15 March to 2 June 2017 / Online and Langen, Germany
International training courses on radar meteorology have been offered since 2008. They are delivered in cooperation between Eumetcal and DWD (course management) and WMO and Eumetcal generously sponsor course participants from transition countries.
The course was blended, with eight topics covered during the online phase (self-study, live presentations, tests and homework for students) and a one-week classroom phase at the training centre of the DWD in Langen.
Two categories of students were defined: a) only online participation, b) participation in the online phase and the classroom phase. This enabled more people to join the course and as a result, 24 online students and 16 classroom/online students participated.
Seven trainers helped with the online phase: preparing material for the students’ self preparation and delivering online lectures. Because quizzes and homework were a crucial part of this phase the trainers evaluated the homework of 40 students. During the classroom sessions in Langen, six trainers guided students through the exercises and group works.
Eumetcal supported the course by managing their new web conferencing system and Moodle platform. These frame conditions helped the trainers and the course manager to have ready built course design and technical support during the online sessions.
The majority of students provided the proof of their skills by delivering at least 50% of the homework and quizzes in high quality. On the last day of the classroom phase, the students were asked to fill out a short test. All students passed this test. Some participants also impressed the trainers with an outstanding engagement during the classroom part. Subsequent feedback from participants was very positive.