Presenter Responsibility
At the end of January, I spent a week meeting with and learning from some fabulous people at the Midwest Education Technology Conference (METC) in St. Charles, MO. In reflecting on the conference, I was thinking about some of the sessions I attended and I can’t help but wonder what conference goers want from a conference. Is it to learn about the latest and greatest tools or is it more about strategies and concepts? As someone who presents at a variety of conferences and for a variety of groups, I spent some time watching people present and to a certain extent, analyzing their presentation styles looking for things that I might implement.
This year I’ve been thinking a lot about presentation styles and working with/leading groups. I’ve read books like Presentation Zen and, while those have helped me think about techniques, it hasn’t really helped me think through my latest pondering, that being the responsibility of presenters to serve their audience. In one session, the speaker was describing the evils of filters and how filtering the web from students isn’t helping teach responsibility and ethics. Now let me be clear about this, I agree with this speaker. I’m not for filtering everything and I think that students miss out on a lot of information/experiences because of these filters. However, I’m also a realist and understand that most districts are not about to completely open up the filter to the world. As a presenter, I feel as though I need another solution. What if YouTube is blocked in the district? Is suggesting breaking YouTube’s terms of service and downloading the video for use really the best idea? Sure it’s possible, but what are we then modeling? Certainly not ethical use. Is a school district likely to get sued? Probably not. Is that a good defense or justification? Definitely not.
In another session I attended, the presenter was “shocked” that sites like YouTube, Flickr and Twitter were blocked in schools. I was amazed. “How can you be shocked?”, I thought. “Are you ever in a school anymore?” More often than not, these kinds of sites are blocked for “safety reasons”. I’ve even heard of districts who’s filters are so locked down, the school website isn’t even accessible inside the district. Ridiculous.
However ridiculous, this is a reality. I hope it’s not a reality forever, but I also understand that many times, teachers have no control or say over what is blocked and unblocked. Rather than looking at them with incredulity when they ask what to do when a certain tool or site is blocked, I think it’s important to understand the plight of these teachers who desperately want to give their students access and try to help them by giving them alternatives or avenues to help them help those who make decisions to see the benefits of sites such as YouTube.
As I more time comes between me and the classroom, I’m going to try to keep my perspective and understand the limitations that teachers have based on the decisions of others. I want to continue to work inside of schools and not just with teachers but with students as well. It’s important for those of us who are “spreading the word” to also live that life and get inside the classroom. Currently I’m working on three different presentations and will continue to keep revisit the responsibilities and understandings that I need to have about my audience so that I can answer those questions. I don’t believe that filtering online content is the way, but I also don’t want to rattle on about it with only one solution, to un-filter everything. I will be continuing to think about alternative solutions or approaches and welcome conversation about how to address the needs of classroom teachers.
Bill,
Great post. We do have a great responsibility as presenters to understand our audience(s). To connect with our audience. They need to know that “we know” what they’re facing in the classroom. I had the same point brought up this week in a presentation I made at the MOFCCLA Conference in Columbia. A teacher stopped me and asked, “How do we get some of these tools unblocked?” It did catch me off guard momentarily, but it ended up fostering a great discussion among members of my audience. Teachers want to know how to “make their case” for certain tools/websites to be unblocked in their district. Or at least get them unblocked for teacher use. There are content filters out there that allow for this.
As the presenter, I had to hand the reigns over for a bit to teachers who are in the classroom facing this every day. I think all presenters should be willing to do this when necessary/appropriate. As a presenter, I love it when the audience engages me in a small sidebar, or better yet they engage themselves. When the teacher I mentioned earlier asked the question about how to get sites unblocked in her district, I shared what I would do, but she also got responses from other teachers who have done “xyz” and had success.
It didn’t take away from the presentation, I think it built upon what I was already sharing. That made it valuable.
I can’t thank you enough for this post. I am an independent consultant, but most of my work happens inside of classrooms as a literacy coach or a facilitator of writing community work with teachers and kids.
Sometimes, I get so caught up in what is possible and in all of the spectacular things that others advocate for that I begin to feel discouraged about the difference I might possibly make, given the reality that most of the teachers that I work with live in.
The fact is that MOST of them contend with filters, few resources, and capacity that is just beginning to build. I think it’s so important to embrace what we have, be grateful for where we are, and meet people where they are at too. This is the only way that real change will happen. It’s respectful and inclusive too.
Great post.