Return-Path: <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i2VKWtm06977; Wed, 31 Mar 2004 15:33:05 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 15:33:05 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <PCEPKMFLEKOFKOBGKHFECEEACGAA.cnelson@nwm.cog.mi.us> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Christy Nelson" <cnelson@nwm.cog.mi.us> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-aalpd@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1287] RE: Getting Participants Feedback X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 7962 Lines: 176 I also think this is a great idea. There is nothing worse than taking part in a workshop/training/class that is so far off from what you thought it would be when registering. It would great to have the opportunity to voice opinions and perhaps have the chance to gain the information you were looking for when you enrolled. Christina Luckey-Nelson Adult Education Coordinator TBAISD Adult Education 1209 S. Garfield - Suite C Traverse City, Michigan 49686 231-922-3710 -----Original Message----- From: nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Jane Mencer Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 3:03 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1284] RE: Getting Participants Feedback What a great idea, David. I've also seen online polls used effectively for a similar purpose. I have experienced online facilitators during synchronous sessions (I think that we were using NewMeeting) who, after introducing and covering a learning point, using a poll feature of the software posed a one-question multiple-choice question which we, as learners, all answered. Based on the percentage of learners who answered correctly, the facilitator would know whether what he had presented was understood. Jane -----Original Message----- From: nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-aalpd@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David Rosen Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 1:53 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-AALPD:1280] Getting Participants Feedback Heide and others, The problem for a presenter of getting feedback (information from the audience which allows you to know whether you are hitting the mark or not) is, as Heide pointed out, not limited to the online medium. I have been a speaker and performer (in a musical group, outdoors, at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston) where the audience was seated so far away, and sitting in the dark, that I could not get tell if they were awake or even there. It usually isn't as big a problem face-to-face as it can be online. But it can be a big problem face-to-face, and I have talked with online PD course facilitators who say they get more feedback, much deeper and more personal feedback, from students online than in face-to-face classes. Recently I gave a keynote address to several hundred people at a conference. It was in a university chapel auditorium: very beautiful but also quite formal. I was on a stage behind a podium, very removed from those I wanted to dialogue with. And I didn't have as much time as I needed. I anticipated this problem and came prepared with hundreds of mini-questionnaires on purple slips of paper. These were passed out for me at the beginning, and people were asked to list 5 top trends in our society and 5 top trends in adult literacy from their perspective. They passed these (purple) slips to the end of the row where I had asked that they be tabulated. (Yellow) row tabulations were passed up to a gracious graduate student who had agreed to tabulate the yellow tabulations while I presented. When he was done I was given the feedback, and I read the results back to those assembled. Then we had a short discussion about what they and I saw as trends. (There was, of course, some overlap.) This worked for me as a presenter, giving me useful feedback for our discussion. And I think it worked for those in the audience in several ways: 1) it helped them focus on the topic - - trends in adult literacy - - by thinking about it from their perspective first, then listening to mine in the context of what they had been thinking about: how does this guy reinforce my thinking or challenge it? 2) it gave them something to do while latecomers were straggling in; and 3) it was amazing to all of us that we could get nearly 100% participation in a large group and get it boiled down so quickly. Maybe some of you also do this in your face-to-face staff development classes and workshops. So, what's the online distance learning equivalent of the face-to-face mini-survey? One thing I am planning to try, using Blackboard, is asking online participants to do a short survey. I will ask them to rate each of the course objectives in terms of their expertise -- from "don't know anything about this" to "am an expert at this." Then I will post the (automatically tabulated) results so everyone can see where the class is on each objective -- not individuals, but the group. This gives us all an idea of what we may need to spend more time on, and what's pretty much in everybody's grasp already. I am looking for other ideas like this that are quick and easy ways for online participants to give facilitators feedback.. Have you seen or tried something that will give the online facilitator this kind of feedback and also possibly the participants, too? David J. Rosen djrosen@comcast.net On Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at 12:59 PM, Heide Wrigley wrote: > > Hi, Jackie and thanks for encouraging all of us to share our > experience with on-line conferences and e-learning. > > I'd like to offer a few thoughts on my own experience and would love > to > hear from others. I've given several distance learning workshops > through > a state-wide system in Texas (thank you Stan Ashlock and Texas State > University at San Marcos). I've also lead an on-line conference lasting > several weeks on Youth Literacy through Literacy, B.C. in Canada (we'll > do another one in the summer). And, I've been a "guest speaker" for a > couple of on-line discussions on special topics, such as ESL > assessment, > on these here list serves. > > Yet I fret and worry .... > > I used to teach large ESL/EFL classes and enjoy doing PD workshops but > found the distance part a bit challenging and somewhat intimidating. > Talking into a TV camera in a studio means not being able to see the > faces and gauge the reactions of the audience. So my usual shtick, > including some killer lines that I borrowed (ok stole) from Janet > Isserlis, didn't seem appropriate for the electronic medium. (If you > tell a joke and you can't tell if anyone is laughing, is it still a > joke?) > > Not being able to see people's faces made me wonder if I was hitting > the > right notes - did I sound too glib or too arrogant? Did I sound too > sarcastic or too irreverent vis a vis our funders? It's easy to throw > off a line that could be considered mildly amusing at the time you are > typing it but may appear offensive once it appears on the world wide > web- so the medium can be a bit constraining. > > QUESTION: What have been the experiences of others in that respect? > Have you been turned off on these conferences because of tone (because > the facilitator or guest speaker was either way too earnest or didn't > seem to take things seriously enough?) Or perhaps (s)he was just a tad > too preachy? > > When doing on-line conferences, I love hearing about the ideas of > others > who share strategies and resources. But I keep worrying about the ones > who had signed on but don't talk or who only say something once and > then > disappeare from the discussion. Were they bored? Overwhelmed with work > and kids and contemplating the future of the world? Or perhaps they > ditched us for some other more entertaining conference somewhere else. > May-be we raise expectations with our advertisements and folks end up > feeling under whelmed because they had been expecting more? > > When working face to face, I generally work very hard to keep everyone > involved, so I wonder if there is some trick I'm missing if only 30% > of the official group participates. What's your take on these things? > > One more question, if there are some problems with the technology > initially, do most people just leave in disgust never to return or do > they work it through and are then quiet for other reasons? > > Cheers > > Heide Wrigley > (somewhere over the North Pole as I write this) > > > > > > ******************************************** >
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