Three weeks into the Comment Challenge and I’m way behind on the tasks that were set to help the participants learn how commenting is an important part of being participant in the blogosphere. I was challenged by this task (Day 21, Make a recommendation) and thought I’d be able to make a contribution that may provide some value to those who read this blog.
Have you ever found yourself trying to explain a new (and often complex) concept to a colleague and wishing there was a resource in a format that could get the message across? I have.
I’ve often wanted to get my hands on something that was accessible, not too long, and a perfect overview that used words/audio and pictures to help clarify a new idea, model or application…
So, my recommendation is to visit the Common Craft website to check out the work they do to ‘present subjects “in plain English” using short, unique and understandable videos’. You might even do a search for ‘in plain english’ somewhere, to find some of the most popular videos, many of which can be found on on Google or Youtube (these links will take you to the results of such a search). Topics covered include: Twitter, RSS, Wkis, Blogs, Social Networking, Social Bookmarking etc. I’ve found these resources very useful and they’ve provided great support in getting the message across about some of the new technologies and applications that are part of what we call Web 2.0.
Have you found anything like these that could be used for professional development activities in a teaching and learning context?
Tags: comment08, professional development, resources, video
I like these too. They are simple, charming, brief, and to the point. I referred my students to one on YouTube a couple of weeks ago as a training aid. Most of them really enjoyed it.
I’m liking Garr Reynolds’ encouragement to try Pecha Kucha, a Japanese distillation of a presentation into 20 slides x 20 seconds each (done in 6 minute 40 sec ). I’m designing one right now to use as a review in a tutorial for next week. It’s going to be highly visual, with only one or two key phrases per slide (if at all) and with narration. I’m keen to see how Gen-Y respond.
I reckon it would be a great way to present a focussed PD presentation and avoid the death by PowerPoint syndrome!
You can learn all about it on The Bamboo Project site at
http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog//2008/04/a-primer-on-pec.html
Thanks Kate, yes I saw Michele’s post and found it most useful applying it to using the Pecha Kucha for learning.
I’ll be keen to hear how your Pecha Kucha goes next week. I think you’ve got the right approach with very little on the slides, just enough to make the point. I did a couple of these late last year and thoroughly enjoyed giving them (set up the audience with a caveat that it was an experiment and supposed to be fun) and had some good feedback later. The point was that I had to get fairly precise with what I wanted to say and also do a rehearsal (or two) to get an idea of what I could say in 20 seconds before the next slide appeared.
Were you going to narrate or pre-record it?