Comments on: Do You Have a Handout for That?

By: lthumann

lthumann — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:46:38 +0000

I have really liked using the cards as well. I use http://www.vistaprint.com for their business cards and their post cards.

By: Carl Anderson

Carl Anderson — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:08:11 +0000

I consistently bump into this issue when presenting both at conferences and in district-level PD. While I have caved on occasion and made handouts (sometimes groups will require them) I usually don’t for the reasons you list. What I have started doing is make business card-style handouts with URL-shortened links to online resources. One side of the card is a business card for my blog/online presence and the other side has the link to session content. This strategy seems to be working to curtail complaints regarding handouts. It is also good PR.

By: Kevin Jarrett

Kevin Jarrett — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:52:17 +0000

Great post, Lisa, and great comments.

One of the things we will do differently next year is have PROMINENT signage pointing people to the High Tech Hall wiki, which although it existed for months beforehand, we didn’t think about creating a MooURL for it (http://moourl.com/njea09) until Lisa made the suggestion … it was hilarious (and a little sad) watching people scribble down URLs furiously as presenters (not just Lisa) spoke. We’ve got some work to do but we’ll get there!

One thing we also need to remember is that while *WE* naturally gravitate to things like wikis and URLs, many (most?) of those who we were teaching this week *DO NOT*. And so, differentiation dictates that we at least recognize those learning differences and be prepared to bring those people along somehow. Perhaps a blended approach? A single, 5×7 or 3×5 index card with the wiki address and other pertinent info?

What do you think?

-kj-

p.s. congrats again Lisa on an awesome job at the convention and for this neat follow up article: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/students_discovering_online_co.html – sweet!

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:30:34 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by ccassinelli: Go Paperless! Great alternative to handouts for conferences/classes by @lthumann http://bit.ly/4xwLYv…

By: lthumann

lthumann — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:56:38 +0000

Barbara and Chris – Thanks and if you come across other resources that help, please share them too!

Anthony – Baby steps, right? I actually typed the address http://moourl.com/njea09 in huge letters on five different huge screens so that everyone would have the address of where to access the resources.

We can try, right?

I’ve also given out business cards, using http://www.vistaprint.com but again I would not have been able to predict how many to order for a convention of this magnitude.

Thank you all for your comments.

By: Anthony D

Anthony D — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:55:17 +0000

I find this truly amusing, but not unexpected at least at NJEA many are probably not very tech-savvy so they wouldn’t know how to go to a wiki, or website for their resources. I visited NECC this year as well as several other conferences and its amazing the amount of paper from hand-outs to catalogs from vendors. I mean I need a suitcase to hold all my handouts!!! I guess as technologists we have more work to do as far as educating people on technology, wikis, websites, etc. and just how to get what you need from the web.

By: My Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly) | My Squirrelly View of Education

My Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly) | My Squirrelly View of Education — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:53:08 +0000

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By: Chris Hyde

Chris Hyde — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:13:48 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing this, Lisa. I stopped providing handouts at district PD sessions last year. I did this mainly because what happens is exactly what you said…they just end up in a folder, desk, or computer bag never to be accessed again. If people really want the resource they’ll get it if you provide it for them. Are we really attending “21st Century” PD events and asking for paper? I definitely plan on checking out a couple of your resources to use in some future presentations. Keep up the good work.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:11:33 +0000

Great list and examples. Even though I knew the applications I appreciated the examples of their use for handouts. Plus this was just what I needed before I present next weekend.