As a project for my Digital Education Leadership course on Digital Learning Environments, students were to find a conference that they could present at, then start the application process. The conference I chose, the Fall WA-ACTE conference, is one I would present at, as part of my job. The conference, which is located at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound will be November 3-4, 2016.
Presentations are 50-60 minutes, allowing for questions plus transitions to the next presentation. There is an expectation that the presentation will not be over 45 minutes, mostly to provide time for audience questions. In addition, providing a few minutes for audience members who wish to engage each other or the speakers further on a topic, or just talk is expected.
I have provided for audience participation throughout by taking the time to pause and evaluate what questions they will have. By addressing them as proceeding, the audience will be able to ask them in a timely manner, allowing them to remember the context of their questions. The tool selected will allow for active elements in the presentation in addition to addressing the content knowledge needs of the audience. There are specific areas of the presentation that are addressed multiple times. It also helps when the presentation is posted on the website to ensure questions can be answered in multiple ways.
The key to engagement in my presentation will be the strategic placement of the checks for understanding, plus the pacing of the presentation will allow them time to interact. By using Poll Everywhere time limits can be set for answering, that way the presentation can continue to move on. Nonetheless, it is important to give everyone a voice, even those who do not wish to interact publicly.
As I have not used Google Slides recently, what I have found is a new
presentation tool, is an Q&A option that places a link above the presentation where the audience can post questions, even vote for the questions they feel are best. It is also referred to as a backchannel, similar to setting up a parking lot without the large paper with sticky notes. There is also a moderator option, which if the audience consists of high school students, could be handy for managing student behavior.
Since the presentation has not happened yet, reflection and evaluation of the process will happen later. The colleagues that I will be presenting with have more time to create their portion of the presentation. Nevertheless, it has been an invaluable process in learning the closed captioning feature in YouTube. I would not transcribe the captions as the presentation played, I don’t type as fast as I can speak, it would take too much time. However, for scripted presentations there are few reasons why closed caption is not implemented, the time it takes is minimal. The video I created needs some additional work, but definitely done by a novice.