We made sure all blogs can be accessed through the Class Blog page. I reminded everyone that starting this week all Blog Posts must be on time. In error I had set different requirements in the syllabus and the blog assignment sheet. That was my fault. All students need to do the assignment on the Blog Assignment sheet for Week 1. Sorry about that. In the future, if there are contradictions, the Blog Assignment sheet should be followed.
I announced that we will ONLY use Google's Presentation application for the Presentation in Week 4. You can get to the Google Docs page by:
1) Signing in to Google (either from www.google.com or at www.blogger.com)
2) Go to http://docs.google.com NOTE: DO NOT include www in this address!
3) If asked, supply your last name and first name. Click Continue (You may not be asked for this.)
4) You will now be at Google Docs Control Center. If you click on New you will see you have 4 choices. Document (replacing Word); Spreadsheet (replacing Excel); Presentation (replacing PowerPoint); Folder (for use in organizing material in your Docs Control Center.
I went through a long discussion of why we are using Presentation instead of Powerpoint. The major reasons are:
Free vs. $ 85 - $ 150.
Collaborative Presentations possible
Complete record of who does what and when they do it
Presentations can be given to online audiences
Chat (and in some cases audio and video) are available to "distant" participants.
Can't lose document (stored on Google's server)
Accessible anywhere there is an internet connection without need for an application other than a browser
I went through a lengthy discussion of what to do to make your Presentation. You need a plan, your text, and your pictures. Assembling them into slides is easy. All buttons are clearly visible in the control area (after you click Presentation under New). You can manipulate text as you would in a word processor. You can add images (one or two to a page is best). There is a Help button. You can add backgrounds (but I prefer plain old white slides). It should be self explanatory what you do to build your Presentation. If you have any problems, call or email me.
All images (photographs and graphics) used in your Presentation must include a Source (where you got the picture or graphic). If you took or made it it yourself, say so. If it came from Google Images and Google identifies the source (they usually do), put the source that Google credits. If the source is Unknown, put Source: Unknown (say an old photograph in your collection which was taken by some long lost relative). See my sample presentation for examples.
You should have at least 14 slides in your Presentation: 1)Title Slide; 2-13 Content slides; 14 A slide that says Are There Any Questions? You can have as many slides in your Presentation as you wish.
If you want to see the sample presentation I was working on in all my classes, here it is:
If it does not work (be sure you are using Firefox), call or
email me.
