The readability of a website depends on placement of images, wrapped text, proofread drafts, and appropriate amounts of white space. Sidebars or other navigation points should be easily accessed but not detract from the content of each page. Any animation should be used for a specific purpose, not just "for show," and should be able to be turned off when the reader doesn't need it.
PowerPoint Presentations:
I found it ironic that I gave a pretty boring PowerPoint presentation today on Logical Fallacies as part of my Persuasive Unit in Intermediate Writing. Students had "fill-in-the-blank" notes, so they did have to pay attention at least a little to get the lecture's information. I did engage the class more, however, when I told them about this assignment and asked for their suggestions on how to improve it! (They may have been more engaged in their advice than the actual lesson, but after reflecting on the slides, I really can't blame them!)
While much of it aligned, I received some conflicting advice from my students today versus what is recommended by professionals as to what makes a PowerPoint presentation effective. My students seem to want as many bells and whistles as possible during presentations, while it seems the most effective approaches actually follow the "less is more" philosophy. As a compromise, I chose a slightly more interesting theme (multi-colored), but still tried to keep things simple on each slide. I pared down the content on some of the slides, as some examples were not very helpful in aiding understanding. I added clip art that I hope students will associate with examples of different logical fallacies, or I provided opportunities to discuss, brainstorm, or ask questions as we work through the slides. I started looking for online quizzes to assess understanding; I found a pretty basic one for the last slide where I cover the different appeals, but wasn't able to find a quiz that used the same terminology that I did for logical fallacies. If I one day have time, I'll create my own online quiz and add it to this presentation!
Other things I should do to improve this presentation:
- Add sound
- Add links to current examples in media/advertising that use logical fallacies
- Rethink transitions between slides
- Rethink the purpose of the "fill-in-the-blanks" approach for some of the slides. It seems to work for some slides, but for others it seems to simply be a task.
Wow! What a difference. The first one I just clicked through and the second one I read. The addition of images really helped. I was really effective to see them both side by side.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trista! What a great transformation. I teach English and learned something from your second PP. I didn't even make it all the way through the first one (sorry, smile). The colors and use of a few images that were well placed and relevant was great. Excellent job of reflecting and making effective changes.
ReplyDeleteNice work!