You are in a remote session about "Winter Storms". The first 15 min have already gone. The presenter is on the slide number 7 showing a satellite image example of a developing winter storm over the North Sea. Suddenly the voice of the presenter is gone and then you don't see him anymore online.
[...]
The presenter is back in the session after 5 long online minutes. You are happy he can continue his presentation.
What would keep you in this positive and attentive mood for the rest of the talk?
At least you have plenty to read for those 5 minutes ;-)
When I am sitting behind my desk at KNMI I probably will have lost already (also because of all the text on this sheet) and start doing other things. I will have the remote presentation still running on the back ground and when you want my attention again you will have to wake me up with something interesting, something catchy...and it should be in words as I am only listening with a half ear.
Good points Heleen. Providing handouts or worksheets or tasks to students allows them to continue learning in case you are temporarily offline. So while the "plenty to read" was said in jest, if it was useful support material, then it is good.
Conference presentations are one thing, and we can't be upset if learners only pay half attention, but if this is a course for which students expect a certificate, I don't think our expectations for attention should be less than in a classroom. (Shame on you for listening with half an ear :) Maybe there should be some agreed upon limitation for periods for unexpected downtime. If longer than 10 minutes, the session is cancelled and the content is recorded and exercises packaged for asychronous use, or postponed if possible.
Yes, I would expect the trainer to be engaging, asking me questions frequently, giving me exercises to do, and telling me things that he has convinced me will be useful to learn. If he uses well designed visuals, and not so much text to accompany the talk, and talks to ME and the other learners rather than his expert colleagues, then my attention will stay at a high level.
This list will get long with the contributions of others, I'm sure...
Pat
some quick thoughts before getting a bus !
my best experiences the technology has worked, both on my machine and the session has been stable. And ...
I felt able to participate in the way I wanted,
-sometimes i have a presentation on in the background as I am slightly interested in the topic and it is like having the radio on with an interesting program. I get a snese of a subject and the way it is organised, and some of the people involved.
- most of the time I wish to participate in a closer way, it as many have said it helps when the speaker draws people in with their voice, and manner. When they ask questionn does it sound like they are interested in hearing what is said or if they want to judge if i am right or wrong. For sessions that are part of a series i do like it when there is a consistent voice for introductions.
now to run for the bus!
Hi,
ok, so no more technological problems. I am like Mark, I like to put the presentation on my secondary screen and let it run while I do something else. I am most focused on the topic when I have some duty (to record, to facilitate, to assist).
In this example case a five minute silence and little technological hickup is quickly forgotten, if the presenter can catch up again the rhythm and connect with the audience. I am happy if he does not rush forward to catch up the lost time, but focuses on the essentials and acts calmly.
What keeps you motivated to wait for the instructor's return to begin with? That depends on whether the experience prior to the interuption was satisfying. If it wasn't meeting my needs, then the interuption is a good excuse to drop the session. If the presentation was engaging and the topic was of personal interest, anticipation of a continued satisfying experience would make the wait tolerable.
A satisfying experience, just like in the classroom, could be due to various reasons: a very engaged and enthusiastic speaker; interactions that engage the learners with the content; a personal attachment to the content (regardless of the quality of the instruction); etc.
I came across an interesting and relevant article today with some great reminders for teaching and conducting meetings: http://www.uie.com/articles/teaching_and_meetings
I wouldn't argue too hard whether or not 5 or 7 concepts are ideal but I especially agree that reviewing what's been discussed or presented is a key activity that leads to greater understanding. Especially if you ask participants to help conduct the review.
One way of migitating the risk of losing a connection during a synchronous event, is to have the entire presentation (usually a ppt) sent out to all beforehand. Then everyone can follow, and anticipate?
Some of you were saying that the visuals must be good. What does it mean? What does it mean in the virtual classroom? How do you convert visuals to make them "online friendly"?
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Converting Visuals forthe Virtual Classroom. The New Virtual Classroom.
It often happens that we have already visuals which were prepared for a traditional classroom. What can we do to adapt them to an online delivery?
I know that some people say that 1 slide is more than enough. Clark says increase number of slides in order to break down complex visuals to multiple but simpler slides (see the figure above). Garr Reynolds, the author of Presentation Zen blog says:
"The number is not important. To be concerned with the number of slides shows that our head is in the wrong place. Because...it is the wrong question to ask."
What do you think?
Traditional and online presentations are different. The charisma of the presenter must be represented differently. What else except design should we think of when preparing for online presentation? You may look up for some hints in The New Virtual Classroom.
Thanks for the reference again, Maja. I agree with the quote, that counting slides or visuals is the wrong approach. Better to choose or design instructional visuals wisely. Some years ago, I did a large literature review, threw in some orginal thoughts, and created a Website called Instructional Ilustrations. I think it is even more valid today than when I created it because we have more tools to help us make quality visuals. This has gotten a lot of use at universities, mostly because it is a concise summary of some good principles. Your post made me think this might be a good thing to share because it goes a bit farther than "The New Virtual Classroom":
http://www.comet.ucar.edu/presentations/illustra/index.htm
Patrick
An impressive work and definitely more in-depth. I will have a closer look for sure. It has been added to the 'Resources' too.
A curiosity, when did you 'publish' it? I couldn't find the date quickly.
Thanks for pointing it out.
Maja
I assumed the high definition graphics would give it away. It was probably published in 2000. I am assuming that since then there has been some evolution in human cognition and aesthetic values, but I hope it is still useful.
Patrick
Thanks , Maja, for giving this challenge: I'd like to give some ideas that came to my mind:
In online session the slides must support overcoming the problems that are unique to synchronous session.. language problems , audio problems , lack of feedback and bodytalk .
For example the language issue: For many non-native listeners reading the slides and understanding that takes time..when at the same time listening to the presenter. Just like in classroom, also in online session the presenter should pay attention he has the appropriate pace. But further to reduce the language issue I would propose the following slide enhancements:
- use more graphics and animations: they need no translation.
- Use simple , short, but full sentences in slides.
- Upload your speaker notes / slides onto web and give the link in the beginning of the session - people can use google translate to follow your presentation better.
For a presenter it might be a good exercise to imagine being a meeting participant who - for some reason - cannot hear anything. Would it have an impact on the slide design ?