Comments on: Allison Rossett: when webinars go bad

By: allison

allison — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:47:36 +0000

Thanks for kind words about our article in Chief Learning Officer.

Oh, I wish I thought that webinars had improved…. well, maybe a little.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:50:51 +0000

Ken, I’m a big fan of Gresham’s law (“bad money drives out good”) and its extensions into nearly all fields. Bad PowerPoint drives out good, for example. In part that’s because people don’t question the first model that comes to mind — bulleted text, Microsoft’s too-large titles, the soporific blue background. And in part it’s more work to do something that’s both different and effective.

You’re absolutely right about podcasts. Their chief virtue is that they’re easily stored and easily played on demand. Period. Otherwise, they’re still one-way experienced. But that doesn’t mean the one-way experience is bad. If the podcaster’s planned well, if the podcast uses effective techniques, it can readily hold your interest and expand your knowledge.

By: Ken Allan

Ken Allan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:18:14 +0000

Kia ora Dave

It’s not the joke. It’s the way you’re telling it.

It’s not the technology, it’s the way you’re using it.

I have recently been introduced to the idea that PowerPoint is bad. Why is it bad? Because people talk to PowerPoint presentations. And PowerPoint is designed to present images AND text, in one form or another. Listeners suffer cognitive overload if the speaker speaks and also presents text to accompany the images in a PowerPoint presentation.

I’m not a great supporter of PowerPoint, but I’ve seen some good PowerPoint presentations being used properly in my time.

Too often it’s the way the technology is being used that condemns the technology. Just take a glimps at the reusable learning object (RLO) and weigh the stresses. Most of the criticism of RLOs was because of the way they were churned out, ‘commodified’, I think the term was.

I have no doubt that there’s an art in podcasting, the same as there is an art in giving a lecture. Just sit and try to get bored by a lecture from Ken Robinson. Yet how many keynote speakers read the damned thing directly form their notes at conferences?

This comment is well over 200 words.

I guess I’m warmed up now :-)

Catchya later
from Middle-earth