personal circumstances released them from that. Everyone who completed the workshops received a certificate.

What the distance did

By the time the two groups met in Porto, they had spent roughly three months aware of each other and working towards a common finale, without ever having been in the same room. The teams formed there were not formed between strangers.

Occasional group video calls were held in the classrooms. Day-to-day contact ran through a dedicated Slack workspace.