2008+-+FollowUp+Thoughts

Hey team, can you spare you a few minutes and answer a few questions? In order to reflect on this year and look forward to making things better in the future, your thoughts are appreciated! All the questions are in relation to the K12 Online HelpDesk since there is already a [|survey for gathering info. about the conference.]

1. What did you feel was most effective with the HelpDesk?
 * The fact that we worked together so well along with the diversity of our skills and knowledge helped us to be most efficient. ~Lee

2. What do you feel needs to be improved? > I would agree that we need to somehow cut down on the information, or at least the way it is presented/accessed. I think we also need to cut out any duplication. For example, there seemed to be lots of overlap between 'first timers' and 'keeping connected' - Patricia > I think with the Meebo room, we need some way of indicating when someone is on duty (ie time and date) also the time and date that questions come in. Mabye there is something similar to Meebo that offers this. I do think offering some sort of 'immediate' help is useful - mabye if it was just offered for a couple of hours per day with the times clearly indicated. I saw last year that Skype contacts were added to the help page. Did that work? - Patricia > I agree, especially since the presentations are embedded and also available for download via iTunes. VLC probably covers most formats. - Patricia > Great idea - Patricia
 * I think the HelpDesk button should be on all of the pages (unless I missed that).~Lee
 * I think (and based on some of the chat in some of the Elluminate sessions, a few others expressed the same thing) there was too much information (perhaps too wordy) on each of the pages. Too many separate pages and too difficult to navigate. I can't imagine how to fix this though, because there is a lot of information to disseminate. One person suggested that the blog be on a separate page, not the main page.~Lee
 * I did not see anyone really use the Meebo room, but they did use email and Twitter. Perhaps, no need for the Meebo room as it is not as immediate and may frustrate those few who attempt to use it. ~Lee
 * There were a few times I needed a convener but reaching out via Twitter or email was the only way to access them and that was not immediate enough. I suggest that we exchange phone numbers or all set our Twitter Accounts to receive our Twitter DMs on our cellphones. This way I could have sent a DM to the conveners to get their attention. ~Lee
 * Not sure why we suggested multiple ways to rip presenters' videos. Would it be possible to recommend one (free) app/method?
 * I would remove the bypass proxy page/info. I'm guessing that any IT member, seeing that, would block the whole K12Online site. Perhaps we can generate a letter-template that participants can present to their IT folks when asking them to unblock the site. We can explain the need, what types of files will be viewed and even request that they be opened up only for the duration of the conference. I believe giving the educators the wording would also serve to help them present "arguments" for opening up other appropriate sites. (Too many teachers suffer in silence.) ~Lee
 * I would suggest moving the 'Presenters FAQ' to the Presenters wiki. Concentrate on participants in the HelpDesk. Presenter were great. They didn't really seem to need any help! - Patricia

3. What HelpDesk features do you feel should be continued or introduced next year?
 * Periodic meetings were very helpful. ~Lee. Agreed - Patricia
 * We also made very good use of email threads. ~Lee
 * Not just for HelpDesk, but I think times need be in the 24hr format (as well as or instead of 12hr format). The 12PM seemed to cause a fair bit of confusion - ie was it midday or midnight :-) - Patricia

4. Any other comments?
 * Let's do it again next year!

Thanks for your time!