Getting The Message Across

I’ve been spending the day immersed in some cool technologies that may become common tools for the classroom somewhere in the future.

This is the Innovate 2007 conference, something new our state department of education is trying in order to expose ed tech leaders to new ideas.

On the whole, it’s been a great experience, a great opportunity to spend some time looking beyond the normal day to day routine.

However, there’s one big problem with out-there concepts. Very often the researchers are the worst people to be presenting it to those of us who are not specialists in their field.

For example, the spotlight sessions at this conference. Great ideas. Interesting concepts. Very flat presentations.

I propose that every research grant come with the requirement that part of the money be spent hiring someone with the skills to effectively (and entertainingly) communicate complex ideas.

Powerpoint skills are NOT optional.

innovate07, presentation