Information On Creating A Successful Power Point Presentation

The primary use of a Power Point Presentation is to relay information to a audience. I have used a great amount of PPP here at Trinity as well as in high school. After reading the articles I realized that I have committed many PPP no-no's. One of my main problems is putting excess information. I usually don't read off the slide but I do try and cram up information so that my PPP won't appear to be too long. But after reading the articles I have cleared up some misconceptions about PPP. I enjoyed reading all the articles because they have a significant amount of information discussing how to improve one's PPP. 

Some guidelines in creating a successful PPP are as follow:

1. Keep a PPP Simple. Too much information on one slide is not very interesting, it bores the reader. Also by keeping it simple less clutter appears on the slide as well and the slide looks more appealing and readable to the audience.

2. Use Visual Effects. When editing your slides be creative when it comes to the slides visual effects. Some effects that are helpful in creating a better presentation are sound effects, animations, clear images. Try to avoid the PP clip-art and avoid using PP templates as the Master slide. Creativity is the best tool a person can use.

3. Use Cue Cards. Using cue cards during your presentation will be very helpful in saying what you have to say. This technique also helps you not to read directly off the slides. Take time to gather all the information and section it throughout your slides. Cue cards is what helps the presentation run smoothly.

4. Use Color. Using color in your slides is a great way to catch your audiences attention BUT do not use bright colors that will annoy your audiences eyes. Cool colors and warm colors are suggested in one of the articles we read. Cool colors are usually used for backgrounds whereas warm colors are used for objects in the foreground (such as the text). Color is everything, it can make or break your presentation.

5. Direction of Images. When using images in your presentation remember to face the object inwards of the text's location. By doing this it will keep the reader to focus on the information as well as the image that is presented in the slide or slides.

These are five guidelines I would suggest everyone try to follow when making their PPP. 

I enjoyed reading the articles titled Top Ten Slide Tips and Pedagogical Value of Power Point-Recommendations. These two articles go hand in hand and give almost the say information. The article titled Really Bad PowerPoint- and How to Avoid It did not make much sense to me. I did understand that the author was trying to help people avoid making bad PowerPoint presentations but the text just annoyed and frustrated me because it was unclear to me. 

My Experience Using Excel

I learned so much from the book about using Excel the proper way. I am very excited that I now know how Excel and all its fun gadgets are used. At the beginning I was very confused especially with the toolbar Excel provides for its users but I now am 100% confident using Excel. Some of the things that I learned were being able to format the information in the cell you choose. I also learned how to insert formulas the correct way including the shortcut way that Excel provides its users with. I also learned that you are able to protect worksheets from any changes by locking them, this is used so that their may be no changes by unauthorized users. Another important thin I learned that I did not know before was absolute cell reference, in which a cell reference does not change when copied. I learned so much more that I could make this blog about three pages long but I prefer not to bore you with my new knowledge on Excel. I will be able to use all of the things I listed and Excel itself in the future. I will definitely use it to keep my payment information totals and to keep by bill payments totals as well. I also will use this when I have to perform a spreadsheet in any of my business classes, biology classes, chemistry classes, and lab classes while at Trinity. Excel is just a great tool to know how to use when calculating any kind of numerical data. Excel is always correct on its calculations and I trust Excel 100%. Excel is useful to many business such as banks, any corporations, pretty much any company that keeps numerical information.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

As they say "A picture is worth a thousand words", but to what extent does the actual meaning of a photo fade as digital editing/retouching is done? We looked at some pictures from a website and I choose the picture of Katie Couric because this one striked me the most. It looks as if Katie Couric has an amazing digital retoucher editing all her photos. The original picture of Katie Couric is the official first picture of Katie, which was released by CBS to be posted in TVNewser in May. 

The photo of Mrs. Couric was manipulated by having Katie appear much much slimmer than the original photo. Her figure and face were altered very much in the photo which was posted by Watch Magazine in September. Katie appears to be as thin as a supermodel and her face appears to be perfectly shaped to fit her "new" altered figure. The photo that was altered is not as bright as the original photo of Mrs. Couric. The lighting was dimmed in the altered photo. I believe the digital enhancing photo was manipulated in a Hollywood way. By Hollywood I mean that the Watch Magazine altered the photo so Mrs. Couric could appear Hollywood thin and picture perfect for the readers. In reality as Katie is shown in the original photo she appears more curvaceous and in honestly more lovely than the typical Hollywood thin figure the altered photo of her.

I believe no harm was done in any way but I disagree in altering the photo so that Mrs. Couric could appear much much slimmer than she normally is. The altered image just sets a negative impression on how people are perceived to look like and what role models should look like as well but size does not matter. A person's figure should not be altered because it is then considered a fake photo. In real life Mrs. Couric or anybody else that digitally enhances their photo to appear slimmer should not because they should be proud of what they got no matter of what their circumstances are. A person is beautiful inside and out. A role model is looked up to because of what they do and how they act not on how their figures look. 

Wow! Trinity Just Keeps Getting Better and Better

I knew Trinity was technological but WOW was I amazed when I walked down to the first floor and entered the area called AT&T Center for Learning and Technology which is abbreviated CLT. I was able to get a quick tour of the CLT since they were not expecting our class students. The CLT provides students and professors access to different technological equipment. The CLT includes many facilities such as the Studios @ CLT, a Digital Audio Lab, a Media Presentation Lab, a Video Conference Center, and a Innovative Studio. Yes, all these facilities are located on the first floor of Coates Library and make up the CLT. The area I found most interesting was the Studios @ CLT because it has many workstations with computers. This area also has editing software which I plan on taking advantage of. The Studios @ CLT also offers video editing for those who are into making video projects or any kind of video editing. I really enjoy editing videos especially because my older brother Michael first showed me how to edit using iMovie which is also available on the Mac's. I believe I can use this area the most also to simply make a presentation using pictures from ArtStor and I can edit them all I want. I love editing everything from videos to pictures. 

Another area of the CLT is the Media Presentation Room located in room 101Q. This area is more unique than the others because a student or a faculty member must fill out request online to reserve the room for its use. This is usually used for presentations and meetings. I am not sure if I will use this area of the CLT as much but I may in the future for some sort of group project meeting room. 

I learned a lot from my shorten tour of the CLT. I am happy I have three years left to use this wonderful and technological areas. The first floor should be used more often by students and faculty as well. I am really excited to start working with digital imaging and Photoshop because that means now I have a reason to come and use all the technology that is available to me at the CLT. 

:)

-Alexa Calderon

Copyright Information

We had a lecture on Tuesday about Copyright. This presentation was given to us by Diane Graves. I learned a lot of different things concerning copyright information that I before was not aware of. The thing that interest me the most was the fact that RIAA (Recording Industry Assn. of American), MPAA(Motion Picture Association of America), and ESA (Entertainment Software Association) are all disproportionately interested in campus-based file sharing. Diane Graves told us that four percent of file sharing occurs on college campuses. This said I know understand why Trinity told us to delete any file sharing programs off our personal computers when connecting to the TU network. Trinity has had four subpoenaed actions taken against students who illegally were file sharing. The RIAA demanded Trinity release the names of the students who were illegally file sharing and were then sued by the RIAA. According to Diane Graves she believed that the cost of settlement for one song only was around $13,000-$17,000 dollars. I now know to quit file sharing and buy my songs off of itunes for a dollar each song. Not bad considering the amount paid by settlement cases for a single song. I also learned that it was considered a felony to commit a copyright infringement involving more than ten copies and a value of more than $2,500 dollars.

This copyright presentation was worth the gained knowledge. I am glad I now know what could happen if caught. Many Universities usually ask their students to delete any file sharing programs when connecting to their campus network. I believe this is fair considering that file sharing is illegal and has some pricey consequences if caught. From now on it is all itunes for me :)