I’m a tech
guy. I have multiple laptops, game consoles, and all manner of electronic
devices around, but the one place I don’t readily focus on tech is in teaching.
Sure, I use it when it’s available, but I don’t rely on it. I can always get by without it. And that’s because the
tech will flake out at the wrong
moment.
I saw a
couple of presentations at the conference that went awry because they couldn’t
use their multimedia presentations. They had no handouts, and the tech simply didn’t
work for them. It wasn’t their equipment, and they weren’t that tech savvy to
begin with, so bad things naturally happened. Trying to peer at the tiny screen
of a laptop streaming a video from the back of a room was not a good plan B,
either.
I’ve often
thought about a personal pico projector to use at a conference, but the expense
has put me off. I’d certainly have a better shot of getting a presentation to
work with my own tech rather than rely on that of the facility, but it seems
like an unnecessary expense, especially given my teaching methodology.
Also, I
would much rather give my attendees a well-written and comprehensive handout
rather than a flashy presentation. They can take the handout with them, take
notes on it, and follow along with what I’m saying. I don’t understand
presenters that use two word bulleted lists in the handouts, but that’s another
topic entirely.