Jared Stein - Education, Technology, Culture, and the Internet » presentations

Ignite Salt Lake: Why Can’t My ID Skate?

Jared Stein — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:30:46 +0000

I’ll probably regret this, but I’ll be presenting at the next Ignite Salt Lake, revisiting the topic of my WCET pecha kucha pres from last year, which connects teaching and instructional design to, yes, skateboarding.

Title: Why Can’t My Instructional Designer Skate?
Description: Education is schooled by skateboarding’s self-organizing, DIY culture of individuality, adaptability, and informal learning.

Here’s a sneak peak of the deck:

Really, this is just an excuse to indulge my passion and share photos of skating from around the world. So come to The State Room in Salt Lake City on Aug 31st at 7pm. And if mine bores you, the other speakers are sure to entertain.

Dos and Don’ts for (LMS) Vendor Presentations

Jared Stein — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:44:18 +0000

Utah Valley University is part of a statewide consortium of public higher education institutions that share a learning management system provided by the Utah Education Network. The Blackboard (WebCT) Vista license expires in 2012, and we’re currently considering our options for a replacement. This week we’ve been treated to vendor demonstrations by each of three finalists–one private demonstration for consortium selection committee members, and one open demonstration for institution faculty, staff, and students.

During these first private demonstrations I compiled some notes as to what I thought was effective and ineffective/detrimental in the presentations. I won’t reveal who did what, but will be very general, and talk in terms of “Dos” and “Don’ts”:

Do

Keep the message simple and concise. If you’re a finalist, we already know about your product and company, so focus on a few compelling points with exciting examples. Save plenty of time for q&a. Showcase your product and your company.
Focus on how you’ll serve your different audiences/stakeholders, but succinctly: for us, it’s faculty, students, designers, and admins. Tell us why each will love you and your product.
Talk about successful institutional clients that are similar to us.
Use case studies of Real Courses and quotes from Real Users. But it appears you should not use quotes with names without explicit permission, especially if the names will be on the receive end.
Tell us why you’re everything good and nothing bad about the traditional LMS. If you think your product is “disruptive”, tell us how–don’t just say you are.
Distinguish yourself from competitors without bashing them. We want to know what sets you apart, why you are moving in new directions that others are neglecting.
Train your slides and keep them in line. Have a visual designer put them together with input from an instructional designer. Usually images are better than text. Don’t risk cognitive overload: we can’t read and listen at the same time.
Keep your audience’s attention. Break up your stream of information and announce shifts from one point to another. Even if you can’t interact in real-time, prompt your audience to reflect and respond amongst themselves.
Include a live demonstration with real people. Make it fast, make it meaningful. Though the product itself failed, Google Wave did it right with its preview demo.
Test your mics and speakers for feedback before you begin, especially if you have more than one presenter in more than one location. Another idea: have someone on your team in another room listening and watching, and providing the presenter with live feedback. This is great if you’ve turned your chat off and one of your co-presenters is only breathing loudly.
Be prepared for tough questions, including, “Your price quote for us is totally out of line.” or, “What happens when Blackboard buys/sues you?”

Don’t

Don’t use a web-conferencing system that you cannot use effectively–especially if your company owns it. Do some test runs in the system, with real users on the receive end via different connections.
Don’t have your desktop share resolution set above 1024 x 768–many projectors don’t run larger than that, and thus we’ll be unable to see more than half of your presentation screen. If you’re demo’ing through a browser, close unnecessary toolbars to save screen real estate.
Don’t spend the first 15 minutes talking about your company and staff. You’re a finalist. We know enough about your company. Now is the time to give the final sales pitch in a meaningful and relevant way. Now is the time to close the deal.
Don’t let your presenters be monotone, or say “um”–train them with a dog shock collar if you have to, but your presenter should be both authentic and enthusiastic. We can tell a fraud a mile away, but we are also subject to falling asleep.
Speaking of frauds, Don’t come off as a car salesman or a CEO interested only in serving shareholders. I recognize this is somewhat contradictory since you’re trying to close, and of course this perception can be quite subjective.

Notes on McDonald’s TTIX10 Pres, “Resisting Technological Gravity”

Jared Stein — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:45:38 +0000

I’ve read Jason’s paper on the topic of technological gravity, and I’ve heard him guest lecture in Stephen Yanchar’s learning theories course at BYU, so I thought I knew what to expect from Jason’s TTIX 2010 session. Jason’s pres was both pleasantly divergent and more expansive, and both his slides and his presentation style–which paced his own personal experiences between anecdotes and examples–complemented the content. Here are some rough notes from his session:

Jason McDonald’s “Resisting Tech. Gravity” begins with Pixar anecdote: redefining one’s self with a singular committment to quality. #ttix10

Film (story) needs real risk. Woodie’s dilemma in Toy Story 2 is complicated and made real by introduction of Jessie.

Resisting Technological Gravity

“I became an ID because I wanted to find the depth, robustness, and will … necessary to create educational magic.”

Jason tells how his early experiences as an ID reflect educational activities as ends in themselves rather than a means to an end. Posting notes online, uploading powerpoints, fitting content into a template, etc.

How do we get beneath the surface? How do we innovate? How do we resist pressures that lead to mediocrity? “You still can change the world!”

The ideal ID isn’t one who follows the rules, but who breaks them.

Wishing all my staff were in this session…

1. What instruction is.

Instruction as story telling. (JMS: For greater authenticity, with learners as actors.)

Instruction as conversation. If you were asked to explain something to a friend, what would you do? Would you establish objectives? Would you employ a standardized tool? How would you asses? Would you play to their strengths? How much do you care about that person learning? (JMS: Implies power of 1-1, which, as Bloom lamented, is untenable in Education.

2. How instruction is made.

(JMS: Can I do this vs I can do this)

Instruction as chess; “everything depends on the situation and the skill available” embrace innovation and risk more than step-by-step decisions.

Engage the “Creative Spirit of Design”

Do we fall victim to instructinal design processes & formulae (JMS: rather than maintain our proper role of master of our tools)?

(JMS: Great looking slides–simple, visual, avg 1 word per slide as I like it, solid pacing with narratives. This is no paper pres [which I sort of expected, and would have been enough]!)

3. What instruction is for.
Jason’s principles:
How can I help people discover joy and wonder in the world?
How can I help people express passion re. discoveries?

Don’t see ourselves as technologists just as doctors don’t. Tools, tools, tools.

Lecture is most maligned form of instruction, and yet Randy Posh has reached more than 70 million viewers re YouTube with 76 minute lecture. This “instructional experience” was a life-changing experience; “instructor” gave “students” a new way of seeing the world in 76 minutes.

(JMS: How long until Steve Jobs is recognized as the new Bill Gates? To me he’s all too similar in the end.) Jobs to Pepsi guy: “Do you want to sell sugar water? Or do you want to change the world?”

Video: Moodle 1.9.5 Overview for UEN

Jared Stein — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:22:43 +0000

I conducted a 1hr demonstration of the open source learning management system Moodle 1.9.5 for higher ed folks in Utah and the Utah Education Network. The demo went well enough, and I hope some of my colleagues from around the State got a little taste of Moodle, especially as it compares to Blackboard/WebCT Vista. UEN facilitated this presentation to State participants via Wimba; I simultaneously streamed the session via Ustream using WebCamMax and recorded it for anyone who is interested: Moodle 1.9.5 Overview on Ustream.

As I reviewed the video I noticed I had made a handful of mis-statements that I should correct here:

Martin Dougiamas is from Australia, not New Zealand.
The book I reference at the beginning as inspiring me to rethink Moodle was Jason Cole’s “Using Moodle”
Our Banner system talks to Moodle via a Luminus Message Broker plug-in, not LDAP (we use LDAP for WordPress MU)
When I talk about adaptive quizzing, I meant to refer to educational research on web-based/hypermedia learning from the last decade or so.
Though the Workshop tool has been dropped from Moodle 2.0, its functionality will not be replaced in the Assignment tool–instead a new Workshop tool is in development for 2.0

Select Pres Decks Uploaded to SlideShare

Jared Stein — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:36:53 +0000

This week I’ve decided to give SlideShare.net a go, and have now posted a half-dozen slide decks from different presentations over the past few years, all CC-licensed.

I must admit: now that I’ve shared, I have to worry if every image was properly credited, and the occasional borrowed slide attributed to the original lender. May the open web forgive us our sins of omission!

Stream Conference Pres with WebCamMax and Ustream

Jared Stein — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:37:31 +0000

I’ve got to take a minute to plug the software WebCamMax ($50), which lets you alter your (Windows) computer’s webcam input. I used it this week to facilitate quality, DIY streaming and recording of two WCET09 presentations using a laptop (with distinct graphics card), a lavalier mic ($50-$500) and Ustream (free). Here’s how it worked:

Prior to the session, run WebCamMax on the presenter’s laptop and under Source > Main Source choose “Screen” as the primary source.
If you want to have a picture-in-picture (for example, of the laptop’s integrated webcam), you can choose a secondary input under Source > PinP Source 1.
Minimize WebCamMax.
For a mic set up, I used a production-quality wireless lavalier mic from Sony (thanks to Adam and Scott), but really any mic will do. Instead of an XLR output from the receiver I used a simple male-male stereo mini cord, plugging the other end into the laptop’s mic port.
Then, I simply login to Ustream and initialize the broadcast.
I make sure that Ustream is using WebCamMax for the video source, and the external mic as the audio source. Don’t forget to test the audio levels!
Hit Begin Stream and Begin Recording, minimize the ustream window, and you’re off to the races.

The ustream broadcast will capture whatever activity happens on your computer, whether that’s a PowerPoint presentation, computer application, or web browsing–similar to Jing or Camtasia. Loaner mic aside, this was a very inexpensive, portable solution that turned out better results for computer-based presentations than most ustreams from a tripod-mounted camera, which only capture the projector screen.

Slides, Video from WCET09

Jared Stein — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:44:24 +0000

I traveled to Denver this week for WCET 2009, and though I was sunk with a cold on the second day, so far I’ve enjoyed participating in the conference, and, as always, have found the Twitter backchannel (#wcet09) a great way to connect with more ideas, and more people.

On Thursday I shared an hour with Terri Rowenhorst of NROC introducing folks at WCET 2009 to open education and some of the ideas and directions orbiting around it. Mine was just a half-hour pres, and didn’t get into some of the meatier bits that interest me; nonetheless the slides and video may be of interest:

You may have already heard some of the Twitter buzz about Chris Lott‘s presentation, “Closing the Gutenberg Parenthesis”, so here are links to his slides, video, and wiki:

Chris let me moderate this session, and it was exciting to monitor the backchannels on Twitter and ustream for questions, ideas, or challenges that I could interrupt him with. As always, Chris did a fabulous job presenting a continual stream of rich ideas on technology and learning. I must admit I may have underestimated both Chris and the WCET audience prior to the session; both seemed quite comfortable with complex and provocative notions embedded in our connected culture and interplaying with Ong’s concept of a “secondary orality”.

Plug: Ignite Salt Lake 2

Jared Stein — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:45:23 +0000

Ignite Salt Lake 2, “a community event celebrating the passion and creativity of geek culture” that sounds quite a bit like pecha kucha, is happening March 26th, 2009 at Brewvies Cinema Pub in Salt Lake City, Utah (677 South 200 West).

I didn’t go to Ignite 1, but a 2-hour series of 5-minute presentations (20 slides or less) sounds like the best-ever format for a geek get-together.

Question: will Brewvies’ grill be open for business?

DT&L08: The Cheatability Factor

Jared Stein — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:56:46 +0000

On Friday, August 8 2008 I presented at Distance Teaching and Learning 2008 with Marc Hugentobler and John Krutsch. I’ve posted the the slides and the rubric from that session as the page, “The Cheatability Factor”.

Presentation Slides

cheatability_factor.ppt

For this session I added several slides that illustrate my gut reaction to a number of the new technologically-based approaches to inhibit cheating in assessments which I hope you will find amusing.

We had a lively and interactive discussion of the problem of cheating in online courses, and possible approaches to inhibit it. We took one participant through our cheatbility rubric explaining criteria and concepts along the way.

For the first time John administered Buzzword Bingo live in-session with bingo cards printed with key terms from our presentation. We did this not (only) as a self-deprecating joke, but as a means of focusing participant attention on the presenters and the dialog. I believe at least 6 participants scored a prize during this session while playing Buzzword Bingo, though John and Marc had to coax more than one participant to simply shout out BINGO instead of raising their hands!

MoodleMoot Presentation: OER, OCW, & the Open Mod

Jared Stein — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:14:35 +0000

Today I am presenting at the SFo MoodleMoot on how Moodle can be used to deliver Open Educational Resources, especially through our modification of Moodle, the Open Meta Mod.

Presentation slides are now available and you are welcome to participate in the backchannel through the chat window provided below.

Presentation Slides

openmod.ppt

Web Sites Referenced

P.S. After my presentation was over, I came back to my hotel to find this bus in the parking lot. It’s nothing less than a sign for a questioning open education convert.