I actually learned something from Presentation Zen this week, so that was refreshing. I really enjoyed the before and after shots of slides as well as the not so good, better, best examples. It's way easier to make sense of things when you can see solid examples as explanations.
I still think the homework load is excessive. I don't believe I've had this much for even six credits of classes, so I'm kind of wondering why it's necessary to have this much for three credits.
I had my guidance counselor come ask for help creating a powerpoint, so I grabbed the Presentation Zen book, and now I am helping her do Zen as well. After she is done, I am going to teach her how to do her entire presentation through VoiceThread. I would have her do Voicethread right from the start, but she isn't ready for that yet. She is excited about the way her slides look and then being able to record all of the words she would say. I like it when my best students are other teachers.
I had a Hollywood writer/director as a guest speaker today for my film class who talked about many of the elements in the Digitales book, so it's nice that those elements (that I have been trying to teach the kids all semester) are universal and reinforced by professionals.
Tam, I agree there is a lot of work. It wouldn't be so bad if we had more time. I really do like the assignments and the exposure to all the various resources and ideas. I think the biggest draw back is not having enough time to explore all of the resources or really read and think about our classmates posts.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would be making my presentations on VoiceThread just quite yet. Partly because the free account only allows 3 total. That would be something to think about before making too many. I can't remember if you can download them after you make them. Do you know?
I will say what we've been learning would be fun to do with students. Can't you just see students writing up a short story or a persuasive argument and augmenting it with a good presentation? I would love it if some students would actually tackle an issue important to them, like school rules or something.
I don't know about you, but once I make my Pecha-Kucha (which I usually hear pronounced wrong more often than not... grrr), I plan on sharing it with my students. When you watched the example for class, did you find it busy sound-wise? I did.
Tam - I totally agree about the homework. I thought I was the only one who was struggling to keep up! I, too, agree with Shawn that there just isn't enough time really get to know all these new digi-tools.
ReplyDeleteI like Voicethread, but I can't figure out how to import videos or add annimations...or if those are options? I look in the help section, but that appears to be no help at all (no pun intended). It's interesting that the director you had for your class actually knew about the elements of design that we've been learning. Just curious, does he use those elements regularly in his productions?