Recently, I gave a training session called “Introduction to Computational Thinking”. The materials are available through The Carpentries. This was the first time that we offered it. Our usual offerings covered an introduction to Linux, an introduction to shell scripting, and then an introduction to the usual starter programming languages, like Python and R. We realized, however, that we were getting attendees who had never been exposed to computing, as opposed to simply using computers. They are two different things. There was a segment of our clients that were not prepared to get the most out of the rest of the training that we offered.
This first time of offering this session was done online. While it went fine, I think that this particular session would work much better as an in person session. Being able to interact in person is so important for the fundamental sessions. Once you have the core ideas down, you are in a much better place to absorb the material of later sessions.