Comments on: Turfing out the sage on the stage http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/ Learning online and enjoying the journey Sat, 12 Nov 2011 07:16:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Carol Skyring http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/comment-page-1/#comment-2130 Carol Skyring Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:00:21 +0000 http://kerryj.com/?p=460#comment-2130 Kerry Thanks for sharing these great ideas. I'm pleased to say that we've been incorporating some of them into the Learning Technologies conference & there are plans for others this year. However, you've given us food for thought with a number of the ideas so there's still time to incorporate them into this year's conference in November. Off to alert the planning committee to your post - work to be done..... Cheers Kerry

Thanks for sharing these great ideas. I’m pleased to say that we’ve been incorporating some of them into the Learning Technologies conference & there are plans for others this year. However, you’ve given us food for thought with a number of the ideas so there’s still time to incorporate them into this year’s conference in November. Off to alert the planning committee to your post – work to be done…..

Cheers

]]> By: mike seyfang http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/comment-page-1/#comment-2129 mike seyfang Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:50:15 +0000 http://kerryj.com/?p=460#comment-2129 Excellent ideas and discussion - things I have been thinking about a lot lately. Firstly, let me congratulate you on your superb effort managing the back-channel for friday's event. Even with the glitches, what you managed to cobble together thru sheer determination really did connect the event to the outside world. In the hour I had free that day I managed to tune into the twitter stream, join the coveritlive and listen to about 45min of live audio. Reviewing the twitter hashtag this morning gave me a real sense of how things finished up. Here are some practical details that could have improved that particular experience: 1. Build a really good (and easy to find) 'event page'. Build that page around the structure of the timetable (in hyperlinked text, not .pdf) include links to timezone conversion for each segment, speaker names with links to some background. Publicise the (short url) of that page along with the event tag in the lead-up to the event. (I found out about this event while you were testing with kerrie smith and deanne via twitter). 2. By all means collect pre-recorded, uploaded, etc materials before the event and link to them on the page above. 3. Make sure at least 2-3 people are taking and uploading flickr pix during the event. I heard that @mpesce looked sharp, would have been a treat to link off to a photo from that tweet, then discover other images from the day. (I find this adds a lot to live audio and the other back-channel participation). 4. Keep striving to make recorded audio .mp3 available while the event is still running. Treat your own podcast recording as a 'back-up'. Find a way to implement the 'remote producer' role we have talked about. (Either volunteer/community effort or a staffer back at HQ could record sections of live stream and upload immediately to share around). Doesn't need to be exhaustive or perfect, just adds more ways to connect and share during the event and as a bonus, your event podcasts are done before you get on the plane!! As for some of the more fruity suggestions in your post: - Keep balance, still need a core event structure but create space and set norms for some of the excellent ideas - Love Mark's suggestion about backchannel person on podium (I was listening when he threw to you for twitter feedback and it really didn't work well - way too hard). Michael C would do a great job of that - facilitating interaction rather than summarising/synthesising questions. - Set norms for audio/video/photo recording and sharing. A room full of iPhones trumps a team of staffers with recording devices any day. - Add a few 'unconference style slots' into the timetable rather than turn the whole day into a self-organising thing. (need some structure so people not attending can plan when to dip in/out). - Be explicit about the role of vendors. If they are paying to sponsor your event then make this explicit & create meaningful ways for them to spruke their product. If your audience can't be respectful of this perhaps they would like to fund these events themselves? (separate rant on this topic coming...) Phew, that's a long comment, and I have much more to say. Better get off my arse and write a post of my own to continue this important conversation. Well done KJ. Fang - Mike Seyfang Excellent ideas and discussion – things I have been thinking about a lot lately.
Firstly, let me congratulate you on your superb effort managing the back-channel for friday’s event. Even with the glitches, what you managed to cobble together thru sheer determination really did connect the event to the outside world. In the hour I had free that day I managed to tune into the twitter stream, join the coveritlive and listen to about 45min of live audio. Reviewing the twitter hashtag this morning gave me a real sense of how things finished up. Here are some practical details that could have improved that particular experience:

1. Build a really good (and easy to find) ‘event page’. Build that page around the structure of the timetable (in hyperlinked text, not .pdf) include links to timezone conversion for each segment, speaker names with links to some background. Publicise the (short url) of that page along with the event tag in the lead-up to the event. (I found out about this event while you were testing with kerrie smith and deanne via twitter).

2. By all means collect pre-recorded, uploaded, etc materials before the event and link to them on the page above.

3. Make sure at least 2-3 people are taking and uploading flickr pix during the event. I heard that @mpesce looked sharp, would have been a treat to link off to a photo from that tweet, then discover other images from the day. (I find this adds a lot to live audio and the other back-channel participation).

4. Keep striving to make recorded audio .mp3 available while the event is still running. Treat your own podcast recording as a ‘back-up’. Find a way to implement the ‘remote producer’ role we have talked about. (Either volunteer/community effort or a staffer back at HQ could record sections of live stream and upload immediately to share around). Doesn’t need to be exhaustive or perfect, just adds more ways to connect and share during the event and as a bonus, your event podcasts are done before you get on the plane!!

As for some of the more fruity suggestions in your post:

- Keep balance, still need a core event structure but create space and set norms for some of the excellent ideas

- Love Mark’s suggestion about backchannel person on podium (I was listening when he threw to you for twitter feedback and it really didn’t work well – way too hard). Michael C would do a great job of that – facilitating interaction rather than summarising/synthesising questions.

- Set norms for audio/video/photo recording and sharing. A room full of iPhones trumps a team of staffers with recording devices any day.

- Add a few ‘unconference style slots’ into the timetable rather than turn the whole day into a self-organising thing. (need some structure so people not attending can plan when to dip in/out).

- Be explicit about the role of vendors. If they are paying to sponsor your event then make this explicit & create meaningful ways for them to spruke their product. If your audience can’t be respectful of this perhaps they would like to fund these events themselves? (separate rant on this topic coming…)

Phew, that’s a long comment, and I have much more to say.
Better get off my arse and write a post of my own to continue this important conversation. Well done KJ.

Fang – Mike Seyfang

]]> By: Audrey Nay http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/comment-page-1/#comment-2126 Audrey Nay Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:42:40 +0000 http://kerryj.com/?p=460#comment-2126 Getting people to think about the material to be presented before the event has to be valuable-explicit teaching... LOVE the idea of taking "new information" and constructing new meanings with it by collaborating with others at the conference. Getting people to think about the material to be presented before the event has to be valuable-explicit teaching… LOVE the idea of taking “new information” and constructing new meanings with it by collaborating with others at the conference.

]]> By: Mark http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/comment-page-1/#comment-2125 Mark Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:19:08 +0000 http://kerryj.com/?p=460#comment-2125 In conferences where there is a Twitter backchannel, put someone _on the podium_ who is monitoring/responding to/feeding back to the room, based on the Twitter conversation. This is more potent (by far) than the normal technique of just running the Twitter feed on the projector. Which can be very distracting, anyway. In conferences where there is a Twitter backchannel, put someone _on the podium_ who is monitoring/responding to/feeding back to the room, based on the Twitter conversation. This is more potent (by far) than the normal technique of just running the Twitter feed on the projector. Which can be very distracting, anyway.

]]> By: SharonH http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/comment-page-1/#comment-2124 SharonH Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:43:52 +0000 http://kerryj.com/?p=460#comment-2124 This is a really sound discussion to be having at the moment and you make some very salient points when so many of us are pretty often 'conferenced' or 'workshopped' out - and you know I bet this applies to so many students in so many classrooms who are bored stiff with so much terrible 'stuff' being constantly thrown at them - LET the learning begin! This is a really sound discussion to be having at the moment and you make some very salient points when so many of us are pretty often ‘conferenced’ or ‘workshopped’ out – and you know I bet this applies to so many students in so many classrooms who are bored stiff with so much terrible ‘stuff’ being constantly thrown at them – LET the learning begin!

]]> By: Tony Searl http://kerryj.com/2009/09/12/no-sage/comment-page-1/#comment-2119 Tony Searl Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:14:34 +0000 http://kerryj.com/?p=460#comment-2119 An excellent post that raises many tangible solutions to improve Professional Development at conferences. I agree with pre conference input/thought/reading so the F2F conference days are not passive "sit down" sessions. Students could easily be included in this PD as well. I moaned about lost opportunities back in March and tried to articulate a better way. Not as succinct, but parallels a few of these ideas. Top stuff Kerry. http://tsearl.edublogs.org/2009/03/07/diving-in-the-deeper-end/ An excellent post that raises many tangible solutions to improve Professional Development at conferences.

I agree with pre conference input/thought/reading so the F2F conference days are not passive “sit down” sessions. Students could easily be included in this PD as well.

I moaned about lost opportunities back in March and tried to articulate a better way. Not as succinct, but parallels a few of these ideas. Top stuff Kerry.

http://tsearl.edublogs.org/2009/03/07/diving-in-the-deeper-end/

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