Ignite Sessions: Its All about the Ideas

So for my first time really being an active participant in the #notatiste community, I decided to go all-in, no holds barred. (If you know me at all, that will not come as any sort of shock.)  Without really having any idea what I was getting into, I signed up to host an Ignite Session. Then I decided to investigate and see what I had gotten myself into.  Here is the official site, although the #notatiste sessions were not hosted in conjunction with the official site.  Rapid-fire, 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide.  I knew it was either going to be a perfect fit for my fast-talking self, or it was going to be a complete disaster due to my tendency to ramble.  In the end, I really liked the format, but would definitely use it very sparingly and for very specific purposes.

In my last post:  SnapSmashing:  (not just for kids anymore) I posted the end result -- you can judge the success (or lack thereof) for yourself.  :)  As I built the presentation, I knew I needed to be mindful of the focus, and stick to the apps and examples of how each could be used.  With the exception of the explanation of filters v. lenses, I left the mechanics and processes of the apps alone.  I think the format worked very well for that type of presentation.  Any kind of tutorial would be ineffective, I think, due to the speed of presentation.  I also liked the fact that we archived them via YouTube, so on replay viewers can pause, reflect, take notes, etc.

Would I use it to introduce new material to my students? Probably not.  I think the level of frustration for students trying to process TL at that speed would be disastrous.  What would be interesting, however, would be to have students collaborate on an Ignite session to present to their classmates as part of the year-end review process:  each pair or small group could be assigned a review topic, slides divided among the group members (I used Google Slides to create mine, and then Screencastify to capture the video).  Archiving to YouTube would then provide the class with replayable resources for review.

As with all things (IMHO) the Ignite Session is simply another tool in the arsenal.  As a presentation tool, it's all about the ideas:  throw a bunch out and hope that your audience is sparked to think of even more.

If I have ignited any ideas for you, leave a comment!