We have a romantic attachment to skills from the past. Longhand multiplication of numbers using paper and pencil is considered a worthy intellectual achievement
This sort of tradition for tradition's sake bothers me just as much as the idea of technology for technology's sake.
For example, the Maker Commons at Penn State houses the Invention Studio, which is equipped with littleBits, Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, and Phillips HUE lightbulbs to provide students with hands-on experience in using connected technologies to create custom solutions
Inworks at CU Denver
alternative credentials to diplomas, and the use of federal financial aid to support these alternatives.
Allowing federal aid to apply to alternative credentialing would be huge
student advising platforms, data can be shared across an institution to illuminate student performance in order to inform improved instructional design and student advising
We have adopted a "student success" software platform that incorporates academic advising, retention, enrollment, etc. but I'm not sure how an instructional design piece would fit in. It's interesting to think about, though
how applications of digital modes of teaching are impacting students.
How do these online spaces impact the performance of identity, perception of self as a student, etc?
educators see it as a viable alternative to some forms of face-to-face learning
Not quite seen as a replacement
its implementation in higher education settings is not as robust, pointing to the need for colleges and universities to make larger investments in quality teaching.
Our campus buzzwords over the last 3 years:
faculty, staff, and students must be able to make connections between the tools and the intended outcomes, leveraging technology in creative ways that allow them to more intuitively adapt from one context to another.
Paper handouts vs. on-the-go mobile-ready info for just in time learning
as they emerge
Learning the basics of audio, video and mobile editing, for example, can be applied in infinite ways - like learning word processing in the 90s, for example.
As student-led class discussions delve deeper into the material, faculty must balance the student-centered approach with subtle but effective facilitation.
Even more so in a learning space where the participants never meet and the teacher is not physically present.
access is still unequal. G
Even though access to the internet isn't enough, is equity achieved when students can use their smartphones to access learning? Even if we put all learning back in the classroom, there would be access issues (time, place location...) Therefore, the only truly equitable solution is to bring the experience to the student.
While an eLearning module can certainly teach someone about the importance of not accelerating or taking a corner too quickly, mLearning can actually help someone recognize when they are doing it!
Timing!
What makes mobile learning different from other delivery channels for learning content is that it can happen at any time, anywhere, and in ways that are vastly different from what can be achieved in a classroom or traditional eLearning in which a single learner sits and interacts with a computer
What can we do to put information in the hands of our students, in order to avoid slowing down the process of information transfer by requiring them to be tethered to a time and place?
The explosion of tablet devices and the miniaturization of laptop computers over the past three years have greatly blurred what we typically think of as “mobile technology.”
Mobile devices are not just smartphones
an expansion of the original four categories to add three more: performance support, unique affordances of mobile and user-generated content.
So now we're at:
The topic arose as a response to many who primarily – and in our view, simplistically – considered mobile learning a new delivery method for eLearning,
Mobile learning is not merely a new delivery method of the same content. It is content and context tailored to the affordances of mobile devices, which is on-the-go, just-in-time and augmented.
a walking tour of Chicago that uses the GPS feature of your phone to point out and explain important landmarks based on your current location is much more engaging than learning about them at home sitting at your desk.
augmented reality
no one would want their cardiologist to need a refresher on the different valves of the heart prior to doing surgery. But you might feel a little bit more comfortable if your doctor pulled out his iPhone to confirm all the side effects of a new blood thinning medication that had just been developed while he is readying to prescribe a new course of treatments for you
The difference is between what you should already know in the context of your defining/identifying role, and what new/updated information you need to continue to be successful in what you do.
The time span between when mobile learning actually occurs and the application of that learning is usually very short, often it is immediate. As a result, it is much easier to assess mLearning’s impact on both an individual’s behavior and the ensuing business results.
ie, behavior and business results
Once the context has been established, information on the actual safety check process can be presented
eLearning is removed from the context
learning whether the Caesar salad or a bowl of black bean soup has more calories at a local fast food restaurant via a simplified interface tailored for the device is an ideal application for mobile learning
discrete facts about a particular item vs. a comprehensive overview of an entire concept
MLearning, on the other hand, is more about accessing information at the moment it is needed. This implies that successful mLearning is more about easy and convenient access to information and less about committing information to memory
easy access to info vs. memory dump
two key learning objectives are comprehension and retention. Because the information being learned will be applied at a later time, it is critical that the material be understood and remembered until it is needed
...this is the problem I have with the delivery mode that my office currently employs. The information really needs to be accessible "just in time" instead of all at once in the beginning
This sort of just-in-time experience exhibits the value in making your learning content mobile.
A reference that is always in the palm of your hand...
An example of this type of training is a quick reference guide
In fact, this is what I'm thinking for my final project. A mobile reference guide for my students is the equivalent of giving them a packet of photocopied information on their first day of orientation.
Teacher education and training on the effective integration of mobile technologies into instruction may provide significant benefits for all.
Training so that educators can get ahead of trends instead of reacting to them after the fact
It should facilitate the kind of collaboration that helps individuals compensate for their blindnesses, instead of cultivating them.
This sounds like Montessori to an extent, where multiple age groups are in the same classroom together.
Each step involves a divergent thinking pattern to challenge ideas, and then convergent thinking to narrow down exploration
This is really great, as divergent thinking recognizes that everyone has a different way of conceptualizing an issue, but convergent thinking brings people together to identify common approaches that honor everyone's way of thinking.
educational systems were the slowest adopters of innovation
This isn't surprising to me as they are in fact systems and organizations that require budgets and approval from government bodies, etc. ie. red tape
consulting firms and by persons in companies who have been trained in creative problem solving methods
Disrupters!
David Hughes, founder of Decision Labs and professor at UNC Chapel Hill, argues that innovation is an essential skill for our global economy.
"Innovation", "disruption", etc. seem to be more grown up, adult versions of referring to creativity
Creativity was considered to be an immeasurable, natural ability
Honestly, I can't define it
we in highereducation do them a disservice if we ex-clude their creative digital tools fromtheir education
How bummed are students when they get to campus and the only learning experiences offered involve sitting in a classroom, facing a whiteboard, while someone talks to them and expects them to write down what he's saying?
What’s newabout podcasting is the ease of publica-tion, ease of subscription, and ease of useacross multiple environments, typicallyover computer speakers, over a car stereo,and over headphones—all while the lis-tener is walking or exercising or drivingor traveling or otherwise moving about
Unbound
to plant seeds of interest and todemonstrate the lively and engaging in-tellectual community created by its fac-ulty in each course
And also to bring the teaching/learning alchemy outside of the classroom. The dialogue is now everywhere, not just at a certain time on a certain day in a certain classroom
This pod-cast is a special favorite of Jenny’s; sheloves to hear the excitement in her pro-fessor’s voice
Taking the professor's presentation from the lecture hall to an on demand podcast format allows him to be more informal and connect personally with students, generating their interest and engaging them in a different way
With player in hand and earbuds in place,Jenny walks out
She can take her podcasts on the go, she is not confined to a library, or a computer lab, or a bookstore
Theinformal, good-natured podcasting com-petition in this class means that Jennyreads the assignments more carefully thanusual, hoping to find something that willmake her group’s podcast especiallymemorable—and enjoyable
She is motivated to make the teaching/learning experience as meaningful as possible for her classmates
in the past ten years content creators have been able to share their audio and video with the world
Great for keeping up with second language learning skills.
On the browser you might simply type “weather 94025” into the browser. On the smartphone you never do this.
...because the weather feature is a stand-alone app-like feature on your smartphone's screen
One of the key reasons that mobile apps have a cleaner design is the absence of SEO
I didn't know there was no SEO in mobile apps
Consumers clearly dislike deeply nested features on mobile phones.
Again, they're not using to app to "browse" or poke around, but to perform an action, often quickly.
We are also seeing the emergence of mobile-only companies whose presence is singularly focused on mobile as opposed to the browser based Internet.
I was late to Twitter because of this - it seemed pointless without a smartphone. Mobile-only companies respond to a need for a deliverable service as opposed to a repository of retrievable information.
Mobile applications are instantly accessible as the smartphone is always with you
In your hand, in your pocket, on your desk, next to you while you cook in the kitchen or eat at the dining room table...
On the smartphone it is quick, responsive, and right up front
Desktops are for actual browsing, where the user may or may not know what they need. But using a mobile app assumes an intentional desire to perform a set of actions to receive a result. We don't really "browse" when we open up an app - we want to accomplish a task.
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” — Freewill, Rush
This kind of thinking reminds me of the logic of "Pascal's wager" or when we hear about "device-agnostic" tools.
This structure lets the designer control the order of learning experiences.
This puts the designer in the driver's seat and leading how the learning is sequenced.
These tools enable workshop activities that draw on the wisdom of the group and keep everyone engaged
Collaborative tools really allow you to utilize everyone's knowledge
A virtual training session offers opportunity to increase the number of people who can participate. How many people in my webinar? How does group size affect or design? How do our objectives affect optimal group size?
Increased capacity comes with a caveat, however
Take the role of moderator and facilitator, rather than presenter/speake
If you're just speaking/presenting, your webinar is not meeting its full potential in terms of learning opportunity and engagement
As virtual instructors and facilitators we need to find new ways to establish a presence at the “front of the room” and express our personality and value to the group.
In an in-person classroom, the instructor's importance is obvious and doesn't need to be established. As an online instructor, however, you're just another person in the room
Set the expectationwell ahead of time that yours will be a different kind of webinar –one where you are expecting people to sit up and participate instead of sit back and listen
If the webinar is indeed going to be more active than passive listening, I am a huge advocate of "managing expectations", ie. letting participants know explicitly what to expect and also what not to expect
Pre-and post webinar activities free up limited webinar time for the learning content most effectively done through live interaction
If you carefully consider pre- and post-webinar activities, you can maximize the time for the synchronous event
Materials and Information that participants can read and review on their own
ABSORB
Don’t miss the opportunity to consider new objectives that may be possible in a virtual setting,for example:increasing the number of participants, engaging individuals across cultures
More attendees = more perspectives, more ideas, more connections with each other
he promise of interactive webinars is for increased learning, shorter meetings with greater participation, less multi-tasking and on-goingcollaboration.
Why are these the promises?
hey have become less interactive
The affordance of transcending location has necessarily decreased "presence", ie. interaction
as training programs and workshops have moved online they have become less interactive, limited by assumptions about technology choices and participant engagement.
Assumptions about technology choices = the webinar has to look like a powerpoint, contain mostly bullet points and text
Assumptions about participant engagement = all attendees will pay attention the entire time, won't check their email, won't open up other screens and merely listen
the one-way nature of most webinars and web conferences misses an opportunity to engage an audience and draw on the wisdom of the group as well as the knowledge of the guest speaker, pitchman or trainer.
When interaction is two-way, participants benefit from twice as much information and knowledge.
it’s possible to create even more of a sense of a commu-nity than you would have in a traditional lecture class.
The more "anonymous" people feel, the more open they allow themselves to be in terms of talkativeness, disclosure, humor, sarcasm, etc
“interactions” might refer to interactions between individual participants and the in-structor or the content, it might refer to participation in discussions, or it might refer to collabora-tion between participants.
INTERACTION =
Virtual classrooms only work wheninstructors employ frequent, relevant (job-based) interactions.
Otherwise, it's just TOO easy to do something else while you're "listening". No one can see you, no one will tell you to stop and pay attention, and if you're not already motivated to do so, this environment will just make it worse
An electronically deliv-ered lecture, for example, would engender littlesense of presence, while an in-person one wouldat least allow you to actually sit next to otherpeople, even if there is little social interaction
Again, I could care less about this. I don't need it (to learn or to be comfortable). And I don't actually want it (too much expectation to talk to each other)
Social presenceis the warm fuzzy feeling you getwhen actual people are around, especially whenyou can shake hands, talk, and stare at thoseawful shoes.
This is the least of my concerns in a learning event. Why is that? And why do so many people need other people around them?
the students feel like someone onthe other side of the network cares whether theyare alive or dead.
It's important for some students to know that they are being "seen", and attended to. For others, this is less of a factor if at all. I am definitely in the latter category. I don't always feel the need to be "acknowledged" by an instructor
Can your students self-regulate, manage their own time, and process information on their own? Ifnot, you may have better luck putting under-motivated or over-worked students in a virtual class-room
If it's for their job, maybe more so. However, if it's school education, maybe not
No one wants to make something that no one will look at, or finish looking at. And companiessurely don’t want to spend money on courses that students don’t complete.
Therefore, between asynchronous and synchronous events, the latter carries more assurance of completion.
Synch-ronous e-Learning falls between the two in terms of cost.
In order of expense low to high:
Even though for dispersed audiences the deliveryof electronic media is cheaper and faster than itis for traditional training, electronic media are typically more expensive to produce.
...and may require the expertise of more than one designer/team, in addition to the instructor him or herself
Compared to traditional classes, the virtual classroom demands technological andpsychological resources from both instructor and student.
In a traditional classroom, the teacher and the students bring completely different tools to the room.
plus the sense of alone-ness learners may get from staring at the illumi-nated rectangle where they already spend so much time
We may always need concrete, physical proximity to other people - being the same physical space with each other.
you can’t assume that youcan do the same things you used to do in either the physical classroom or traditional e-Learning
But that's not a bad thing because you can do other, different things that are also effective. Different does not equal ineffective or worse. **There are plenty of ineffective classroom techniques that currently exist (orientation of desks, etc)
the virtual classroom offers some exciting opportunities for collab-oration, connection, access to information, cool graphics, and getting people quickly up to speed andproductive.
Collaboration/ Connection = boundaries of location are disappearing, opening experiences to more people anytime/anywhere
Now we have this “virtual classroom,” perhaps a contradiction in terms since the physical class-room space is exactly what we have eliminated.
Should we still be calling this environment a "classroom"?
repetition is more concerned with elements across a deck of slides, alignment is about obtaining unity among elements of a single slide.
I mistakenly thought it was the opposite......dang it
If it is different, make it very different.
We are wired to notice differences so make them noticeable!
People remember visuals better than bullet points
Bullet points are all the same
Remove visual clutter
Clutter is confusing and distracting
Design matters. But design is not about decoration or about ornamentation. Design is about making communication as easy and clear for the viewer as possible.
Do not mistake design for decoration! Decoration doesn't serve a purpose, is ornamental, and can be ignored or overlooked by the audience if they choose. Design is essential to communication.
In absorb activities learners read, listen, and watch. These activities may sound passive, but they can be an active component of learning
How are absorb activities active?
Absorb activities inform and inspire
Absorb activities make participants want to explore further - call to action
try very hard to break away from a centered alignment
Is center alignment more ambiguous, non-committal and therefore less serious to the viewer?
a strong alignment (combined, of course, with the appropriate typeface) that creates a sophisticated look, or a formal look, a fun look, or a serious look.
In this sense, alignment will contribute to how the viewer feels about the work, which in turn will shape his or her reaction and subsequent action.
To make all the elements on the page appear to be connected there needs to be some visual tie between the separate elements.
If elements are disconnected, so with the viewer's attention be!
How your learners perceive the instructional content is more often than not dependent on the design element
Is this content going to be fun? Is this content going to speak to me? Is this content going to be interesting?
designs are not accidental, they are based on intentions and choices.
These choices are based on research that explains our behaviors as learners
communicateseffectively
What is effective communication?
Although content matters a lot, how your learners perceive the instructional content is more often than not dependent on the design element.
Try to convince an educator that students' perception of content is more important than the content!
Bullet points and other rehashed text-based screens are not only boring and show a lack of creativity; they also take time to read
We process visuals more quickly
We also happen to learn better through images than with text. The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times quicker than text!
Using visuals in teaching is actually essential, not optional
It takes atleast as much practice as it did to learn to drive a car or dial a cell phone. It’s possible to master it. Inthe meantime, here’s another suggestion.Try this:Employ an online session Producer to help set up and manage the session and let youfocus on what you need to say and do to teach the content.
Have a teaching assistant in the session with you
Test participant connections in advance. Havingtrouble with application sharing? Create screenshots in a separate file. Show the file only if needed.Are some learners on a low bandwidth connection? Send assignments and presentation files ahead of time so they can still follow along with audio if the connection drops.
Plan ahead for inevitable tech issues/failures
Outline the ground rules up front. Remember, some learners have never learned this waybefore. They only know classroom-style and cannot imagine how this will work. How will they knowwhat to do or not do unless you tell them?
YES! tell them how this is going to go down beforehand, to lessen their anxiety and apprehension.
Learners are typically willing to do whatever the trainer invites them to do as long asthey are properly prepared and treated respectfully. Learners prefer clear learning objectives; they likeeasy access to resources, and they can become frustrated if the process is slow or confusing. Theydon’t like to be humiliated.
Learners don't like to be unsure or unconfident, they don't like to fail in front of others, they don't like to feel bad about themselves and their skills/knowledge and they are constantly comparing themselves to everyone else. So....how to work around that?
The design of synchronous online software tools supports human-to-human interactions.
Precisely! the traditional classroom, does NOT
“Theonly factor becoming scarce in a world of abundance is human attention.” Learners have a tremen-dous capacity to stay interested in things that they find relevant or fun. Learners don’t want to staylogged in and listening to someone talk for eight hours. They lose momentum when they feel theirtime is wasted or when they are not involved in what’s going on.
Engagement, involvement, interactivity, whatever you want to call it, you have to create it, maintain it and sustain it
Try not to set the expectation that it will be the same as the classroom. Look at the re-sources you have available to communicate better with your learners. Send a survey by e-mail or askparticipants to complete an online form declaring their learning needs for the course.
I think it's valuable to explicitly lay out the limitations AND the benefits, of how this experience will be different and how that is totally OK. Describe specific strategies you will be using and expect them to use to support engagement. Afterall, if students think their behavior should be the same as if they were in class, the experience won't be very useful to them
Objection #2 “I can’t connect with learnersand build rapport like I could in the class-room.
Don't be so needy for attention :)
in order to get any feedback at all, I need to ask questions that elicit a specificfeedback response. This means asking more challenging, probing questions and asking for specificresponses.
Be specific! You'll get better responses. How much does a nodding head tell you anyway?
relying on body languageand eye contact are very low-level feedback methods. They reveal basic information such as: thelearner is awake, or the learner appears to agree with something
Relying too heavily on these poor indicators demonstrates a lack of confidence and expertise on the part of the instructor
Objection #1 “I’m not able to observe participants’ body language oreye contact to ensure that they are ‘with me’ and learning.”
To this I say "get over yourself"...
all theseconcerns are warranted. But there is hope if you try the strategies that work.
Don't give up on it just yet!
Vendors offer flexible licensing plans and a broad range of pricing to suit small and uber-largegroups. Large corporations might license and install the online software so that it runs from insidethe company, supporting it with internal IT staff members.
UCD has licensed with Zoom so that all students, staff and faculty have internal access (through the business tools menu in our portal)
In online sessions, it can be challenging to capture the level of “connectedness” that comes natu-rally in the classroom. We must measure results on a new scale.
Let's redefine what "connection" and "connectedness" are.
Instructional designers identify learning objectives, develop materials, and plan activities to engagelearners and confirm learning.
analysis, design, develop, implement, evaluate
a high “smile” rating is no guaran-tee that students will be able to apply what they have learned back on the job.
If anything, it simply proves that the experience was "bearable" and maybe allowed them to forget that they were being forced to attend to something that wasn't that interesting
Learning relationships, like relationships with aremote teammate or distant family member, require special effort and different tools and resourcesthan the ones we use when in the same room. Distance does not prevent communication, althoughwe might sometimes feel it hinders it. Because we cannot rely on body language to indicate subtletiesin meaning,we must be more direct.
Maybe the directness is what attracts me to this modality - being a straight shooter, not mincing words, being clear and concise - and maybe having the instructor avoid hand-holding, talking around the point, and attending to feelings is exactly what some students don't like about online training
They reframed their job, from being a content provider to becoming acontext creator.
Creating context leads to learning!
they felt they couldn’t connect with learners
Why not? What is connection? I believe insisting that an in person environment is always better than an online one speaks to an egotism of classroom teachers who feel they need to visibly see a reaction in their students' body language to fulfill a personal validation. This is an inherent mistrust in their own pedagogy, tools and design, putting the onus on students to have the correct reaction in order to be confident that they have in fact learned something
The notion of doing this has long been a fantasy oftrainers, educators, learners, and managers. Few of us believed that we could ever recreate the “feel”of the face-to-face experience. We thought it was obvious that we’d never be able to walk around to astudent’s equipment to observe problems and offer solutions. We’d miss the subtle cues of body lan-guage, and we’d never be able to tell whether the learners were actually learning
....so what's the next best thing?
I found that synchronous collaboration software products did not automatically creategood training, in much the same way that using Microsoft Word doesn’t automatically create gooddocuments.
You still have to design something effective within the tool!
distance learning hasappealed to me, but I didn’t think it was possible for this new technology to re-create the kind oflearning environments I could build in a classroom. I feared that the interface would seem sterile andcold, and that my students couldn’t or wouldn’t participate.
Not all students need or want an in person experience
The subject areas reported most commonly covered were technical training, product knowledge,business skills, desktop applications, and company policies and procedures
Are webinars good for "how to" demos/instructions etc?
The biggest disadvantages were listed as “technical problems with hardware,software,set-up,or connections,” “too little learner engagement or interactivity,” “facilitators are notusually skilled in synchronous remote delivery techniques,” and “bandwidth limitations.”
These glitches highlight the need for experienced, professional, tech-saavy presenters/facilitators
the greatest advantage of Web conferencing is the ability for instructors topresent content in a number of different ways
How does this differ from in person classroom instruction?
When people discuss “synchronous e-Learning,” they are typically referring to Web conferencing.
Conferencing suggests large scale audience and lots of participation
. Simulations permit participants to learn through practice,and to measure the consequences of actions in a safe context (rather than on the job).
The stakes are low and they can learn from mistakes/get feedback immediately
In other words, fuller features and opportunities for interactivityhave been introduced into some Webcasting services, challenging its differentiation from Web con-ferencing.
The interactivity is a key component of the learning environment, as opposed to a mere presentation tool
What is it?Also known as conference calling, this is audio-only interaction via telephone
An audio-only interaction puts the onus on the attendee or listener to be engaged and stay engaged
To avoid confusion, I recom-mend adopting the terms audioconferencing or videoconferencing instead.
Conferencing is meant to convey that many people are invited to attend and that attendees are interested in being a part of the experience for one reason or another due to its value to their interests and pursuits
New tools appearwith regularity, and existing tools are frequently upgraded orexpanded to improve performance and incorporate new fea-tures.
Why is the practice changing so rapidly?
Synchronous e-Learning sessions can usually be recorded and played back, but that’s not their primary strength or purpose. Our focus is on the live and the collaborative.
It's still a strength of the online platform to have the ability to record it and join the session after the fact
virtual classroom, Webcasting, Web conferencing, videoconferencing, Webinars, live e-Learning, eConferencing,
Webcasting sounds like there is very little interaction, just projecting information for a distance audience
summarizes the most important factors to consider when developing a business case for its deployment
Organizations have to invest time and money into adopting a platform and designing training, and may have to hire additional personnel to do so. Therefore, return on investment needs to be considered in making a case
Synchronous learning is live, real-time (and usually scheduled), facilitated instruction and learn-ing-oriented interaction.
ENGL 1020 MW 11:30 - 12:15 NC 1350
It’s the traditional foundation of theschool and college experience, the familiar standard against which all other learning models are com-pared and measured
And the focus of current debates on "if" in person synchronous learning is as effective as online synchronous learning
Although synchronous e-Learning has been around for almost fifty years in more primi-tive forms, it is only in the last five years that organizations and individuals have had the technology,the infrastructure, and the bandwidth to make it practical for widespread adoption
The result has been faster delivery to a wider audience
which kinds oftraining and educationare best suited to it,
Are there learning experiences that are not appropriate for webinar presentation?
Howtoplanyourweeklysocialmediamarketingschedulein60minutesorless
This is specific enough to let attendee know exactly what they will gain from the webinar and how the skills/knowledge will benefit them
Youwanttoincludespecificresultsthatyourreaderislookingforwhilenotgivingawaytheanswer.
Because then why would they attend the event?
Themostimportantpartofdrawingattentionisthetitleofthewebinar
One instance where you WANT people to a book by its cover!
Ifyouhaveaseeminglyboringtopic,noonewillwanttoattendthewebinar
Well, sometimes attendance is a requirement and not really a choice, in which case it might be even more important to have an attention-grabbing topic and starter!
It’sagoodpracticetointroduceyourselfnearthestartofawebinar
There seems to be consensus on this
Therearealwaysafewpeoplethatcometothewebinarearly.Thisisagreattimetostarttalkingwiththemaboutanythinginthechatbox
This is a great idea. There will always be early arrivals and why not make a connection with them before the webinar starts - their effort will be rewarded with more content interaction and the likelihood that they will stay online increases because their engagement started earlier
highconvertingwebinar
What does high converting mean?
Justabouteveryleadingwebinarsoftware(e.g.,GoToWebinar)comeswithbuilt-insurveyandpollingtools.
I'm a sucker for polls. I just really like the idea of voting with instantaneous (or nearly) results, and comparing the responses of viewers present. I read an article that explained they were not very effective, however, because viewers may have to wait for results to come in and while they're waiting they might get bored
I recommend taking questions throughout
This avoids being overwhelmed with questions at the end. And attendees will be less likely to forget what they want to ask if they can do so on the spot.
Ken Molay also made the point that the long dramatic pauses you might use for effect in a face to face presentation don’t work so well in a webinar context. Attendees might be concerned that they’ve lost the sound!
Absence of body language and facial cues make it challenging for attendees to follow, without a clear voice guiding them along
Have a spotter Ellen had wisely organized a colleague to act as a spotter.
This is a great idea that I hadn't thought of before
what I did in the webinar situation was introduce the slide by saying “I’ll let you read what Bill Clinton has to say about Kiva”
This cues the audience to read something and focus on it, without waiting to be told what to do and being unsure where their attention should be
An extra rehearsal is required for webinars compared to face to face presentations. There are two layers of technology involved: your slideware and the webinar software. So once you’ve got your basic presentation well-rehearsed, then rehearse using the webinar software.
As opposed to in a face to face presentation where you might practice the content, but not practice standing in front of the room, there may not be technology or a platform that you have to practice manipulating
In a face to face presentation I never show an “Any questions” slide. But I realised that unless I had a special “questions” slide I would be stuck on the slide I was showing just before we paused for questions.
The ?s slide serves as a placeholder between two segments, and represents a visual pause
Have a photo of yourself near the beginning This allows people to visualise you talking to them during the webinar
No one wants to talk to a stranger!
don’t build a sequence of slides that is reliant on exact synchronization between the slides and what you say
I feel like this would be a temptation to sync slides to the recitation, but it's probably not a good idea for a few reasons:
you have the same visual for an extended length of time
Keep it moving, like they're watching a movie
if there’s no visual
Don't make them read endless text on the screen that you're also reciting
the difference between a face to face presentation and a webinar
What's the difference, ie. what works better face to face vs. what works better in a live online event
Use the webinar to network
Every webinar is an opportunity to expand your network. Afterall, you are all there in attendance together for a reason.
Not only does this practice make employees more likely to attend and pay attention
I wonder why this is? Accountability in numbers? Peer pressure?
Allow participants to grow their networks
The webinar should be a place and opportunity to meet new people
concentrate on subjects that can be taught through short presentations, not subjects that require long explanations or substantial exchange
Perhaps a longer, in person training would be more appropriate for that
Follow-up interviews with survey respondents
For use in improving upon future sessions
worthwhile
Worth the audience's time, worth paying attention to, worth learning, worth staying engaged and not "checking out", etc.
webinars have advantages over other types of learning. Webinars don’t require the time or expense of travel. And participation in webinars doesn’t generally require an extensive network.
They are open to everyone. I don't think I've ever seen a webinar that was restricted - is that deliberate, in order to potentially attract the most viewers?
consumed under the right circumstances
Recorded webinars can be accessed any time and any where: are they as effective after the fact as during a live session?
The most valuable sources: those that allowed direct, informal contact with human beings — personal contacts, other city/county staffers in California, and community groups.
This sounds like the "call to action" mentioned in other articles
Content isn’t tailored to the viewer, the virtual experience offers few opportunities to engage with speakers, there are no consequence if you don’t attend, and no rewards if you do
These are important highlights, especially about there not being any reward in particular for "attending".
webinars aren’t generally especially effective teachers.
A surprising statement
occasionally checking your computer screen if a graph or image is referenced, perhaps catching up on email or articles while the webinar is running in the background
Guilty as charged! At least I'm not alone
With technology, you never know!
Practice, rehearse, have backup tech and an assistant!
Your last words will linger. Make sure they are your own. Don't quote anyone else-and make sure they are powerful.
While beginning with a quote can be powerful, you shouldn't end with one - because the audience will remember what they heard last, so....it should be original!
emphasize what the audience should do once the webinar is over. Be clear what their next logical steps should be.
This is the "call to action". If you're clear with what the next logical steps are and the audience has bought into the importance of this idea, they will be more likely to execute it
"Rehearsal is the work, performance is the relaxation."
This is an interesting take on the idea of stage fright, which is often assumed to be the worst part of the creation of a performance/delivery
always review your key ideas with the webinar audience before concluding
I would worry this would make me go over the time I have allottted
If you rush on at full speed to cram in as much information as possible, chances are you've left your listeners back at the station.
Information overload and no time to process
Help them "make the movie" in their heads by using memorable characters, exciting situations, dialogue, and humor.
If the webinar is like a movie, the audience will follow along effortlessly and they won't see the time passing
People rarely remember your exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images that your words inspire. Support your key points with vivid, relevant stories.
Create vivid imagery that will stick in your viewers' minds
"In the next 56 minutes, you will learn:
Make a list of what the viewer will learn and explain it to them beforehand
Do not introduce yourself first.
This is interesting. I would have thought it was important to introduce yourself first, but it makes more sense to sell the session first. You're not the selling point, the information is.
Keep them glued. Remember, they can't see you, so it's all too easy for them to answer their email or get a cup of coffee.
There are probably lots of distractions at their work station, so keep them focused on your webinar
explain the agenda and timing of your session (when will you allow for Q&A?)
Explaining the timing of the session will encourage viewers to hang in for the whole thing, if there is a segment that they know they want to be present for
Outline your presentation on paper or a flip chart before you build the PowerPoint presentation
Build the structure first, then create the presentation slides
Using mostly visuals and little text
The "text" will be YOU talking!
tell stories
Stories keep the viewers engaged and thinking about connections to their own lives
You might also have quotes about the content they will be learning.
Quotes are a great idea to bring informed perspectives to the topic and demonstrate that what will be learned is established, universal and therefore useful to the viewer as well
how do you make sure they are entertained and feel involved even before the talk starts?
Since it is so easy to "leave" a webinar or open up a new tab/screen and start doing something else, the viewers need to be immediately drawn in and engaged
What's different when the lecture is in the virtual world?
Is the technique, presenting, flow, etc. different when it's online? For one thing, I would expect there would be more visuals.
Advances in mobile learning theory and practice further challenge (teacher) educators to examine how it is not only possible, but perhaps also beneficial, to connect mathematics education within school settings to learners’ everyday, community-based, and cultural forms of knowledge and practice (e.g. Martin & Gourley-Delaney, 2014; Wijers et al., 2010).
Thumbs up
whose everyday mathematics are investigated and interpreted during mobile learning.
YASS whose experience are we investigating??
As a contemporary synthesis of learning and design principles rooted in sociocultural theory, connected learning suggests that when (K-12) student participation is openly networked around a shared purpose, is peer-supported and production-centered, and is driven by interest, the possibility for more equitable academic, economic, and civic engagement arises across multiple settings (Garcia, 2014).
Why is this connected learning more equitable? Beyond being interest-driven, I think openness and transparency also contribute to equitable practice.
CAOCs revealed how PSTs connected traditional academic content domains with their observations of out-of-school mathematics practices and objects found in everyday interactions
I haven't studied math in a long time, but relevance to life outside the classroom seemed to always be the argument against math being enjoyable or fun
With PSTs motivated to represent meaningful aspects of their mobile investigations – rather than mandated to produce a specific quantity of placemarks
What I find interesting here is the idea that PSTs are motivated by explorations and ideas that they find themselves, while if the same concepts were presented to them they might be less intrinsically motivated.
descriptive text from field notes, embedded digital media like a photograph or video, and supplemental features like hyperlinks to online mathematics resources (i.e. CCSS).
There are so many layers of information here
supported PSTs as they learned to identify and “shape disciplinary relations across community, classroom and online environments”
This is badass.
There remains a need to provide PSTs with digital learning experiences they likely did not experience in their prior mathematics education (e.g. Carmona et al., 2011)
There will always be this tension between how current teachers were themselves taught!
When mobile learning traverses space, time, and tradition, it has been perceived to threaten the current order of schooling (Squire, 2010)
When people worry about tradition, I think it's code for "the role of the teacher". Like, are we still essential staff....
coming to know
"coming to know" is an interesting combination of "understanding" as well as engaging in "social" knowing. Connected, mobile interaction allows many more people - and minds - into a space at once.
capturing and collecting; communicating and collaborating; viewing, consuming, and analyzing; and designing and creating
I really like this breakdown of affordances: we're a long way from spiral bound notebooks and graph paper
the ubiquity of mobile devices
At a certain point, is resistance futile?
Needs analysis is an important process to conduct prior to launching a training program.
Examining this beforehand ensures that further training is actually needed
Ensure project managers are appointed at suitably high level within the organizational hierarchy
When stakeholders are operating at a low level of authority/escalation, it can be challenging to move the project forward
(1) Motivation is crucial for an effective process. When designers do not see the advantages ofempathy in design, the results can be unsatisfying
Buy-in from the designer that empathy is an essential part of what they do
The framework shows that empathy includes bothcognitive and affective efforts, and that empathy can be enhanced by a stepwise process
The framework involves both feeling and thinking, experiencing and observing
suggestthere is a difference.
There's a difference between understanding someone's feelings and sharing them
Having an emotional response (affective) to another’semotional state and being able to reflect on that by perspective taking (cognitive) seems to be thecore mechanism of empathy.
emotional response >> taking on the appropriate perspective >> empathy
Mead emphasised the role-playingactivity, and suggested this perspective-taking can facilitate one’s ability to understand anotherperson’s affective behaviour and understand how another person views the world.
This could be very useful when designing for such a user
empathy referring to an instrumentalunderstanding, sympathy to an absorbed feeling.
I think I may have always confused these two
‘We have a natural tendency to feel ourselves into what we perceive or imagine. (...) Thistendency to feel oneself into a situation is called empathy, on the analogy of sympathy, which isfeeling together with another’.
Can empathy be merely understanding what someone feels but not necessarily also feeling it at that time?
It is related to adeepunderstandingof the user’s circumstances and experiences, which involvesrelating to, morethan justknowing aboutthe user.
How can you relate to something you don't know or haven't experienced?
Then the focus of understanding the user is on behavioural and experiential aspects instead ofuser characteristics
There are many things we can try to understand about a user, from their behavior and expectations to their actual personal defining characteristics, ie. their identity.