Brian Daigle and I presented to almost 60 brand new LA’s, TA’s and IST faculty last night. We jointly presented on Canvas and various instructional technologies in two separate presentations. I also gave a presentation on the World Campus Undergraduate Student Population for those in the audience who are new to working with adult learners.
Previously, Amy Garbrick, our director, has been coordinating our office’s participation for these events. I was asked earlier this year to coordinate the IDs supporting this event. There are four of us and we’ve decided to split up and take different semesters. Brian and I covered this FA17 semester with Chris Gamrat providing backup if one of us got sick or was otherwise unable to present. Chris and Ronda Reid will cover the SP18 session and I’ll provide backup. After that it’s Brian and I again, but Ronda will be backup and then Chris and Ronda will present and Brian will provide backup. Then we’ll repeat the pattern.
I had some reflections on the presentation last night that I wanted to make sure I capture for the next time around. These thoughts are not necessarily listed in any particular order.
I will start off with saying that we should use our own devices for a couple of reasons. The first is familiarity. I’m good with Windows 10, but I do not use it every day. Under pressure, these podium machines threw me for a loop a few times. That’s the last thing I want to have to deal with during a presentation. The second reason is that we only have five minutes between sessions and it’s much better to have everything primed and ready to go so that we can do the presentation without wasting valuable time logging in to a new podium computer.
I’d like to see more coordination during the joint presentations if we continue to go that route. I’m not sure we’ll need to next time, but I did want to document this idea. Brian did a fantastic job, but I know we can do better next time as a team if we more clearly workout who’s covering what slides and how the other person can assist. I think we should seriously consider scripting presenter notes for each slide. I’m not suggesting that we read from them or memorize them, but having them in place will inherently lead to a more consistent and smoother presentation. We ask our faculty to do it and I should practice what I preach. Related to the recommendation above about using our own devices, it would be very important that both presenters are absolutely familiar with how all of the resources will be available on the computer being used before any joint presentations. If we decide to do more joint presentations, then I think I’ll recommend that we do a full “dress rehearsal” before the next presentation.
With regards to the presentations themselves, it’s time to have our graphic designers redesign the theme that we’re using. The aspect ratio of the background images are not scaled for 16:9 formats and the typography and other design elements need attention. I would also highly recommend that we move the presentations to Google so that we can collaboratively edit and comment on the work before and after the presentation. It’ll also make it easier to access during and after the presentation by the audience. Some slides are packed with text and we should definitely split that content up to make it more digestible. In general, I think we need to reconsider what we’re covering. There feels like there is too much content or we need to sharpen our focus.
We should consider handouts of the most salient aspects of our presentation. That way the audience has the links and email addresses they need. They can also use it to take additional notes if needed. Lisa mentioned that Amy created a sandbox space where all of the participants were added to that space so that they could actively do things during the presentation. We did create sandbox spaces, but used them for demonstration purposes only. We decided against adding people to our sandbox space partly for logistical reasons, but having gone through that now, I would recommend that we do add participants to the sandboxes and buildout the space to be more robust and follow the flow of the presentations more closely. It could be a mini-course that reflects our content. I think we could use one of the new Canvas Prides for this purpose.
I think we should consider a simple paper-based feedback form that people can fill out in a couple of minutes. It would help us to know what needs they have so that we can keep improving our presentations.
I always try to be as critical and honest with self-assessments as I can be. It doesn’t make sense to do anything else. I have been told that I can be brutal at times, but since this is about my performance, I see no reason to sugar coat things. Having said that, I was very happy to present with Brian. He is an excellent match for our office and last night was just more evidence that he does awesome work here. He was receptive, cool under pressure, and presented very well in front of a new audience.