One of the essential learning gears of Synergy is Communication and Collaboration.  The three rays of light for this gear are

• I can communicate in writing, graphics, and conversation.
• I can collaborate for sustainable enhancement.
• I can plan and present effectively.

We are trying a new strategy for working on persuasive presentations this semester based on what we learned at Educon in January. At Educon 2.4, Bo and I attended the Saturday Encienda Educon.  Encienda or Ignite was new concept in presenting to me in January at Educon.  The Ignite website says “enlighten us, but make it quick.”  The basics of an Ignite or Encienda presentation are that a presenter has 5 minutes to share an idea using 20 slides which automatically advance every 15 seconds.

In both of the previous semesters of Synergy, we introduced the teams to the work of Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen, and Nancy Duarte, Slide:ology.  The sub-teams had the opportunity to make one or two big presentations.  As coaches, we could see the need for additional practice.  This semester, inspired by what we learned at Educon, we have just completed our 2nd Ingite-lite challenge with our Synergy 8 Crusade for Campus Cleanliness sub-teams.  For these young learners, we issued the challenge of communicating your team’s work, issue, or progress in 2 minutes using 4 slides which automatically advance every 30 seconds.  We call it Ignite-lite.  It is only week 8 of our 18 weeks together, and our teams have already designed and presented  twice.  Coaching is still needed, but the progress is incredible.

To be clear, we are modifying the Encienda or Ignite presentation to a “lite” version for our young learners.

One purpose of Synergy is to offer learners the opportunity to have real-world work and learning experiences.  As we work on improving our skills to communicate in writing, graphics, and conversation and to plan and present effectively, we are building assets and products.  We are practicing to prepare for the day when we present to a larger authentic audience.