I am excited to share my experiences leading in-person training sessions with Open Mapping Guru under the Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific. These sessions have significantly contributed to my professional growth and self-discovery, offering valuable opportunities to connect with others.

As an Open Mapping Guru with the Open Mapping Hub Asia-Pacific, participating in this year's fellowship and completing my second year with OMGuru has been profoundly enriching. My initial involvement began in 2023, and I am deeply grateful to OMH-AP for providing me with another opportunity this year to further develop my skills as a trainer.

I still remember my initial involvement in the OMGuru fellowship this January. I had to mentally prepare myself and develop my own curriculum to teach participants how to use Open Mapping tools for various mapping activities through online training sessions. Initially, I felt uncertain because I had to present and facilitate participants from different countries, each with varying educational backgrounds and experiences in Open-Source Geospatial Software.

However, what I appreciated most was the open mapping environment, where everyone worked with great respect for one another. No one tried to elevate themselves above others, fostering a collaborative and supportive atmosphere.

This picture show you, how I lead a training with in Timor-Leste about JOSM and Mapillary last May, 2014

How is the training I provide online different from in-person training?

Leading in-person training is significantly different from the training I lead online. The most significant difference is my interaction with people and preparing a sufficient space for the participants. Another aspect is that in in-person training, I can have direct discussions with the participants and prepare a good and adequate space for them to also engage in discussions and interact with each other during the training.

A key element of effective in-person training is the use of eye contact and gestures. Maintaining eye contact and using clear, relevant gestures help ensure participants understand the material. These non-verbal cues are crucial for fostering a connection and keeping the audience engaged.

Similarly, online training also has platforms that can facilitate these interactions, but there are always difficulties encountered during the training. For instance, the ability to observe non-verbal expressions becomes a challenge, including the issue of poor internet connection, which causes some participants to miss parts of the presentation.

Personal Learnings from the In-Person Experience

What I learned from in-person training is how to set up a space for participants in a flexible and interactive way. Another thing I learned is how to create animations or sessions that help participants maintain their attention on my presentations.

I also learned a lot about how to arrange a suitable space that aligns with the training's objectives. Another aspect of this is that I learned how to interact directly with participants during lunch and coffee breaks to better understand their ideas and more.

My Favorite Sessions in In-Person Training

My favorite sessions in in-person training are the interaction and group discussion sessions. In one session, I had participants discuss Data Quality in OpenStreetMap and the key features that can be used to describe objects in OSM. Additionally, there was another session I conducted with participants on Mapillary training, which I did together with students from universities in Dili such as UNTL, UNPAZ, IPDC, IOB, and youth from Community OpenStreetMap Timor-Leste, G-SIG Association, and Women Engineers Association. We conducted a campaign by recording street-level images in Dili, which was very fun. Participants actively participated using their phones and motorcycles to collect data in real-time.

Another of my favorite sessions is the quiz session, where I created simple quizzes about what I had already taught them and tested their understanding of the material I shared. I gave them some simple questions and they answered them within a limited time.

From this experience, I want to emphasize that everything I learned while leading in-person training sessions, I have diligently noted, and this has become an incredibly valuable experience for me in the future. I am deeply committed to further developing this together with my association G-SIG Timor-Leste and my beloved OpenStreetMap Timor-Leste community, including other youths in Timor-Leste, universities, the government, the private sector, and including NGOs present in Timor-Leste. I am also committed to sharing these experiences with all fellows worldwide.

If you want to connect with me to explore further about the Open Mapping environment or want to know more about what I shared above, you can contact me through the platforms available bellow:

1. Facebook: Ponciano da Costa de Jesus

2. Linkedin: Ponciano da Costa de Jesus

3. E-Mail: ponsyanodejesus@gmail.com