I think I survived my first foray into online teaching Wednesday night when I gave my lecture on “Working in and Understanding Original Records” as the third presentation in the NEHGS Online Course “Researching New England,” a fee-based program open to NEHGS members.[1] The course began on July 5, with David Dearborn’s class on “Settlement of New England”; then, on July 12, Lindsay Fulton gave the second class on “Seventeenth-century Published Resources.” The two classes after me are by David Lambert, “Researching Colonial and Revolutionary War Soldiers” on July 26, and Chris Child, “Thinking Outside the Box: Breaking Down Brick Walls in Early New England” on August 2.

I think mine went pretty well considering that it has been a long time since I’ve prepared a lecture in-depth on a complex subject, that I have not made any similar presentations in perhaps a couple of decades, and that I’ve never given an online presentation. Fortunately, my hand was kindly held by Ginevra Morse, our Director of Education and Online Programs, who walked me through a rehearsal as well as the live presentation.

It’s exhausting for someone like me who does not regularly lecture and weird because I don’t see the audience and they don’t see me (probably best for all concerned), so it is hard to judge when their eyes begin to glaze over. In real life presentations you have the opportunity, at least, to adjust for such situations. I am going to need more rest before I watch the video and begin to dissect how I might improve, but if you were a participant in the class, suggestions are always welcome.

In real life presentations you have the opportunity, at least, to adjust...

I also have not done much in “chat” format. There were three question-and-answer periods during the hour-and-a-half-session where listeners could type questions in the chat. I did pretty well, although I got stumped a couple of times – which just means that there will be upcoming Vita Brevis posts on such things as resources for seventeenth-century handwriting and the Massachusetts Judicial Archives.

I do have to admit that giving a lecture from my living room in Plymouth on a Wednesday night at 6:00, rather than having to get myself in and out of Boston, is delightful. Perhaps this online stuff was really invented for old broads like me.

Note

[1] Members can still register for the course through August 1; recorded versions of the earlier segments are available for viewing.