Posts Tagged ‘gafe’
Googley-eyed presentation
Posted on: September 8, 2012
Today I will be presenting at another Google Apps for Education Summit, this time in my home ground of Singapore.
I will be using a similar format and strategy of a Google Presentation and Twitter backchannel embedded in a Google Site. I have got to walk the talk, right?
I am going to try to have some fun with the presentation. My favourite slide is probably the one below:
The summit will be held over the weekend (8 & 9 Sep) at the Singapore American School. Session details are here and we will use #gafesummit as the Twitter hashtag.
Some might see this as a weekend lost. I am going to make this an opportunity gained.
Reflecting on GAFE, Indonesia
Posted on: August 10, 2012
[Image credit: @ttpra]
The good thing about having 3G Internet access at the airport is staying productive during the long wait. It was also a chance to reflect on what I will do differently for my next talk at GAFE Summit Singapore.
I Storified selected tweets of the experience here. This archive is meant to capture just one sliver of a variety of experiences.
I opted to not hold back on trying to deliver a “not-talk” at GAFE, Jakarta. I did not succeed because I over-reached and I got too “talky”.
I had hoped that more folks would be in Twitter mode but there were three barriers to this. One was language. I estimated that more than half of the session was in Bahasa Indonesia. I thought the sessions would be in English. I was so lost that at one point I tweeted:
Wonder when Google Translate or something like it will be powerful enough to do real time translation.—
Ashley Tan (@ashley) August 09, 2012
I also thought that only people like IT Directors would be in attendance. But IT-savvy is not the same as ICT or Twitter savvy. That was the second language barrier.
My mistake was expecting the university IT folks to tweet questions and comments. I opted to try this after asking the organizers if this was worth doing. Suffice to say that their and my perception did not meet reality.
The audience that showed up included university students, Google ambassadors, and folks who were not associated with education. This created another language barrier: Folks who were not familiar with edu-speak.
As a result the expectations were different. There were tweets asking for technical demonstrations of Google Apps like the one below. I thought of veering from my plan but that would have been a disservice to the intended audience.
Kinda hope that Mr. @ashley explains the best practice of actual use of G Apps. @atamerica #gafeid #gafeindo—
Tom (@ttpra) August 09, 2012
I have also learnt that going with the flow is not always wise.
I was informed that I could not use my own computer, then that I could, and right before stepping on stage that I could not. I went with the circumstances and that was a mistake.
I wanted to show ‘live’ examples but it would have been awkward to click on links I had prepared with the set up I was provided. In hindsight, I should have done it anyway because the examples would have reinforced my words or illustrated more clearly what words could not. I will avoid links and create in-line screencaptures for the next presentation instead.
As the venue was owned by an embassy, the restrictions were tight and that put me off. Here is @jasongraham99‘s tongue-in-cheek comment:
So..@america you can't bring a laptop or ip@d to a Google Apps Event #gafeindo #huh? Nice job at simulating US Customs though! #rubberglove—
Jason Graham (@jasongraham99) August 09, 2012
Sounds unreal right? Not when you could not even bring a bottle of water into the auditorium!
What could or could not be brought in or connected to the projection system were scrutinized. The irony was that wireless Internet was easy to hop on to until too many were on board. Then I fell back on my 3G connection.
There were certainly some folks who appreciated what I had to say and tried to do. Even the unintended stuff like using a Google Site to hold a presentation, video, and Twitter feed won at least one fan over.
The idea of doing presentation & showing a live Twitter feed on the side of the slide is just great.I'm gonna do that someday
Thx @ashley—
Tom (@ttpra) August 09, 2012
But mine was not a technical show. I know that I can do better than that. I will do better than that!
As I think about my GAFE presentation, I also reflect on the social media experiment that I am trying out with CeL (see tweet below). While the two do not seem connected, they are built on the same cornerstone of social, open, and mobile learning.
I will be presenting a topic at GAFE later this afternoon and hope to create meaningful conversation before, during, and after the talk with the help of Google Apps (an open tool suite) and Twitter (a social and mobile platform).
I am sacrificing a public holiday in Singapore and time with my family because I believe in leveraging on tools that enable open education and alternative modes of evaluation. I only hope to be rewarded with contacts who are working on the same cause.
CeL's social media experiment is for each staff member to take turns being @cel_nie. Inspired by @sweden, nyti.ms/RWjSxd #edsg—
Ashley Tan (@ashley) August 07, 2012
Earlier this week, we had a lively #edsg session on CeL’s social media experiment (see Storified version). Two CeL colleagues, @kartini_ishak and @SallyLoan, joined me on Tuesday evening to help answer queries and clarify issues.
I had a little over two weeks to prepare for the GAFE presentation. But the start of the CeL’s social media experiment was two years in the making. Why try this experiment only now? I have been training, monitoring, and pushing CeL over the last two years and it felt like we had reached a state of cultural readiness.
I had a three-year plan to see some results, but I am very happy that we have made progress within two years in the three areas of promoting learning that is
- Social: We established a social media presence in Facebook and Twitter within the first year of CeL, and we promote the use of social platforms like Edmodo.
- Open: We are now listed in iTunes U, our e-portfolio system relies on Google Apps, and we have an alternative LMS in the open source Moodle. We also promote the use of free-to-use or Creative Commons-licensed material.
- Mobile: We already have four mobile learning apps [1] [2] with one more coming soon and all to be available on Android by the end of the year.
Going mobile has actually been a key driver of the other missions and an opportunity to push pedagogy. Our apps are based on social and open learning principles, and one app in particular, mVideo, was developed with the flipped classroom in mind.
Along the way, we have not only extended our services to non-academic staff but also to organizations outside NIE with workshops on Evernote, social media, Google Apps, etc. Our staff are also working towards Google Apps certification.
All this is part of my five-year plan to see the CeL turn into a proper centre (more reflections on that later).
I reflect on what we have achieved so far in order to keep moving forward. I also remind myself to stay true to the framework I developed for MLS118/125: Planning, Articulating, Leading, and Sustaining (PALS) for change. If I did not use and test my own framework, I would be a hypocrite!
My GAFE presentation
Posted on: August 8, 2012
Tomorrow I present at Google Apps For Education (GAFE), Indonesia at 2.15pm (3.15pm Singapore time). I am sharing my presentation at this Google Site.
The Site houses a Google Presentation and a Twitter hashtag feed (#gafeindo). I might need to change the hashtag should the organizers insist on an alternative.
I am a bit worried now as I have learnt that I will not be allowed to bring all the tools I need into the auditorium (it is owned by an embassy). But as long as everyone has their smartphones (these are allowed in), Internet access, and the willingness to tweet, we will be OK.
The presentation is open enough for all to see and comment. The Twitter feed serves as a ‘live’ backchannel. The Google Site is also open to comments. All three extend the conversation beyond the presentation.
The Twitter feed is also a way for those who have not had enough of me to follow along!
I will probably be recycling much of the presentation for the GAFE Singapore Summit in September. So those who really want to help me NOT give a talk and help create the experience of a listen-chat-participate are welcome to attend in-person or online.
Preparing for GAFE, Indonesia
Posted on: August 4, 2012
I am preparing for a presentation at Google Apps For Education, Jakarta, Indonesia on 9 Aug. I will share the presentation later.
The event is on Singapore’s National Day and I need to fly out the night before, attend the event the next day, and fly back that same day. I will be back so late that I will not even see the fireworks display from a plane window. I will also need to take a day of leave to give myself my own holiday to spend with my family.
Have four external "talks" to give over the next few months. Going to try to turn them into "listens" & "chats"!—
Ashley Tan (@ashley) July 27, 2012
I want to do this as it gives me the opportunity to try something a bit different with my presentations (see tweet above), to spread the word on open learning and alternative assessments, and to network with educators in the region.
This is the nature of modern work and it requires a different mindset. That mindset needs to be translated into practice. This is easy to say and difficult to do, but I am going to try to have some fun in the process!
