So yesterday afternoon, I facilitated the first of the 2007-2008 Local District 5 Instructional Technology Leader Meetings. I introduced many web resources (as I try to do each time I hold these sessions), and the main topic was to show Los Angeles Unified School District's
My Mail. This e-mail program is our school district's version of the
Google Apps for Schools. It has the following features for students: a start page similar to
iGoogle, e-mail similar to
Gmail, the online document, spreadsheet, and presentation tool called
Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Wielding an older laptop, I was navigating through the My Mail system when my computer froze. Okay then. I restarted the computer. As I ended the afternoon, questions came out regarding
Google Earth updates since I first presented the tool to the group last year. I obliged and showed them Google Sky and then tried to take them to the built-in flight simulator when... the computer once again crashed. Well, I'm glad it was the end of the meeting.
Then, I went to the
21st Century Learners Symposium. It was another place with no public wifi access, so I pulled out a notepad to blog the old way. I wanted to refresh my memory regarding
Alan November's views on
information literacy. If you haven't been to one of his presentations before, he likes to explore through the resources of the Internet live. As he sifted through sites such as
Google,
Alta Vista,
Technorati,
Archive.org,
Bloglines, and
NoFiltr.com, he began having some difficulties with a slow Internet connection. How did he cope? He just moved on. I felt reassured that technical difficulties can happen to the best of them.
Later in the day, I spent my time listening to
Cheryl Lemke as she spoke on
21st Century Skills. Her struggle through technical difficulties included microphone feedback as well as slow Internet response as she tapped into web-based videos. I forgot to mention that both she and Alan November had to battle with other external issues that affected their communication. Alan stated that it was like peering over the horizon, observing the curvature of the Earth, in reference to how long the room was that housed the audience that both of them addressed. And because of a major remodeling of the
Pasadena Conference Center, everyone could hear the background foley work of a jackhammer as both presentations progressed.
So why do I even bring these issues up? Well, it illustrates the fact that "technical difficulties"
happen but not to the detriment of the message being delivered! It kinda relates to the "silver lining" metaphor. That is what I must keep in mind as I go through my own issues during presentations. Of course, this is where I am beginning to store all of my issues of overcoming difficulties. For a rundown of my learnings at the event I evaluated above, stay tuned for my entry in Learning Side by Side w/ John Rivera. But I do leave you with this video of bloopers to amuse you with (even though they are contrived mistakes).
