|
Session Title: Using Webinars to Build Evaluation Capacity: The Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowerment Evaluation Experience
|
|
Panel Session 789 to be held in San Simeon A on Friday, Nov 4, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
|
|
Sponsored by the Collaborative, Participatory & Empowerment Evaluation TIG
|
| Chair(s): |
| David Fetterman, Fetterman & Associates, fettermanassociates@gmail.com
|
| Discussant(s):
|
| Stephanie Evergreen, Evergreen Evaluation, stephanie@evergreenevaluation.com
|
| Abstract:
During March 2011, the American Evaluation Association's Collaborative, Participatory and Empowerment Evaluation TIG sponsored three webinars to build evaluation capacity. The first webinar was about empowerment evaluation, facilitated by Fetterman and Wandersman. The second highlighted the use of participatory evaluation, hosted by Ann Zukoski and Mia Luluquisen. The third webinar about collaborative evaluation was presented by Rita O'Sullivan and Liliana Rodriguez-Campos.
The panelist found webinars to be a useful, efficient, and effect way of introducing these approaches to the membership. In the spirit of reflective practitioners, learning from our experience we have organized a panel of webinar hosts to highlight recommended steps and lessons learned.
The discussion is organized around the following aspects: planning, implementation, and follow-up. Challenges include:
- summarizing an entire approach into a 10-minute presentation,
- managing technical issues (from optimal picture and font size to sound quality), and
- presenting as a team (from remote sites)
|
|
Overview of the AEA Webinar Platform
|
| Susan Kistler, American Evaluation Association, susan@eval.org
|
|
Susan will begin by providing a context for the discussion, including an overview of the webinar platform used for AEA. She will build on this presentation by providing lessons that the association has learned in conducting webinars, specifically including:
Technology considerations, specifically as they relate to sounds quality, band-width, graphical user-interface (or user-friendliness), and computer platform compatibility
Presenter considerations, related to successful presentation and facilitation
Moderator considerations, specifically as they related to increasing access for attendees around the world (giving voice within audiences of varying sizes)
In addition, Susan will highlight the limitations and realities encountered as a webinar provider.
Finally, Susan will conclude with a very short description of webinar evaluation considerations, focusing on approaches designed to increase response rates and provide reliable and valid data
|
|
|
Hosting a Webinar: Planning, Implementation, and Follow-up
|
| David Fetterman, Fetterman & Associates, fettermanassociates@gmail.com
|
|
David will begin with a brief description of what it is like to host or facilitate a webinar, including planning, implementation, and follow-up. He will highlight the "smoothness" factor, a result of careful planning, practice, trial runs, and knowing the topic and co-facilitator in some depth (previous working relationship).
He will also discuss the importance of relying on AEA staff and webinar colleagues to critique initial drafts. Feedback topics include:
mechanical and technical issues, such as making the picture on a slide large and printing the text on it to highlight the visual impact in a visual media
substantive content issues, such as including a reference to both process and outcomes, as well as references and resources
David will also speak to the issue of when things "get hairy" and go wrong in the middle of the presentation. These problems can be anticipated by sticking with the overall plan.
| |
|
Webinars: Best Practices, Impact and Limitations
|
| Abraham Wandersman, University of South Carolina, wandersman@sc.edu
|
|
Abraham Wandersman will discuss some best practices issues and expected outcomes in relation to short and long webinars. He will discuss the potential impact of the medium and some of its limitations.
| |
|
Webinars: What to Include and Exclude, Tips, and Lessons Learned
|
| Ann Zukoski, Rainbow Research Inc, azukoski@rainbowresearch.org
|
| Mia Luluquisen, Alameda County Public Health Department, mia.luluquisen@acgov.org
|
|
Ann Zukoski and Mia Luluquisen will follow Abe's presentation and discuss three main topics:
1) First, how to decide what to include in a 10 minute presentation for a webinar. The short amount of time requires careful decision making about what to include, exclude and how to make the presentation fit with a series of webinars on the same topic.
2) Second, she will provide a list of helpful tips for what to have on hand to prepare for any technical difficulties.
3) Third, she will talk about lessons learned and ideas for how future AEA webinars can be improved.
| |
|
Webinars: Tools to Heighten Awareness in Evaluation
|
| Rita O'Sullivan, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, rjosull@mindspring.com
|
|
Rita O'Sullivan will discuss how webinars can be used to heighten awareness of recent thinking and new outlets for work in collaborative evaluation. Her webinar extracted information slated for publication that previewed a special issue of Evaluation and Program Planning, which focuses on collaborative evaluation. The limited webinar time allowed sufficient time to introduce the audience to the essence of the work and hopefully encouraged them to consult the more detailed article and special issue. Further she will reflect how partnering in these types of efforts can enhance the process.
| |
Using Solid Presentation Skills to Make it a Collaborative, Participatory, and Empowering Experience
| Liliana Rodriguez-Campos, University of South Florida, liliana@usf.edu
|
|
A webinar has many benefits for the presenter and audience. For example, it helps reach a larger audience; learn about new topics while being cost-effective; and can be collaborative by including question/answer opportunities for dialogue. With the growing expectation of delivering presentations via webinar, Liliana will discuss how to capture the audience's attention by the use of solid presentation skills.
No matter the type of webinar, the presentation and communication skills are what ensure that the audience will remain engaged throughout the experience. Liliana will share information about how to refine your presentation style and engage audience's interest. Also, she will share visual layout guidelines and how to apply them for maximum effect. Furthermore, Liliana will identify some distracting situations (e.g., difficult audience) that can come across in your sessions and how to address those distractions.
|
|