I am really intrigued by the Presentation Zen principles that we have been studying so far. At the beginning of our reading, I was essentially a blank slate when it came to presentations. As I have alluded to in previous writings, I have always avoided presentations because I thought they would bore the pants off my students, and be of little or no value concerning getting information where it needed to go. But now I am starting to understand how powerful and meaningful presentations, when done correctly, can be for the presenter and the viewer. I like the idea that Reynolds presents concerning amplification through simplification. I have seen many presentations that are a labyrinth of information, and Reynolds suggests that eliminating clutter (noise) can really make for a powerful message. I love the idea of less is more, and that time should be spent finding graphics that can really develop visual representations of ideas. That being said, I am a little frustrated at the price tag that accompanies many of these graphics. Fortunately, our book does offer some free sites that will help me find images without having to pay for the privilege.
Speaking of images, Animoto is awesome. I have known this for quite some time, but it is nice to be reminded about the power of this tool. I plan to have my students use Animoto to represent what is important to them concerning family and their lives in general. I think that this tool provides enough options for the user to have control of their presentation, or to simply let Animoto do all the work. However this tool is used, I think that it will be a wonderful addition to my students' technological arsenal.
I am most excited about the "This I Believe" site. I am never very good at providing my students with outlets to submit their written work, but this site will help me change that trend. I will be using this site for my advanced composition students by having them submit essays as a culminating activity toward the end of their time with me. I think the writing assignment challenges students to really examine what they believe and what helped forge their belief systems. I will be presenting this idea on the first day of class, and I hope it is met with enthusiasm by my students.
Hi, I agree about Animoto, have been talking it up and showing it to everyone that will listen. However, there is a stumbling block for studetns, our students do not have school email addresses, therefore cannot sign up for many of these applications. So now I am starting the long arduious task of convincing the administration that students need school email accounts. Because more than anything I want the students to use Animoto. Like you said instead of the old poster of "my life" have them do it on Animoto, book reports, 50 states report, country reports, LOVE this site.
ReplyDeleteRyan -
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to keep us informed as your presentations progress. I must admit that I'm a bit jealous - I have tons of presentations (none of them standing out in my mind as very zen) and am now faced with the decision to revise or just delete the entire thing and start fresh. This is why I'm jealous, as I think you may have more success in starting with that blank slate of yours.
I too, also really liked the "This I Believe" site - another site that may be of interest to you is wisdomcommons.org (I posted this in forum as well) because individuals can interact and provide comments to other's postings as well as post and tag some of their own works - quotes, poems, passages, etc.