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Introduction:
When/Where Did I Begin My Presentation?
– New Paradigm, Really
From
TLT-SWG Listserv Posting #30 6/9/2004
“...your presentation actually began only
after 15 minutes...” was one of several complaints about a workshop/seminar I
offered a couple months ago at a European university. My critic didn’t accept
the tour of the Website I had built for them and the demos of two prepared
audio-narrated slideshows that I offered in the first 15 minutes as part of a
legitimate “presentation.”
So, last week I was worried about the
possibility of a painful re-encounter with culturally mismatched expectations as
I anticipated a diverse international audience for my session at the 2004
eLiteracy conference. What if someone asked again, in exasperation: “When and
where did you begin your presentation?”
Officially, my session was on the campus of
St. John’s University, beginning at 3:30PM. But that’s not the real answer at
all. In fact, that was the wrong question – completely. At the following URL,
I try to explain why,
offer some “right” questions that fit the situation better, begin
to answer those questions, and immodestly claim to introduce a new paradigm!
[That paradigm includes a “teaching ensemble” and piercing the boundaries of
traditional course structures.] Please visit:
Happily, the June 2 event – and before and
after – became one of the most professionally gratifying, exciting experiences
I’ve had in higher education in years. THE INTERNET-BASED SYNCHRONOUS
“GROUPWARE” WORKED FLAWLESSLY! Several members of our ensemble participated
fully and actively from other continents. The session title was “Building
Community & Peace – Using the Web Locally, Internationally, Incrementally, and
Inexpensively” – you can see the related Web resources beginning at <<http://www.tltgroup.org/bccooc/BuildingCommunityPeace/eLIT2004.htm>>.)
Steve Gilbert
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Meanwhile, I’m planning to begin some of my future “non-presentations” with a
display of “Trahison
des Images” [Treason of the Images] 1929 by René Magritte
1898-1967. This is a famous painting of a pipe with the caption: “Ceci
n'est pas une pipe” [“This is not a pipe”].
While showing that painting, I’ll say “This is
not a presentation” and explain how and why my session may differ from
traditional “presentations”. As of October 2011, you could see this
painting at:
<<http://tlt.gs/magrittePainting>>.
Of
course, in the spirit of Magritte, those who offer that image on the Web
should have added “This is not a painting.”
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