PowerPoint Tips

    Reading through these links reminded me of several poorly assembled PowerPoint presentations that I viewed(and co-created...) in high school. In my opinion, creating clean, simple, and to the point slides can be difficult because there are just so many cool features...who wouldn't want to try them all? 

   Needless to say, I found the tips that encouraged minimalism to be the most helpful.  "Top Ten Slide Tips" warns against creating slides that have long sentences or too many bullet points.  It makes clear that slides should only contain brief phrases or words that summarize the speaker's points.  Charts, graphs, and tables should also be simple and easy to interpret quickly; too many labels or colors are confusing to the eye and many viewers will simply give up before trying to decode the information.  Lastly, the "Top Ten" suggests that that the presenter review the order of his slides to make sure the progression has a logical flow. 

   The "Pedagogical Review of PowerPoint" also made several recommendations.  It says that presenters should be careful not to "read off" their slides, but instead they should use their own notes as supplementary information.  Appropriate use of images is also mentioned; for example, a presentation over a professional matter should have realistic images or photos instead of cartoon-like clip art.  

   Over all, I found these tips to be very helpful!  

My New Friend Excel

I have to admit I used to be very afraid of spreadsheets, mostly because my sister who is an accountant kindly warned me they were not for chronically "right-brained" people like myself.  Although the things she uses spreadsheets for are far more advanced than my Running Balance homework, I haven't really encountered much frustration using Excel. Its true that I have to always double check before selecting cells to plug into formulas, and I still work very slow, but over all I'm exited to know the basics of Excel for future use.  For example, I have multiple bank accounts with two different banks after my year abroad(and several card misplacement/theft episodes) and its become somewhat burdensome to keep track of balances online because they're on different websites. I'm planning on creating a spreadsheet so I can keep an overall running balance and better track my spending habits. My experience with Excel has been a positive one, and I'll certainly be using it in the future. 

Good Night Moon

    In this photo Clement Hurd, author of the children's classic Good Night Moon, is shown without his typical cigarette.  Instead, he has his arm stretched awkwardly across his chest and his fingers are gripping a non-existent cigarette; clearly, the ciggy was digitally plucked from his hand.

   I chose this photo because Good Night Moon was always one of my favorite bed time stories and I distinctly recall Mr. Hurd, cigarette and all, appearing on the inside cover of my book.  Although as a child I never paid much attention to the photo, I'm now glad to see that publishers are becoming more conscientious of the images they produce.  It is true that publishers are concerned about liability, but I would like to think that they are also committed to protecting children from premature exposure to negative images.  

    Of course this is not an extreme case where censorship is indisputably necessary, and its true that many children remain unaffected by negative images such as these. Still, I think its better to keep the cigarette out on behalf of those children who's reading experience could be somehow tainted or compromised. 

AT&T Center for Learning and Technology

    Our visit to the AT&T Center for Learning and Technology made me aware of many different resources that I have at my fingertips here at Trinity that I never knew existed.  I was especially pleased to learn that with permission from a faculty or staff member, students can borrow digital cameras, and video and cassette recording equipment; the CLT staff will actually deliver equipment such as slide projectors and screens, microphones, DVD and VHS players, lecterns, and cassette players to students and faculty who have presentations or special events. 

    The first room we were shown housed the The Studios @ CLT.  Although I have used The Studios before, I was not aware that the film scanners and digital cameras were available to students.  We were told that that they have a variety of creation software including Adobe, Macromedia, Sony/Vegas, Roxio, and Apple.  

    We were then shown the Digital Audio Lab, the Innovation Studio, the Video Conference Center, and the Media Presentation Lab.  The latter lab was of particular interest to me; the Media Presentation Lab is designed for student and faculty use and can be either reserved or used whenever its unoccupied.  This lab has a touch board, smart board, and a roll-in polycom; the room its self seats up to fifteen and often hosts students and faculty who are creating formal presentations.  

    I really learned a lot about CLT from this visit, and now that I know what all is available to me will certainly be taking advantage of this great resource.