Category Archives: presentation

news, presentation

SlideShare moves to HTML5

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In an not an unexpected move, SlideShare, the presentation hosting service has moved from Flash to HTML5.

When SlideShare launched it used Flash to create an online slideshow of your presentation slides. It is a service I have been using now for over three years and have found it a useful place to put presentations, but then to also embed them into the blog or the VLE.

However as it was Flash based there were issues when people viewed them on a mobile device such as the iPhone or the iPad. They did fix this for viewing a SlideShare presentation on the SlideShare website and released an API. Last year I reviewed the Slide by Slide app for the iPad and was not impressed. However this wasn’t an official iPad app one that merely used the SlideShare API.

Even though you could view the presentation on the website on the iPad when the SlideShare presentation was embedded into a website, all you got was a blank space.

So it’s interesting to hear that SlideShare are losing the Flash and moving to HTML5.

  • Your slides will display flawlessly on an iPhone, iPad, Android and any other mobile platform. You can send a link to friends and colleagues, and they can view it on the go regardless of what device they are using.
  • Your slides will now load 30% faster. On the web, faster is better.
  • Your slides will be a part of the web. No plugins or downloads are required to view them.

They are certainly convinced that mobile is the way a lot of people will view presentations on the web.

assessment, presentation

Assessment

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Having posted Steve’s presentation on assessment earlier, I was reminded that I had delivered some training on assessment and diverse forms of assessment a few months back.

This was the presentation I gave at the training.

The key message I wanted to get across to the participants was that just because they had assessed the way they had always done, this didn’t mean that was the only way they could assess learners. Often we assess the way that we do, we do it because we have always done it that way. There are now new tools and technologies that allow us to enhance and enrich assessment. and make it more engaging and effective for learners.

Sometimes we need to think differently, especially if the current methods of assessment are not doing what we need them to do.

assessment, presentation

e-Assessment

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An interesting presentation from a keynote by that Steve Wheeler, Assessment in the Digital Age:Fair Measures?

Assessment, which in FE is heavily dictated to by the exam boards is always challenging to change to make “fit for purpose” and I do wonder if we assess because we need to assess rather than actually use it for something useful?

keynote, presentation

Presentation Workflow

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Looking at the applications on my Mac that I use on a regular basis, apart from mail and browsers the one app I probably use the most is Apple’s Keynote. I use it to create presentations for events, conferences and workshops. Having delivered my presentation (or sometimes before) I would upload it to Slideshare. Slideshare is a great site for hosting presentations that can then be embedded into blog posts, web pages or the VLE.

Though you can upload Keynote presentations to Slideshare, due to the nature of the types of presentations I create I have had issues with the conversion process. It works fine with simple presentations, buy my multiple page presentations sometimes have ground to a halt. As a result I now use the following workflow to ensure that my presentation uploads correctly to Slideshare.

I use the same process if I need to share the presentation with others, some conferences and organisations like to have a copy of the presentation on their website. Also when I know I will be presenting at a conference and I won’t be able to use my Mac directly and will have the use the provided Windows PC that is connected to the projector.

The process also works really well with online presentation systems such as Elluminate, Adobe Connect, Instant Presenter, and so on…

Continue reading Presentation Workflow →

presentation

Prezing

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I know a lot of people like and use Prezi, though I created an account back in 2009 or thereabouts, I have not yet managed to create even a single presentation until now.

I am delivering some training this week and wanted to include Prezi, so I thought I ought to create at least one presentation. Having planned the presentation on “paper” well using a Word Processor, I then created the presentation using Prezi.

Using the PSP on Prezi

It was quite simple to create, though I would recommend going through the tutorial. Designing the presentation takes a little more thought than the standard slides you find in Powerpoint or Keynote. But you can add images and video quite easily.

I am still a little unsure of the real benefits of Prezi, in some ways it reminds me of Powerpoint with vomit-inducing transitions. Though I do like the fact that it is possible to see the whole presentation on the screen at once and go to where you want to go in a non-linear fashion. In many ways I think Prezi works better allowing individuals to explore the presentation at their own pace, over showing the presentation to a large group. Of course if you show it first and then allow exploration later, it does work better than Powerpoint in that way.

presentation

Embedding Web 2.0 into the Strategy

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Today I gave an online presentation about how we have Web 2.0 embedded into our ILT Strategy as part Ask the Experts: Web 2.0 Policies and Frameworks session from Staffordshire University’s Best Practice Models for e-Learning Project.

It is one thing to use Web 2.0 tools and services for teaching and learning, but why should you put it into your e-learning strategy?

James Clay from Gloucestershire College will talk about why he included the use of Web 2.0 into the college’s e-learning strategy, the reasons for doing this and how effective it has been.

keynote, podcast, presentation

e-Learning Stuff Podcast #062: This is Bullet Points

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Chatting about presentations, Powerpoint, keynotes and bullet points.

With James Clay and David Sugden.

This is the sixty second e-Learning Stuff Podcast, This is Bullet Points

Download the podcast in mp3 format: This is Bullet Points

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Shownotes

  • coming soon…
altc2009, keynote, podcast, presentation, vle

e-Learning Stuff Podcast #053: Last week or so…

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James talks about last week and stuff he saw, wrote about and found…

This is the fifty third e-Learning Stuff Podcast, Last week or so…

Download the podcast in mp3 format: Last week or so…

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Shownotes

100 ways, presentation, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #48 Embedding an online presentation

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Death by Powerpoint has almost become a running joke at conferences and in education. Despite that, presentations are a staple of many conferences, courses and learning programmes.

it’s very easy to upload and link to a Powerpoint presentation, but does mean that not only does a learner need to click a link and download a file, but also (usually) needs Powerpoint on their computer. If they don’t then we might send them off to download OpenOffice another step and hurdle.

One service I am using much more now for my presentations is Slideshare. It allows you to upload a presentation and converts it into a Flash slideshow. This can either be viewed on the Slideshare website or can be embedded into a webpage. This means you can embed it into the VLE.

This allows learners to immediately access the presentation, without needing to wait for it to download. With larger presentations this can be a long wait on a slow connection. As Slideshare allows you to navigate to a specific slide, this means that learners who want to look at one slide can more easily than from a whole Powerpoint.

Of course there are a few downsides, the main one is that Slideshare is an open service, so your presentations are public and you may not want that. Though that’s also an advantage in that there are lots of presentations on the site that you can use and embed into the VLE.

Being Flash based this could cause issues if your learners have lots of iPhones and iPads, however Slideshare now provide an iPhone friendly service.

It is very simple to link to Powerpoint files, however using a service like Slideshare allows you to easily embed not just your presentations, but also other presentations from the site, straight into the VLE.

app of the week, iphone, keynote, presentation

Keynote Remote – iPhone App of the Week

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Keynote Remote – iPhone App of the Week

This is a regular feature of the blog looking at the various iPhone Apps available. Some of the apps will be useful for those involved in learning technologies, others will be useful in improving the way in which you work, whilst a few will be just plain fun! Some will be free, others will cost a little and one or two will be what some will think is quite expensive. Though called iPhone App of the Week, most of these apps will also work on the iPod touch.

This week’s App is Keynote Remote.

Using Wi-Fi, Keynote Remote turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless controller. In landscape view, see the current and next slides. In portrait, see the current slide with your slide notes. Tap to play and swipe to advance, wherever you are in the room.

£0.59

Now this is not the App I think it could be, there are limitations that I will cover later.

What this App allows you to do is to remotely control your Keynote presentation on your Mac from your iPhone over WiFi. So rather than be tied to the podium or the Mac, you can move around the room (or the stage) and even into the audience.

It also allows you to view your slide notes or the next slide. This is useful in a presentation depending on how you present.

I have used it a couple of times for presentations and when rehearsing it worked flawlessly.

The way it works is you create a connection over a wireless network between the iPhone and the Mac. You can then use the App on the iPhone to control the Keynote presentation. It allows you to start the presentation, move between slides (back and forth) and even jump to different slides. You can either view the notes field as you present or the upcoming slide.

So even though I love the concept and when I try it out, there are some things you need to consider.

This only works with OS X and only with Keynote ’09. If you have an earlier version of Keynote it won’t work and if you have PowerPoint for Mac, it won’t work with that. Of course this is OS X, so if you have a Windows PC then this is not an App for you.

You can either view the notes field as you present or the upcoming slide, however you can’t flip between the two as you present, it’s either notes or next slide, not both.

It also only works in WiFi, it doesn’t work on Bluetooth and neither does it work via USB (which though tethered could be useful). WiFi is alright, however it doesn’t always work as expected and does require the presence of a wireless network, that is not always going to be available in every location you need to use this. Even though it worked fine before two recent conference keynotes, due to the use of the WiFi network by others in the conference (ie all the delegates in the hall) I found that the Keynote Remote application couldn’t connect to the Mac over the WiFi and as a result I couldn’t use it!

Not really an App of the Week if it doesn’t work. However I am not sure if this is an actual problem with the App or just a symptom of an overcrowded and overused wireless network at the conference.

So the next time I use it I have either decided to use my own wireless network. Now this creates its own issues. If I also need internet access then using a standalone Airport Express or wireless router will more than likely stop me from doing that. Likewise though you can use Internet Sharing on a Mac to create a wireless network, this is only possible if you have administrative rights over your Mac, something that not every IT department allows. If you do have administrative rights then you can configure your Mac to share its internet connection (even if it doesn’t have one) over the Mac’s Airport to create a WiFi network. If you need internet then if you have a 3G Dongle or USB Stick then this could be used as the internet connection which is shared across the Airport to create a WiFI network and still have internet access. Another option I may use is to use either my MiFi or Joikuspot on my Nokia N95.