Clint's Tech Integration Resources

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About Me

Howdy - I'm Clint and I am the Technology Integration Specialist for SEDC, Southwest Educational Development Center in the beautiful SW corner of Utah. Welcome to my posterous site.

Any training I do, any resource that I need to share, or anything that I stumble across that is just plain cool I'll share here. Check out the Tags below to quickly get to a topic, or do a Search for what you can remember from a training of mine.

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Prezi

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PowerPoint Import Now In Prezi!

via prezi.com

This makes me very happy! It's still a beta feature, but it's a good sign of progress.

More and more I find less and less need to use Office. Is it only me?

Filed under  //  PowerPoint   PowerPointLessNess   Presentations   Prezi  
Posted
 

Great Examples of Prezi in Use

Sign up for a free Prezi account, or a free Prezi Edu Enjoy account if you have a school-provided email address.

Mixing Mind & Metaphor:

Mixing Mind and Metaphor on Prezi

30 Things About Me:

30 Things About Me on Prezi

Filed under  //  Prezi  
Posted
 

Mathematweets by Maria Andersen - Excellent Twitter Integration Ideas


Mathematweets (original de Maria Andersen) on Prezi

via prezi.com

Take a minute to look through this great presentation, along with some other great examples of Twitter classroom integration and ideas from iLearn Technology.

Filed under  //  Prezi   Twitter  
Posted
 

Avoid PowerPointLessNess for UCET 2011

Links and Resources mentioned in this presentation:

Here's the 'Google Docs in Plain English video:

Which Presentation "Deadly Sin" have you broken most often?

 

Filed under  //  Blabberize   Google Presentations   PowerPointLessNess   Presentations   Prezi   UCET   animoto  
Posted
 

Step-by-Step How-To for Prezi Meeting

via prezi.com

More on Prezi Meeting. They have kept it very simple and straight forward. When in Prezi editing mode, just click Meeting --> Invite, and you are presented with a link that you can share with your collaborators.

You can also create a shared Presentation link that you can send out to view a Prezi on separate machines anywhere in the world together. The only thing about this that I don't really like is that the Presentation link expires after only 10 minutes... I guess this is for security, or that they don't want people randomly joining in a Prezi a year after the fact, but it would be nice to have a permanent presentation link to post to a web site for training purposes.

Great stuff from Prezi.

Filed under  //  PowerPoint   Presentations   Prezi  
Posted
 

Video: Prezi Meeting in the classroom

via prezi.com

I liked Prezi before, but this is fantastic. I love showing teachers and students the collaborative power of using Google Presentations. This takes that collaboration to another level.

As the video says... Thanks Prezi!

Sign up for an Edu account now: http://prezi.com/profile/signup/edu/

Filed under  //  Google Apps   PowerPoint   Presentations   Prezi  
Posted
 

Avoid PowerPointLessNess

View the presentation from the session here:
 
 
Avoid:
 
Seven Deadly Sins of PowerPoint, and How To Avoid Them:
 

Click here to download:
7 Deadly Sins for Multimedia Presentations.ppt (3.19 MB)
(download)

 

 
 
Avoid PowerPointLessNess in your Classroom:
 

Click here to download:
Avoid PowerPointlessness.doc (52 KB)
(download)

 

 
 

Do:
 
Tips for Effective Presentations:
  • Stay Consistent:
    • Each slide has the same look and feel
    • If transitions are used, use the same throughout
    • Only deviate to make a point of emphasis
  • Keep it Simple:
    • Use a single, easy to read font.
    • Never let the font size auto adjust to a smaller size
    • Use dark backgrounds with bright text
  • Follow the 6x6 Rule:
    • Only 6 bullets per page
    • Only 6 words per line
    • Never more than 6 images/slide
  • Space and the number of slides are unlimited, so don't crowd the slides!
  • DON'T CLUTTER THE MESSAGE!
 

Alternatives:
I've written about Animoto before, but let's take a closer look...
 
Animoto videos/presentations are created in 3 easy steps:
  1. Upload pictures, add text, and arrange them in the order you want.
  2. Pick your music - upload your own or choose from their many options.
  3. Select your animation theme, and let the site do the rest.
 
All of the hard part - putting in the motion, transitions, music and effects, are done automagically by the site. Don't like the results? You can remix it as many times as needed. You can also go back and edit the project to add to it or correct mistakes once it's produced.
 
Here's an example that I created in about 10 minutes - National and State Parks in Maui
 
 
 
  • Prezi is a whole new approach to presentations
  • Size and scale are used to show heircachy, not slides and bullets
  • You work in a presentation 'space' and create the flow of the presentation with simple and intuitive tools.
  • The trick is to start to think in multiple dimensions!
  • Great Prezi example - Mixing Mind and Metaphor
  • Make sure you sign up for the "Edu Enjoy" account, which is the $59/year account that is free for educators (Thanks, Prezi!) 
  • Prezi is a little different than any other presentation method you may have seen before. Take the time to learn how to use it to it's full potential.
 
Google Presentations:
 
Google Docs in Plain English:
 
  • The only thing that is Light Years ahead of anyone else here is the Collaboration.
  • 10 people can edit a presentation at the same time. However, you can share a presentation with up to 200 people!
  • The Good News? You probably already have it!
  • Teachers in the SEDC region have Gmail-based Email, and have email along with:
    • Presentations with Docs, Spreadsheets, and Forms
    • Calendars
    • Sites
 
In the classroom....
  • Teachers can set up presentation 'templates' where each student (or small group) is in charge of one or many slides.
  • Students become the CONTENT EXPERTS for that topic during slide(s) creation
  • The process takes what would have been multiple files on multiple topics, and transforms it to ONE DOCUMENT.
  • Student Content Experts then teach their concept to the rest of the class
  • We have done collaborative projects with:
    • Rock Identification
    • Math Story Problems
    • Writing Across The Curriculum
  • View examples on the SEDC Site

Filed under  //  Animoto   Google Docs   PowerPoint   Prezi   URSA  
Posted
 

Animoto - RIP PowerPoint??

I have been meaning to write a post about Animoto for a long time. Animoto, in their words, "automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and shockingly easy." I'd seen it out there on the Interwebs, and had even watched a few finished videos, but today was the first day in a while that I've had a chance to give it a try for myself. I give it 4.5 out of 5 Apples (the ease of use and elegance scale). 

It took about 10 minutes to go from heading to Animoto to receiving an email that my video was ready for consumption. I had to take a few minutes off of the actual time since I didn't have the images ready to go (nor did I really know what photos I'd use), but creating a free 30-second video was about as easy as it gets. 

I uploaded 15 pictures quickly and easily (thankfully all at once and not one-at-a-time like many other photo uploading procedures), into their project organizer. With this, you can set the sequence of the images, add text titles and subtitles and other functions like rotating pictures, shuffle the order, and "spotlight" an image. You can use your own photos, choose from their stock images, or get images from another site if you use Flickr, Facebook, SmugMug, Picasa & Photobucket.

The next step is adding music. The site guides you through the process very well with BIG tabs on the left to show you the order of production. You can select music that they have, or upload your own. They do have quite a good selection of different genres of music with enough options to satisfy most tastes and moods, but not so many choices as to overwhelm. Since I was showing a lot of scenery, I went with a nice classical piece from Mozart.

The next step is the easiest of all... When you tell Animoto to produce your video the robots, or Oompa-Loompas, or the dancing brooms from Fantasia look at your photos, text and music and create a totally unique movie from what you give it. They claim that each one is different - I obviously can't confirm that, but the product is quite engaging and fun. They email you a link to your video that you can then share with your friends, or send to your teacher to put the rest of the class to shame (unless they TOO used Animoto).

A free account will allow you to make 30 second videos. You can purchase a "credit" for 3$ to make a single full-length video, or you can purchase a one-year "All You Can Eat" account for $30. Animoto does allow you to apply for a free pro account for "a cause". I have applied for one for educational purposes... I'll let you all know if education is a good enough cause or not.

Oh, and the even have an app for the iPhone & iPod Touch...

All in all, it's a great, easy and free alternative to the tired PowerPoint presentation. 30 seconds is a little short to effectively get a point across (but that might be a good limitation for some student and teacher projects), and $3/$30 is just too much for access for even one classroom full of kids. The Great-Easy-Free trifecta is one that I am constantly looking for to share with my teachers. Animoto comes very close to that hallowed ground.

Update on March 4, 2010: Since I wrote this, I found a few more intriguing alternatives to PowerPoint: Prezi & 280 Slides. Check them out!

Filed under  //  280 Slides   Animoto   Cool   Presentations   Prezi  
Posted