Adobe Connect Group Presentation

Overall Impression of Facilitating an Adobe Connect Session

Over and over again, the class was reminded to prepare for the worst and to anticipate tech issues and I think all the groups took that to heart. While there were some tech issues, I think overall they were fairly minor and did not take away from the content of any group’s presentation. Overall, I think the presentation I delivered with San and Yvonne, titled “Snapchat: The Good, The Bad and The Ephemeral” went fairly well! One of the most challenging things was to stay within the 15 minute time frame for our presentation and I think we came close to meeting that criteria but were probably over.

Planning, Research, Preparation

We had made our groups early on and the three of us agreed on a topic pretty quickly. We also planned for 3-4 meetings to work together on the project in advance. As other people in class mentioned, we used a Google Doc to keep a “living” document where we put our meeting minutes and complied our research. It worked really well. I wasn’t able to make one of our group meetings because I was sick. San and Yvonne met in person and I was at home and despite not being in the same room together, I was still able to contribute to that session by adding my contributions into the shared document in real-time. I could also see what the other group members were adding as well. This is a tool I will likely use in the future with other group projects.

We also specified tasks early on and stuck to them. This was really helpful in making our group efficient, so no group members replicated the work of others and so that when we met face-to-face we could focus on evaluating the information we had and collaborating on our presentation. Keeping the rubric for evaluation in mind was also useful in keeping us on task. For a presentation such as this one that is short, I thought all of us did well to critically evaluate our presentation on content, times, transitions, and interactivity in order to meet the evaluation criteria and deliver an engaging presentation. We also used elements learned from Teaching and Learning/INTAPT, such as making an agenda (with times) assigning roles for presenter and facilitator and incorporating interactivity. This was key in our group since we had 3 people and wanted to make our delivery as clean as possible while still keeping our audience engaged.

Lastly, we also practiced! We were able to get in 2 or 3 practice runs before our actual presentation. The first practice run was the most valuable, and we got better with each subsequent practice run. The practice runs were also valuable because they revealed other issues (tech related) that would have been a surprise if we hadn’t practiced. For example, we all realized that speaking into the mike resulted in an ‘echo’ when heard through the speakers. We were also able to work on the number and speed of our transitions to improve delivery.

The Presentation

As mentioned earlier, I thought overall our presentation went fairly well. I thought our transitions were smooth, and we used the different features of Adobe Connect to include interactivity throughout our presentation. We did run into a big of a snag with the whiteboard, which was unfortunate but were able to move that interactive activity to the chat feature. I think the chat feature in Adobe Connect is one of the most versatile. It can be used for communication of simple things while not distracting others; it can be used as an interactive feature to keep the audience and presenters engaged; it can be used to collaborate and generate interesting discussion points during the presentation; and its just so simple and easy to use!

Group Dynamics

This group was probably one of the least stressful, efficient and high quality group project that I have ever done. I think a large part of the outcome is due to the group dynamics. I had great group members, and it really made the planning, researching, preparation and delivery of the webinar fairly easy, straightforward and hassle free. Group dynamics always makes me think of Tuckman’s stages of group development: forming, storming, norming and performing. We didn’t really seem to have a ‘storming’ phase. I’m not sure whether its that we all work in pediatrics or that we are all in the same Masters Program or taking the same class, the three of us essentially seemed to be on the same wavelength from start to finish. I’m hoping that our easy-breasy group vibe was translated to our online facilitation of our Adobe Connect presentation.

References: 

1. Stages of Small Group Development Revisted
2. Facilitator’s experience of delivering asynchronous and synchronous online interprofessional education
3. Challenges facing PBL tutors: 12 tips for successful group facilitation

 

 

Synchronous Tools

We recently had our ‘synchronous tools’ lecture in our Educational Technology class using Adobe Connect and it was an interesting experience to say the least.

The Good

Despite my limited past experiences with WebEx (a tool similar to Adobe Connect) and the less than favourable bias I developed after it, my experience in class was much more positive. The functionality of the two tools were very similar, so I don’t think my positive experience with Adobe Connect over WebEx was simply due to different platforms; I think my experience was better this time, because it was more interactive. We used the screensharing, chat, whiteboard, breakout rooms, and poll functions. Due to the high level of interactivity, I was definitely more engaged with the application itself as well as with my fellow peers. The class was also very informative in showing us how to use the different functionalities of Adobe Connect as well and describing when each function would be most applicable based on the level of interaction required. I also felt that the co-facilitation between Cindy and Heather was done really well, its almost like they were sharing the same thoughts. When one person was talking or demonstrating features, the other was engaging or troubleshooting issues through chat and that familiarity with the tool and with each other clearly enhanced the facilitation and overall experience.

The Bad

Although I felt much more engaged in this encounter using a synchronous tool, I must admit, there were times where I was multi-tasking by having other web browser tabs open and also occasionally checking my phone. And this is occurred despite really great facilitation. While synchronous tools have many benefits, there is still a high potential for multi-tasking or disengagement.

The Ugly

Tech problems! Many of us had tech issues setting up our headsets and this took a lot of time away from the class. It was also distracting at the beginning of class, since it was a bit chaotic for Cindy and Heather to help all the different people experiencing technological issues. In addition to mic issues, many of my fellow classmates have Apple computers, which required additional troubleshooting to use some of the Adobe Connect functionality.

What I learned

After class, I did a quick literature search on the use of synchronous tools in medical education and choose 4 that would be applicable to me as a student and as a facilitator. Some key takeaway points from these articles that reinforced by experience with synchronous tools and with our discussions in class are:

• synchronous tools, when done well, can provide as good a learning experience as face-to-face and has similar outcomes in terms of knowledge retention as face-to-face;
• facilitator support or co-facilitation are key in providing a synchronous learning environment that is engaging and conducive to learning;
• on-line facilitation skills are different that face-to-face facilitation skills due to the lack of cues from body language, and are skills that need to be developed;
• tech issues will happen using synchronous tools and impact the actual and perceived quality of education, facilitation, and learning

Application/”So What”

We are set to provide our own synchronous learning experience to our classmates in a couple of weeks. After this experience, I think its important for my fellow group members and I to discuss roles, responsibilities, transitions beforehand and then practice them together to really become one cohesive facilitator and have a shared mental model. Secondly, even though the saying goes “practice makes perfect” … with synchronous tools, practice does not always make perfect! We can practice all we want but are still need to anticipate some tech issues either on our end or with our learners. As such we need to have a plan B… and a plan C.

References:

1. The Flipped Classroom: A Modality for Mixed Asynchronous and Synchronous Learning in a Residency Program

2. Facilitators’ experience of delivering asynchronous and synchronous online interprofessional education
3. Comparison of traditional face-to-face teaching with synchronous e-learning in otolaryngology emergencies teaching to medical undergraduates: a randomised controlled trial
4. Comparing face-to-face, synchronous, and asynchronous learning: postgraduate dental resident preferences.

 

 

 

Twitter and #MedEd

 

I googled myself the other day and it was un-interesting to say the least. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, I have a fairly muted social media presence despite using social media (a lot … and more than I care to admit). This week’s ‘homework’ assignment for the class was to sign up for Twitter, follow our instructors and classmates and tweet about social media in health professions education using #htech and I was it since this is pushing me to contribute to the online community and extend myself beyond my comfort zone of consuming content. Furthermore, like others in class, I also have some reservations about having my health professional persona online. However, I decided that in order to learn about educational technology and how to use it AND get a good grade, I had to tweet. And so I did.

After tweeting this past week, I learned a few things:

1. Tweeting is kind of fun and easy when I got the hang of it. Using hashtag #htech16, I found it really easy to find my classmates on Twitter and quickly see the conversations that were already happening then quickly jump into the conversation. It was also simple to find I was able to find other individuals such as Andre Picard who regularly tweet about health and medicine and started following them. Now my feed is full of tweets about health, medicine and medical education and I am reading tweets and interesting articles that I would have never otherwise found. It really brings home that message of learning through connectivism as discussed in the Siemens (2004) article. I also think that even though I am not continuously actively tweeting on Twitter, by expanding my network and following other professionals I am exposed to their thoughts, opinions and questions, which will stimulate my own learning.

2. There are many online resources on how to cultivate a professional online presence. Part of my hesitation with a more vibrant online presence was around issues of what was the most appropriate way to represent myself as a professional and what potential risks there are for engaging with the online community, public, my employer and patients. After a quick search online I found the following resources: 

CRTO Social Media Policy – My college released a social media policy to guide members to guide their members professional identity online

Ventola (2014) – This article talks about the benefits and risks of social media use by health professions and discusses best practices as discussed in the literature. Best practices influence many things we do in health care and now it can also provide guidelines on cultivating a social media presence.

A 12 word policy on social media – This blog post from the Mayo Clinic is great because it’s catchy! 12 words, I can remember that! This blog is also a great resource because the Mayo Clinic, is a leader in social media use for health institutions, in health care, for patients and practitioners.

3. Educational technology in medical education is here to stay. Based on the literature and our discussions on Pepper, I think many of us agree that educational technology cannot replace face to face interactions and teaching, but a blended model can allow us to integrate the benefits of online and face to face interactions and enhance learning and education. Twitter, especially seems to be gaining more solid footing in medical education. Again, through a quick online search I was able to find two short, great resources about the why and how of twitter in medical education:

“Why Do You Tweet, Anyway?” A Glance Into Medical Education Tweeting

Infographic on a Medical Educator’s Guide to #MedEd – I love consuming information through infographics. It might be a passing trend, but there is a definite appeal to me in presenting comprehensive and resources in a condensed fashion.

 

Pepper & Asynchronous Discussion

I was having a discussion a few weeks ago with one of my friends about having an ‘online presence’ and he was surprised that my online ‘footprint’ was so light. He said to me that he always thought I was relatively web and tech-savvy – I have accounts on many popular apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc…), consume most of my media on my phone – and was surprised that I had never contributed to message boards or forums, chat rooms, or even a reddit thread. I am a consumer of online knowledge, but not a contributor to the online community.

I don’t have a good reason why my online presence is so muted. I have always had some anxiety about my online presence… not so much fear but more like tension and uneasiness. Looking back now, I can see that this anxiety was one of the big reasons I choose an in-person based Masters versus an online Masters. I always felt that compared to in-class learning, I was a poor online learner.

I admit, that after the first day of class, while the content of the course was very interesting to me, I did feel a bit of a weight on my shoulders regarding all the posts that were required in the class. Most of my posts on Pepper require me to sit at my computer and be very deliberate about what I was typing. At first, it felt daunting and cumbersome – what if my responses were boring? what if I didn’t respond fast enough? what if my posts were unoriginal? Now that it has been a few weeks, participating in the asynchronous discussion on Pepper definitely feels less daunting, but still cumbersome, which is actually really good for my learning.

The format of the asynchronous chat, coupled with my high consumption of knowledge, means that I do all the readings, then sit and read all the posts, pause and reflect, and then reply. Due to the asynchronous nature of Pepper, I repeat the entire process again a couple of days later when I am making my next set of entries. This format is useful for me as a way to consume knowledge, reflect on what I am learning, and then pushes me to take that extra step and contribute to the online community. The more I participate on Pepper, I can see already many of my posts bring up the idea of developing communities and connections online to facilitate learning. The concept of ‘connectivism’ as discussed in the Siemens (2004) article, seems to be resonating with me quite a bit. As I evolve as a learner, I need to recognize that I cannot learn everything I want or need to on my own; and technology is changing how people in general, including myself learn. That’s not to say that technology can replace in-class learning. As discussed in the YouTube video, “This Will Revolutionize Education” technology can enhance the basis of education, which is the social interactions between students and teachers but cannot completely replace it.

As I was searching for some quotes that resonated with me about education, I came across this one that I felt were appropriate to end this first blog entry:

Technology is not a school subject, its a tool to empower learning – Ericka Ledferd (@VifloDaroNero).