Doenet Community Workshop 2026
Overview
We invite you to participate in a five-day in-person workshop to learn how to create richly interactive classroom activities using the free and open-source Doenet platform. Not only is Doenet a fun way to create cool activities, it is also a community of STEM instructors and authors who strive to engage students' minds and spur active interaction with mathematical ideas. We welcome you to work together with us to develop an open-source community, resources, and tools that enable anyone to create exploratory activities with feedback.
The workshop will include brief introductions and demos of features of the Doenet platform, as well as short presentations on how people are using Doenet. For the majority of the time, participants will work in small groups on projects of interest to them. These groups will be created dynamically each day. Possible groups could focus on:
- creating your first activity in Doenet
- exploring advanced features of Doenet
- developing activities for a specific open-source textbook
- developing new features to add to the Doenet software
- exploring ways to contribute to the Doenet community and project
- planning steps for long-term sustainability of Doenet
The workshop will run from 9 AM on Monday, June 1 through Noon on Friday, June 5. All organized activities will occur between 9 AM and 5 PM each day.
Application and funding
This workshop is funded by the National Science Foundation. Funding is available to support travel and/or local expenses. The application includes a section to request this funding. There is no registration fee. We are opening the workshop to a limited number of remote participants. To apply for remote attendance, please mention in your personal statement that you would like to attend remotely.
We particularly encourage applications from multiple individuals from the same institution. Such groups will be a priority for funding.
The workshop is designed for secondary and post-secondary faculty at all levels teaching STEM courses. To apply, please submit the following documents through the Program Application link above:
- A personal statement (200 words or less) briefly stating how you would like to be involved in the Doenet community and what you hope to gain from this workshop. Include courses you teach in which you would like to explore using Doenet activities. If applying with a group from the same institution, list the members of this group.
- A brief CV or resume. (A list of publications is not necessary.)
Deadline for full consideration: May 1, 2026.
Organizers
- Steven Clontz - University of South Alabama
- Anurag Katyal - Palm Beach State College
- Melissa Lynn - St Olaf College
- Charles Nykamp - Doenet
- Duane Nykamp - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Logistics
Getting to UMN
- The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) is conveniently located nearby Downtown Minneapolis. The airport is connected to the city center and to the UMN campus by public transport, particularly the Metro Blue Line.
- Metro Transit is the Minneapolis / St. Paul public transportation system – it includes bus and train services that run from very early morning until late in the evening.
- Bicycles and scooter rentals are available from Lime, Spin, and Veo.
Child care
Care.com connects visiting families with experienced local caregivers.
Explore the Twin Cities
Looking for things to do while in Minneapolis? Here are some great resources:
This workshop is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, grant # NSF TI 2449139.
