Fun Miscellany

Creating Dynamic Presentations with Prezi

Posted in Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Podcasting, Synchronous Learning, Visual Aids, Web Tools on May 24th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

Last week I led a hands-on workshop for the Faculty Summer Institute at the University of Illinois on how to create a presentation in Prezi. If you have never heard of Prezi, think of it as an alternative to PowerPoint that is not only free, but offers a lot of viewing and display options that PowerPoint doesn’t.

View the “slides” from this workshop here:

Creating Dynamic Presentations With Prezi on Prezi

One comment, now that I have worked with Prezi’s embed feature: the publicly viewable step-by-step version of the presentation (what you see here) doesn’t allow for zooming in on certain text in the same way as in the live presentation mode. When I was presenting from my online account I could zoom in on smaller text that wasn’t already included in the “path” (the order in which information is shown in the slides”). That meant I could include the photo credits in a tiny font under the photos and zoom in on them when necessary. In the embedded version, you can see these citations very briefly in passing from one slide to another, but you can’t select that text like it’s possible to do in the presentation mode.

While this would be a disadvantage to Prezi, the application has been evolving in the past year since it was first released. There are still a few bugs. However, it’s come a long way since I last worked with it in December 2009. There are enough clever features to it that I am optimistic that it will continue to get better and better in the next year.

Archiving (and ending) the Feed: April 2010 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Social Networking, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on April 30th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

CC-licensed photo, IMG_2883 by Richard Mansfield via Flickr

Each month, I post a list of @wisepedagogy Twitter posts from the previous month. If you missed them the first time, you can find them here.

Unfortunately, this will be the last archive for @wisepedagogy. We have reached the end of our grant funding for this project, and most WISE Pedagogy initiatives are being discontinued after April 30. Anyone who wishes to read more tweets for eLearning and online pedagogy can follow my personal feed, @amckinn.

So long and thanks for following! Just for fun, here are two additional images of dolphins  for your amusement:

CC-licensed photo, La saga del zoo de Madrid VI - Acrobacias con los delfines by Carlos Alejo via Flickr

CC-licensed photo, dinner by snailo86 via Flickr

Archiving the Feed: March 2010 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on April 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Chicks, by nickgraywfu via Flickr

cc-licensed photo, Chicks, by nickgraywfu via Flickr

Each month, I post a list of @wisepedagogy Twitter posts from the previous month. If you missed them the first time, you can find them here.

Not included in this list are posts related to the Spring 2010 ELI Focus Session on Mobile Learning. You can find those in this post: Mobile Learning: Educause ELI Focus Session Recap

“The Class” video parodies classroom technology, “The Office”-style

Posted in Articles, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Pedagogical Theory, Synchronous Learning, Video on February 11th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

This parody of The Office tells the mock-umentary-style story of a college instructor who is attempting to teach with technology in his classroom. For any instructor or student who has been in a similar situation, this video may hit close to home.

“The class is on technology, and you’re not really using any…the board doesn’t really count,” the IT assistant patiently explains to the instructor. Consequently, he gives his students course information on floppy disks, then sits in front of the class and broadcasts a live Skype video onto the classroom projection screen (so they can either look at him face-to-face or at his Skypecast face).

The video was created by students at the University of Denver as a video essay to express some of their real-life frustrations with classroom technology. While the instructor is obviously trying, the results are ineffective. What lessons can we draw from this? Here are a few that leap to mind:

If specific technology is required, get students to use it in the classroom. In this class, students supposedly have been required to bring laptops but only half of them are using them during class while the instructor lectures. Rather than just using laptops to take notes (or spending the hour on Facebook), this instructor could have them interacting in a discussion assisted with Twitter for sharing notes and ideas, or (gasp) learning how to use specific software or programs.

Beware of outdated technology. The example of the instructor who hands students floppy disks is a bit extreme, given that contemporary computers and laptops don’t even include floppy disk drives anymore. Still, the longer we get accustomed to specific technologies, the harder it is to notice when those technologies become obsolete or replaced by something more effective. Know what your students are using, and avoid using stuff they can’t.

Keep it relevant. “If you are here, why are we Skyping?” Sure, live video lectures are a great idea…for online education. If you’re already face-to-face, there is a better use for your projection screen.

Make sure you know how to use the technology you plan to use in the classroom. Save yourself the embarrassment of failing to use the projection equipment or giving the class an assignment using software you haven’t learned how to use yet yourself, and give everything a test run. This saves class time and prepares you for any issues your students will face as they learn.

Listen to your students. The students in the video give good advice to their instructor: “Let us collaborate with our classmates.” “Better blackboard use.” “Don’t just read off your PowerPoint.” “Please respond to my emails.” “I’m so bored. Just let the students play a more active role in the class.”

Read the article about this video in The Chronicle

Archiving the Feed: September 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 2nd, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Sprinkles, M&Ms and Chocolate Crunch, via Flickr by Sister72

cc-licensed photo, Sprinkles, M&Ms and Chocolate Crunch, via Flickr by Sister72

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

September 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

I have left out a few tweets that related to dated events, such as webinars and calls for participation. I’m guessing that the people who would read this archive would be most interested in resources that still have a chance of being available.

Archiving the Feed: October 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, P1060127, via Flickr by jessicareeder

cc-licensed photo, P1060127, via Flickr by jessicareeder

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

October 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Archiving the Feed: November 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, DSC00948, via Flickr by godutchbaby

cc-licensed photo, DSC00948, via Flickr by godutchbaby

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

November 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Archiving the Feed: December 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Uncategorized, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Lunch Time! via Flickr by AR Nature Gal

cc-licensed photo, Lunch Time! via Flickr by AR Nature Gal

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

December 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Avoid “Death by PowerPoint” with the Pecha Kucha Method

Posted in Fun Miscellany, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids on November 2nd, 2009 by Anne – Be the first to comment
Death by PowerPoint: image from Pundit Kitchen

"Death by PowerPoint": image from Pundit Kitchen

The invention of PowerPoint software made it possible for great strides in the way people present information to others. Unfortunately, it’s also borne the reputation for great snores when lecturers are allowed to blather on from slide to slide ad infinitum.

A technique that is being practiced to prevent “Death by PowerPoint” is the pecha kucha method of presentation delivery. Named after the Japanese word for “chit-chat”, pecha kucha (pronounced “peh-CHA-k-cha”) sets specific perimeters for slides and presentation: 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide.

To give a pecha kucha presentation, you will need to set your slides to self-advance every 20 seconds. This frees you from the need to click to advance each slide so you won’t have to pay attention to the clock — but you will need to keep up with the slides. The result is a paced presentation style that leads the presenter to get to the point expeditiously and think critically about selecting the best slides to carry that point. Not all presentation topics can or should be delivered in this method, but for speakers who are concerned about audience engagement or staying within a limited time allotment, it might be worth practicing.

This lecture method would be especially useful for online learning, both for synchronous and asynchronous lectures. In addition to aiding bandwidth issues, the frequently changing slides would ensure closer attention from students who are at greater risk of distraction online.

The following video is an example of a lecture presented using the pecha kucha method by Daniel Pink. He begins the presentation with a brief explanation of pecha-kucha before launching into his intended topic, Emotionally Intelligent Signage. The topic itself is interesting enough to merit viewing, but if you only have time to investigate the lecture technique you can turn it off after the first minute or so:

(Thanks to ProfHacker for introducing me to both pecha kucha and Daniel Pink’s presentation!)

The PechaKucha website provides more information as well as several uploaded presentations following this method.

Have you ever taught a lecture using this method? Share your experiences in our comment thread!

Screenr: Create quick, free screencasts online

Posted in Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Podcasting, Social Networking, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on October 13th, 2009 by Anne – Be the first to comment

Screenr looks like one of those new web 2.0 resources that could possibly skyrocket in popularity and use for educators. Time will tell in the end, but the following are some of its advantages and disadvantages –

Advantages:

  • Free
  • Online recording cuts out the need to convert a hard disk file to mp4 format and upload to a website
  • Simple to use: record, speak, pause when you need to, then stop and save
  • Works on both Mac and PC
  • Works with Twitter

Disadvantages:

  • 5-minute maximum recording length (for the purposes of downloading and audience retention, however, this is secretly an advantage)
  • No editing features
  • Doesn’t specifically work with Linux (unless a savvy Linux user could get around this somehow)
  • Works with Twitter

The Twitter factor is listed here as both an advantage and a disadvantage, as it would be useful for instructors who are already using Twitter and a headache for those who have been trying very hard to avoid it. There does not appear to be anything to register for an account with Screenr itself; users sign in with a pre-existing Twitter account.

While it’s designed for instant sharing via Twitter, screencasts can be embedded into other websites. The official screencast demo does not offer embed code for some reason (which is why I’m not including it here) but I’ve embedded my own test of the system here, using the opportunity to show my online pedagogy / elearning links on Delicious:

After I recorded the screencast about online pedagogy links on Delicious, it created both a web version and iPhone version of the video. A page with the finished video and my “tweet” came up on the Screenr site. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it in my Twitter feed, even after refreshing a couple times (so of course I had to tweet about the Screenr tweet!).

Its simplicity makes Screenr geared toward instructors who are willing to sacrifice advanced features for the sake of ease and speed of use. If it gets someone who has shied away from screencast technologies to record short screencast lectures or explanations to students, it’s earned its sticker price (have I mentioned it’s free?).

If you start using Screenr and decide you are willing to purchase software that will give you more power to edit and share your screencasts, you might want to check out Camtasia, as it’s widely considered the best at what it does. There are, however, other free online screencast recorders with varying functionality. You can also find more resources and how-to guides for screencasting here.

Screenr

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