Tools and Tutorials

Throughout the semester, you will be encouraged to experiment with a variety of Web 2.0 presentation software or collaborative software. In this space, you are encouraged to add helps and ideas for various tools that you know or are using. Please read the instructions for each presentation assignment to understand the type of work and products expected.

General notes on presentations

If there is a formal presentation in which something like PowerPoint is required, please be aware of the following guidelines to make your presentation more presentable:

First, use a minimum of text on any slide.
You must have speaker notes and/or audio that accompanies each slide. The slide contains the kernel of the idea being presented and the speaker notes are what you would actually say to the audience.
Address the audience as you would in real life, speaking to an administrator, a board, or a group of patrons, etc.

Partner/group work can be conducted via Zoom. Refer to the Zoom page.

PowerPoint: The use of PowerPoint is discouraged, not because it is not a good presentation tool, but the instructor would like you to discover and try other Web 2.0 presentation and collaborative tools available. Be sure to use tools that are free for both creators and viewers, and can be accessed by a variety of tech devices which patrons might own. A few possible resources are listed below, each with a page where you can lodge suggestions and tips for your fellow students.

Note: Whatever presentation tool you choose, you will need to have either speaker notes or an audio soundtrack since the professor has very poor vision and struggles to read the contents of visuals. Thus, this pushes you into the real world where you would have a visual in front of the audience but would have to speak about the concept presented; not read from the slide. The listener cannot be reading a lot of text on your slide while you are talking. Below is a list of possible presentation tools to consider.

Google Slides
Spicynodes
Prezi
Google Forms and Spreadsheet
Piktochart
Jing
Screencast-O-Matic
Visual.ly

Start Meeting Studio: allows you to add voice to a presentation. You can see a demo at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iYsj9f0Ov8&feature=youtu.be

Other tools are covered in the textbook.