{"id":1524,"date":"2011-04-12T18:29:57","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T17:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltchat.com\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2011-04-12T18:29:57","modified_gmt":"2011-04-12T17:29:57","slug":"how-can-participants-at-conferences-best-ensure-that-what-they-learn-lives-on-and-spreads-eltchat-summary-06042011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2011\/04\/12\/how-can-participants-at-conferences-best-ensure-that-what-they-learn-lives-on-and-spreads-eltchat-summary-06042011\/","title":{"rendered":"How can participants at conferences best ensure that what they learn lives on and spreads? #ELTchat Summary 06\/04\/2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>This is a summary of the 9pm BST <a href=\"http:\/\/marisaconstantinides.edublogs.org\/2011\/01\/29\/eltchat-31226-tweets-and-counting\/\">#eltchat<\/a> on Twitter from Wednesday 6th April 2011. It was contributed by Sandy Millin; it first appeared on her blog with the title <a href=\"http:\/\/sandymillin.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/11\/conferences-spreading-the-love\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Conferences: Spreading the Love&#8221; <\/a> and is reproduced here with her permission. Thank you \u00a0very much Sandy!!!! <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Conferences: Spreading the Love<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The chat involved people with a large variety of experience regarding conferences, ranging from none at all to serial presenters, as well as conference organisers. It fell nicely into various categories, making summary writing nice and easy!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/sandymillin.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/conference-tagxedo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"373\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why go to conferences?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>@cerirhiannon: \u201cI find really motivating talks usually lead to experimenting, blogging and eventually presenting\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@TyKendall: \u201cHe who dares to teach must never cease to learn\u201d John Cotton Dana.<\/li>\n<li>@naomishema \u201cI was lucky enough to win a scholarship to last year\u2019s TESOL and it was an eye opening experience which led to blogging and twitter.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@cioccas: \u201cI always feel reenergised after a conference &amp; buzzing with new ideas I want to share with colleagues. Also after every #ELTchat !\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@lauraesol: \u201cAfter a session last year at IATEFL, I found I got so excited about the content I had to repeat it all to friends!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@bcnpaul1: \u201cLast year was my first IATEFL &amp; changed my outlook hugely. Maybe people just need to get the development bug\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@ELTmethods: \u201cConferences\u00a0are not only about collecting ideas. The social element is vital, too: meeting people with the PD bug\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@sandymillin: \u201cDefinitely worth it! Motivating, great for networking and fun too (mostly!)\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@theteacherjames: \u201cIf you benefit, your students benefit, &amp; that makes it worth it. Anything else is a bonus.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@Marisa_C: \u201cGoing to a face-to-face conference is very important \u2013 recharges human batteries\u201d<\/li>\n<li>@springrose12: \u201cIf nothing else happens, educators get to meet with each other and share good practice as well as socialize. It\u2019s good to know that you\u2019re not alone and others can help you with difficulties.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Meeting the \u2018stars\u2019: @lauraesol \u201cWon\u2019t ever forget John Wells and feeling so much more confident about pronunciation after talking to him.\u201d \u201cBiggest moment was getting Jim Scrivener\u2019s autograph!\u201d \/ @marekandrews: \u201c@lauraesol I got Jeremy Harmer to sign his book, asked him to write advice for my trainees+showed it to them next time\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How to decide which sessions to attend<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Think about what is most useful for you and your colleagues<\/li>\n<li>Try to find articles, blog entries, videos of talks or tweets from speakers you\u2019re interested in seeing<\/li>\n<li>Coordinate with your colleagues to attend different sessions, then share experiences, insights, handouts etc afterwards.<\/li>\n<li>Decide whether you want to go to practical sessions, theoretical ones or a mix of both.<\/li>\n<li>Take a chance on some less well-known presenters \u2013 that\u2019s how they become well-known. Also, they are often in the classroom more regularly so can be more relevant.<\/li>\n<li>Prioritise! Try not to get overwhelmed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What presenters can do to make their presentations memorable<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep it as simple as possible.<\/li>\n<li>Get to the point.<\/li>\n<li>Include a variety of activities in workshops: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Try alternative visual aids: flipcharts are still in!<\/li>\n<li>Let participants talk so they don\u2019t get restless.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t be afraid of using technology.<\/li>\n<li>Be genuine<\/li>\n<li>Have something to say<\/li>\n<li>Try to make a connection with the audience: engage.<\/li>\n<li>Get \u2018personal\u2019.<\/li>\n<li>Upbeat, but not too up!<\/li>\n<li>Listen to your audience.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t read aloud from your Powerpoint.<\/li>\n<li>Provide handouts (laminated if possible for reading in the bath!), or a link to a blogpost \u2013 or one handout, with everything else online so your session can be discussed at lunch<\/li>\n<li>If the audience fall asleep, start being controversial<\/li>\n<li>Inject a bit of humour and originality<\/li>\n<li>Think about what your audience wants and needs to know<\/li>\n<li>Chat to some of your audience after you\u2019ve finished to get feedback and learn from them too. Good for shy people too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What participants can do during a conference<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Give a workshop at the conferences you attend.<\/li>\n<li>Try to go to the conference with other teachers and chat about what you have seen.<\/li>\n<li>Try to talk to the presenter and other participants to keep it in your memory.<\/li>\n<li>Use Twitter to share your thoughts \u2013 those who cannot normally attend conferences are especially grateful for this. You can also use it as a form of note-taking. Consider asking the speaker beforehand and \/ or only tweeting during Tweeter\u2019s talks. Take a look at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/jeremyharmer.wordpress.com\/2011\/01\/09\/presenters-in-peril-is-twitter-to-blame\/\">debate on Jeremy Harmer\u2019s blog<\/a> about whether or not you should tweet.<\/li>\n<li>Follow Twitter hashtags during a conference: you might notice something you\u2019ve missed \/ OR Don\u2019t follow them, you might miss something!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What participants can do after a conference<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong>Find out what works for you: old school or new school. Take a look at some of the ideas below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tell your colleagues about what you saw. \u201cWhen I was at\u2026I met\u2026 and he\/she\u2026\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Blog about what you saw, thus prompting further discussion of topics. Conferences even prompted some to start blogging for the first time.<\/li>\n<li>Even if you don\u2019t want to blog about the conference, you can make comments on other people\u2019s posts.<\/li>\n<li>Type the notes you take, then categorise them into files on your computer, making them easy to retrieve when needed. This also makes it easier to email them to people if you want to share them.<\/li>\n<li>Go back to your notes a while later and remind yourself of what you\u2019ve read.<\/li>\n<li>Try things out in class as soon as possible so that you don\u2019t forget them.<\/li>\n<li>Keep a teaching diary (which could be a blog) to use for post-conference reflections.<\/li>\n<li>Watch any post-conference videos and share them with colleagues.<\/li>\n<li>Correspond with speakers at conferences to inspire you to make the transition between listening and doing (@naomishema: \u201cEven famous David Crystal answered me!\u201d)<\/li>\n<li>Share your knowledge in small groups \/ during department meetings<\/li>\n<li>Follow up on any recommended reading.<\/li>\n<li>Follow up on contacts to consolidate connections made. This may lead to forms of cooperation in the future.<\/li>\n<li>Set aside a quiet hour to go through what documentaton you have and think through what you got out of the conference.<\/li>\n<li>Look at your notes on the way home and decide which ideas to apply next.<\/li>\n<li>Keep the conference booklet.<\/li>\n<li>Not all ideas may be practical for your classes \u2013 be selective.<\/li>\n<li>Introduce Twitter and other sharing tools to your colleagues to help them become more digitally aware and to be able to participate in the post-conference sharing.<\/li>\n<li>Rely on your memory!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What presenters \/ conference organisers can do during\/after a conference<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make a list of seminar participants and their contact details and email them to each other.<\/li>\n<li>Ask speakers if they mind being filmed \/ recorded.<\/li>\n<li>Stream sessions online, as ISTEK did. Alternatively, release them online for people to watch (months) later.<\/li>\n<li>Provide wifi for attendees to share their impressions.<\/li>\n<li>Share materials online. For example, the IH Brno Conference (a one-day one at my school) created a group on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.edmodo.com\/\">Edmodo<\/a> and gave attendees the code so that they could get any handouts they wanted. Alternatively, put slides online using a tool like <a href=\"http:\/\/slideshare.net\/\">Slideshare<\/a>, a wiki or a blog.<\/li>\n<li>Put out a newsletter after the conference with summaries of lectures a couple of months later.<\/li>\n<li>Create an informal \u2018buddy\u2019 system with your PLN to give feedback on each other\u2019s talks at a conference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What schools can do after a conference<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Encourage teachers to give a workshop \/ CPD session to share what they learnt. Small groups could prepare a demonstration about a topic if a few of them saw the same talks.<\/li>\n<li>Ask colleagues to choose ONE topic which deeply affected them each time: demanding to share everything could be too overwhelming.<\/li>\n<li>Keep a collective training blog for teachers.<\/li>\n<li>Create a wiki with colleagues and link powerpoints or videos plus start a discussion.<\/li>\n<li>Record speakers, then create worksheets based on the sessions \u2013 have a bank of talks and tasks.<\/li>\n<li>Have a staff email list dedicated to post conference sharing.<\/li>\n<li>Sponsoring teachers to go to conferences could really boost staff morale.<\/li>\n<li>Encourage a culture of sharing in general \u2013 this makes it easier for teachers to share after conferences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Possible problems and solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Other people in the staffroom are not interested in the conferences you attend.<br \/>\nKeep sharing \u2013 your enthusiasm will hopefully get through to your colleagues eventually! You could also try to spend more time with people who ARE responsive. Teacher development is a mindset.<\/li>\n<li>Some conferences are very expensive to attend.<br \/>\nTry to access the materials in other ways, through videos, Twitter, blogs etc. Sometimes it\u2019s better to bite the bullet \u2013 conferences offer you many benefits. If you\u2019re paying for it, go for what you\u2019re interested in. Your teacher development comes first.<\/li>\n<li>Speakers often have to pay to present.<br \/>\nSome people were annoyed about this, but others said that they are presenting for 45 minutes and watching 1-3 days of sessions, so are happy to pay.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/david-dodgson.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/willing-to-share-but-not-willing-to-pay.html\">Dave Dodgson blogged <\/a>about speakers paying to attend conferences too.<\/li>\n<li>Tweeting during conferences (<a href=\"http:\/\/jeremyharmer.wordpress.com\/2011\/01\/09\/presenters-in-peril-is-twitter-to-blame\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Harmer\u2019s blog discussion<\/a>) could be bad for the presenter. Also, some people complained about the lack of context.<br \/>\nMany people would still go to see a talk even if they had seen it tweeted.<\/li>\n<li>Online conferences don\u2019t match up to a face-to-face environment<br \/>\nUse Twitter to get some of the socialising \/ networking side. It\u2019s also better to watch online than not take part at all! Online conferences can also make people more willing to participate.<\/li>\n<li>The number of ideas can be overwhelming<br \/>\nBe selective: just a handful of ideas can make a big difference .<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Conferences to look out for<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>IATEFL Brighton (UK) 2011: <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/elt.istek.org.tr\/\">ISTEK 2011 <\/a>\/ 2013 (Turkey)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sandymillin.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/11\/conferences-spreading-the-love\/www.virtual-round-table.com\/\">Virtual Round Table<\/a> online conferences<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Other links shared<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An example of conference materials shared on my blog: <a title=\"Teaching 2.0 in the One-Computer\u00a0Classroom\" href=\"http:\/\/sandymillin.wordpress.com\/2011\/04\/02\/teaching-2-0-in-the-one-computer-classroom\/\">Teaching 2.0 in the One-Computer Classroom<\/a><\/li>\n<li>And on Mike Harrison\u2019s blog: <a href=\"http:\/\/bromleytraining.wordpress.com\/2011\/02\/16\/making-dreams-touchable-bc-seminar-february\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Making Dreams Touchable<\/a><\/li>\n<li>And on Mike Harrison\u2019s other blog: <\/li>\n<li>Sue Lyon-Jones\u2019 <a href=\"http:\/\/the-pln-staff-lounge.blogspot.com\/2010\/07\/10-iatefl-2010-highlights-worth.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">highlights from the IATEFL Conference<\/a> 2010<\/li>\n<li> by Eva Simkesyan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/sandymillin.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">by Sandy Millin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/sandymillin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@sandymillin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a summary of the 9pm BST #eltchat on Twitter from Wednesday 6th April 2011. It was contributed by Sandy Millin; it first appeared on her blog with the title &#8220;Conferences: Spreading the Love&#8221; and is reproduced here with her permission. Thank you \u00a0very much Sandy!!!! &nbsp; Conferences: Spreading the Love &nbsp; The chat&hellip; <br \/> <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/2011\/04\/12\/how-can-participants-at-conferences-best-ensure-that-what-they-learn-lives-on-and-spreads-eltchat-summary-06042011\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-summary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eltchat.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}