/2016

Using BYOD in teaching and public speaking

presentationI recently returned from the University of Iowa where we held a 4-day workshop within our 2016 STARTALK grant program “Bridging the Gap: STARTALK, Teachers and High Tech.” This live workshop was a culmination of a four-week online training of teachers of Russian from various colleges and schools in the US on the use of instructional technology in distance learning, as well as teaching and leading lessons in a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) format where students can utilize their smartphones and tablets during their language lessons.

As a result of their learning and collaboration, the teachers created innovative learning objects that used technology to engage students through gamified scenarios and simulations and expand learning beyond traditional classrooms. We were inspired by the teachers’ creativity, flexibility and willingness to experiment with new approaches to education.

Teachers and speakers have a lot of common goals and tools when it comes to imparting their knowledge and message. In my future posts, I hope to share some of my own takeaways and reflections on how the use of multimedia and BYOD approaches can enhance speeches and presentations and provide fresh, new ways to engage the audience.

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By | 2016-08-12T21:09:19+00:00 August 12th, 2016|Communication, Learning, Public Speaking|0 Comments

Your fear of pubic speaking may be influenced by who you choose to look at when you speak

Our brains are wired to pay more attention to negative clues and threats in the emotions-caricaturesenvironment. This is also true in the context of public speaking, especially for speakers who may experience social anxiety.

In a recent study, participants – some low in social anxiety, some high – were asked to give a three-minute impromptu speech over Skype to an audience shown onscreen. What the participants didn’t know is that the audience was made up of actors who produced facial expressions and body movements on purpose.  In fact, their positive (smiles and nods), negative (frowns and yawns) or neutral expressions had been recorded earlier and  were shown to the participants as they spoke. The researchers tracked the participants’ eye movements as they gave their speeches, recorded their physical anxiety via sweating and heart rate, and asked them to rate how anxious they felt.

It turned out that speakers with higher social anxiety showed a preference for looking at negative audience members, which fueled their anxiety even more.  In contrast, people with low social anxiety chose to look at positive, engaged audience members.

To calm your nerves, it may be worthwhile to pick out some friendly faces in the audience and deliberately pause there longer as your eyes scan the room.

Better yet, meet some of your audience members in advance of your speech, perhaps, by greeting them as they enter the room.  You will feel more support from the audience that way.

Virtual platforms and networks offer another way to get to know your audience prior to your presentation.

Love is an infinite energy of connection

Love is an infinite energy of connection
Among people, animals, Nature and the Universe.
Love transforms fear and loneliness
And gives us the courage to care.
May the question “What would Love do?”
Guide our minds to action
To expand the energy of Love
Over hatred and indifference.
May it open our hearts to the power of self-love in the face of judgment
And to the acceptance of others, regardless of our differences.
Love is the only thing that sustains our inner beauty
And shines its light into the world.
Breathe and live Love.

My daughter and I doing yoga and making heart shapes.
via Instagram @brainalchemist

Trailer for our online course on Russian Folklore

In 2015, our program “Increasing Engagement through Storytelling, Scenario-Based Learning and Gamification” was a 2015 STARTALK grant recipient. During our program, we trained teachers of Russian on how to increase engagement in blended and distance learning classrooms through the use of storytelling, scenario-based learning and gamification. As a result of their training, we developed a fully functioning online course on the Russian Folklore based on the materials created by the teachers. Here is the trailer for the course.

 

By | 2016-01-20T17:31:46+00:00 January 20th, 2016|Communication, Learning|0 Comments