Our online events work best when both presenter/leaders and participants have prepared in advance - best, more than 24 hours in advance!

Please review these requirements and recommendations. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact David McCurry.

Thanks for your participation in the TLT Group's Online Institute!

Guidelines for Leader/Presenters

     Web Template for each workshop
     Guidelines for Voice of the Chat
     Guidelines for Model Engaged Active Learner

 Leader/Presenter Forms, Preparatory Procedures

• OLI Leader Contract

• Legal Release Forms (Adult or Child)

• Checklist For All TLT Group Presenters

QUESTIONS AND INTERACTION IN SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE SESSIONS

• Consider how you would like participates to respond when you ask questions in synchronous online sessions. 

• See www.tltgroup.org/ivoc.htm for sample slides, templates designed to encourage active responses from audience during synchronous sessions;  you may also take advantage of text chat options.

• Also see:  Resources, Links, Activities from the OLI Workshop about Adapting CATs to Online Courses - and Other LTAs for Online Teaching/Learning

• Never relinquish control of the microphone until you know what is really going to happen next – i.e., who is going to speak and (at least a general notion) of what they’re going to offer or ask about.  Do NOT say “I’m going to release the microphone and any of you who has a question can speak up” - because it is very likely that NO ONE will respond.  In most online workshop or course environments, each individual may be thinking that it would be impolite to jump ahead of everyone else – they cannot see the usual clues about who is/isn’t ready to speak.

COLLABORATIVE (EXTRA?) ROLES

• Voice of the Chat:  Select, invite, and work with Voice of the Chat (person who reads and contributes to the text chat area and who is prepared to vocally summarize results, questions that have been emerging there.) 
  Main speaker/presenter should get clear about how much/little to rely on Voice of the Chat and/or Model Engaged Learner – so that the presenter can avoid breaking his/her train of thought by seeming distracted when responding to text chat comments. The main speaker/presenter should also feel comfortable at some times asking people to stop using the text area if that will be a distraction. The speaker/presenter should also become comfortable permitting a rather separate “conversation” in the text area – think of it as more like counterpoint in music – that can be re-united and integrated later – either later in the session or later offline

• Model Engaged Active Learner:  Select, invite, and work with MEAL (person who prepares for and demonstrates the kind of learner behavior that makes a course better for everyone).

• Chat Room Discussant: Arrives in the chat room at least 10 minutes before the actual presentation and introduces him/herself to the chat room.  Helps moderate the chat room conversation by asking for clarification of questions and offering encouragement and information as needed.

• What else?

• "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"
  We look forward to working with at least two leader/presenters for each online session;  and to figuring out additional constructive roles for other participants
• EXCEPTIONS ARE IMPORTANT
  The exceptions to each of the following are probably as important as the rules themselves!
• MAX 15 MINUTE MODULES
  Every online event should be organized in modules, each no more than 15 minutes.  Each module should contain some "presentation" and some "interaction."
• MAX 5 SLIDES/WEBSITES PER MODULE
  For one-session online events, each module should show no more than 5 substantive slides and Websites.  [Additional "housekeeping" slides are often necessary. ]
• MAX 10 SLIDES/WEBSITES PER MODULE
  For three-session online workshops, each module should show no more than 10 substantive slides and Websites.  [Additional "housekeeping" slides are often necessary. ]  Some modules should include considerably fewer than 10 slides and Websites.
• RESPONSIBILITY FOR BEHAVIOR OF REGISTRANTS
  Leader/presenters, TLTG moderators, and those having other leadership or support roles are responsible for setting and maintaining guidelines for the behavior of registrants;  that includes soliciting and responding to feedback from participants as well as setting examples for different ways of getting a lot out of the online sessions.
  EXAMPLE:   DON'T GIVE UP THE MIKE WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!   
  The leader/presenter/moderator who has control of the microphone should not release it until he/she has clearly identified what will happen next and who will take the microphone.
• FAVORITES OPTION
  If you choose to save files to your bookmarks, they will show up in iVocalize under favorites. However, this is not true for Apple computers.

• To make a PDF version of slides and notes: Use the “print to pdf” (versus print to printer) feature in PowerPoint – printing out the speaker’s notes (slides plus notes). There are some free PDF conversion programs, one you can use is called PDF reDirect, available at www.cnet.com.

RESOURCES - ANNOTATED LINKS

• Provide information in advance about all references you are likely to make during the online sessions.  Ideally, provide titles - with descriptive annotations, attribution, and URL - at least 24 hours prior to the session.  Those links will be very useful to participants.  It is reassuring to them to know they can find all such references on the related Web page that the TLT Group Online Institute pro0vides for each online workshop or session - in a section designated for such resources.