Moderator's+Cheat+Sheet

Things to be done (not necessarily in this order):

=Before the meeting=


 * 1) Pick a date and time
 * I had some trouble sharing the time correctly. Maybe someone can help out. I wanted the Skype room open earlier so I could check my sound and gather my thoughts before the Skypecast began. However, there were people who thought it began earlier than I was planning for. How should I have organized that so other people would not be confused?
 * Because we have a global audience, a time zone converter was posted on the January planning page. That wil need to be placed somewhere else (maybe in the sidebar under tools?) for the next meeting.
 * 1) Pick a discussion topic (or two)
 * 2) Assign "homework"
 * 3) Post this information on the wiki and in Tapped In
 * 4) Set up the skypecast by clicking on [|this link] and filling in the required information. This will help publicize the skypecast.
 * 5) Publicize the event
 * Tapped In messages to K12 online room members
 * Email BJ Berquist at Tapped In in time for her to get it on the monthly calendar
 * Post a badge from Skype about the Skypecast on the wiki, your blog, etc
 * Tell everyone you know about it!
 * 1) Post link to skypecast and tapped in in easy to find places
 * 2) Set an agenda
 * 3) Have discussion prompts typed in another application like notepad that are ready to be cut and pasted into the chat room at Tapped In to keep the discussion going there.

=During the meeting=

> = = =After the meeting=
 * 1) **Host the Skypecast** (This must be the person who set up the skypecast.)
 * Use a windows environment and Skype 3.0. It is the best user interface I have found. the Mac much harder to use. It will make your skypecast go much smoother.
 * You will be busy trying to determine who is actually interested in educational technology and who is roaming through the skypecasts looking for random conversations.
 * Unmute people who are wanting to speak
 * 1) **Lead the discussion** (I found this to be a full-time job)
 * Plan what questions you are going to asking, so that when there is a lull in the conversation you don't have deadly silence. I had a hard copy of my agenda in front of me so that there was one less thing to find on my screen.
 * Watch the chat window for discussion that can be extended. Encourage people to talk about the things they are IM'ing.
 * I would not recommend using a wireless connection. I think that was part of my problem with sound today.
 * Try to give everyone an opportunity to speak. Encourage everyone to share their skype name. You may need to send people the skype link.
 * 1) **Lead the chat** (I can't type and talk at the same time. Typing can also be heard through the mic)
 * I may just be too old to multi-task this way, but I could not keep up with very much note-taking. It was wonderful to have a couple of people putting links and other info in the chat box so it could be saved for the transcript.
 * Those who are sharing thoughts through chat need to be encouraged, and someone should probe their thinking by asking clarifying questions.
 * The chat leader can also point out items that the discussion leader has overlooked. I went back and listened to the skypecast, read the Tapped In transcript, and put show notes in the wiki simultaneously. There were many things that I didn't hear and see today because I was focused on moderating. I also stopped the recording several times and I reread sections of the transcript in order to get all the notes down.

>
 * 1) Post the recording of the session to the wiki
 * 2) Post the chat transcript to the wiki
 * 3) Clean up the sidebar and pages for this month: link what is important to that month's page and leave it ready for next month.
 * 4) Leave a nice version of show notes on the wiki for posterity :-)