Week 10 - ScreenCast

ScreenCast

This was my first attempt.. if i'm honest i find the sound of my own voice very disturbing let alone how i look on a day of house clothes and no make up or hair done..but thought sod it i need to get this done..
so first i played around with it and watched some of the very helpful tutorials so i could find my way around.

voice recording -



haha as you can hear i have yet to master the art of public speaking without using 'urm' next i thought i would try the video recording and instead of doing something myself i asked for some assistance from my little squidgy,




The following video you can see my little one saying the days of the week in welsh, not fantastic quality due to lighting of the window behind but i got the idea of how it could be used.

video and voice recording -



i can see the benefits of being savvy at using this tool and think if i could develop my confidence could show the world a number of my hidden talents.. haha..
i am aware there are more tools within screencast that can be explored and i would be recommending to others who would like to share their talents - show cooking, arts and crafts or anything at all (well within reason and law!!)

here are some of the pros and cons that i have found that are shared by many who have used screencast -

pros -

• It's free!
• No login/ No account
• can record an entire screen or only a portion
• It's very useful to teach/explain things because you can also record audio
• It’s super easy to use
• It places a yellow circle around the mouse so you don’t lose track of it
• It places a target over every mouse click
• can save it to your computer as an mp4, flv or avi
• can easily upload to YouTube or the Screencast-o-matic website for sharing

Cons - 

• Doesn't offer as many attractive features/functions as some of the recording software
• You do not have the ability to edit your screencasts once they are published
• However the audio quality is quite good, the image(video) quality is notedly different from the original one
• Provide only 15 minutes of free recording time (You have to upgrade to Pro account to create longer videos, get much more)

Week 9 - VISME.co

VISME

Formerly known as EWC Presenter, Visme.co is a flexible, browser-based tool which makes it easy to create any of the following:

• Infographics
• Presentations
• Banner Ads
• Graphs & Charts
• Product Demos (Coming Soon)

Created using Visme. An easy-to-use Infographic Maker.

I only made one slide on this tool as i think i have ran out of ideas of presentations without spending time i don't have thinking for another idea..

plus i was confused with the template i kept getting and when i tried to change it i couldn't change the actual layout?

I felt the slide was to long but again could chance the length of time easily.. i found the timeline bit but was unclear on how to use it so didn't,

i was going to add  my own audio but couldn't do this unless i upgraded to premium account ;/

Pros

• Visme allows you to create beautiful presentations, infographics and banner ads quickly and easily.
• Plenty of Infographic and Banner ad templates, all of which look highly professional.
• The editor interface is sleek and very user friendly. At the same time, it's packed with features.
• Simple drag-and-drop designing.
• Huge range of free images, fonts, icons and infographic visuals.
• Customization including editing, deleting and moving objects is easy.
• Objects can be animated & given special effects.
• Slideshow slide transmissions can be given special effects. 
• Handy preview option.
• Good range of support documentation.
• Visme is extremely affordable, even for startups without many pennies to spare.

Cons

• Presentation templates are bland and low in number.
• The preview option is only offered on the Banner Ad page, and it doesn't even work.
• Although there's lot of documentation, the support options begin and end there. No contact email in sight. 
• The dashboard and menus aren't quite as snazzy as those offered by competitors. As a result, it doesn't quite feel like a proper premium tool until you start editing. 

The video below makes it look very easy however i did not find it this easy to do!

Week 8 - Slidebean

well this was as far as i got with Slidebean... as it asked for me to make a payment for membership and this was not something i was willing to do,
it says that there is a free trial but i was unable to find a way to use it.
i was able to create a presentation but could not export or embed with incurring a charge of a whopping -
$49/mo 
however there are some positive reviews about this on the web and some of the things that i have read are -

• Slidebean is very easy to use, their platform is user-friendly with appealing design options. Their customer support is fast and reliable. 

• So, I'm not very good with design, presentations or any of that. And with Slide bean I managed to make really clean slides, that actually look good, and it was easy. Overall very happy with the service, fast and simple.
• Pros - Again, it's easy and to the point, great for quick slides, fast and simple presentations, I used it for some lectures no issues really.
• Cons - It needs to grow a bit, I could use some other features, and maybe more kinds of elements, or an app to handle things on the phone, but as problems go, nothing mayor
• Slidebean is super easy to use! It helped me create awesome looking presentations for my startup! Great customer success team! Never using PowerPoint again! 
• Pros - Easy to use Awesome looking presentation Great Design Team Great Customer Success team Great Pricing
• Cons - Nothing

so as easy as it was to create a presentation it was disappointing to then learn that it would not be shared on to my blog..

Week 7 - Emaze

Pros - 

• Unique presentation style
• Supports rich text editing
• Includes themes to choose from
• Basic presentation features

• Automatic spell check
• Can share the presentation with others through a unique link
• over 40 slide templates

Cons

• Lots of features only work if you upgrade to a paid subscription
• All presentations are made publicly accessible
• Doesn't save your work automatically
• Not everything on a slide is editable
• Can't save the presentation for offline use
• Can't change the font type of text
• Lacking common presentation features
• unable to customize like other presentation tools 

i enjoyed using this and can see the benefits, i liked the features a spell check is always a winner with me!

even thought the customizing of the slides are limited the speed in which a simple awesome presentation can be made is swift..

Week 6 - Powtoon

PowToon

.

Had some fund with this and could of gone on forever creating funny little sketches but thought i would make life easy for myself given all the work i have to do between single mum life, uni and working full time..

but really did enjoy using this form of presentation and could see the benefits of using it to engage an audience especially in the line of work i am in with young people and even with smaller children this could be a real winner.


PowToons pros and cons

Pros -

• very colourful
• great animations
• fun cartoons and characters 
• there is an options to pay a fee but great access for no cost too
• fairly easy to use
• the option to share with the public
• records voice overs
• easy to embed 

Cons -

• no automatic save (learnt this the hard way!!)
• found it did take some time to load (maybe this was due to my internet?)
• your device must support flash player 
• it can sometimes seem cluttered 
• the cost of a business account in high!!

this is what powtoon had to say on its site about itself -

Powtoon is 
Better than Video!

Engage, explain and sell with impact using just a short, simple PowToon. They’re proven to be more effective than any other form of video or text communications to grab attention in the workplace.

Join 
the leaders!

Everyone loves and uses PowToon. From the Fortune 500 companies to the Ivy League Universities to major Hollywood Studios to your next door neighbor. In fact, a PowToon is created every second of the day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Tap into the awesomeness...it’s time to create a PowToon.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Week 5 - Swipe.to

mission statement from swipe.to

It's a communication tool that goes beyond the usual one-way experience of presentations. For us, it's more than just about beautiful slides: it's about interacting better with people, getting your ideas across clearly, and never being misunderstood again.

This is a video i found on the swipe to site itself 



PRO -

• Present to anyone, anywhere and on any device 
• interact with the audience
• flexible with the file types 
• No limit on file size
• add videos by just pasting the link

Cons -

• was difficult to find any cons about swipe to, think this was due to new swipe mobile phone!
• no chat features (but talk that they will be coming soon)
• no customizable animations for slides
• no support for skydrive, evernote or google drive.

Here is an easy to follow video about swipe

Welcome to Swipe - easy, simple, interactive presentations - swipe.to from Swipe on Vimeo.

Week 4 - NearPod

Link to NearPod Presentation :-  https://share.nearpod.com/e/4fZaOMh1vB

My initial thought was wow.. this looks amazing and how i wished they had such advanced technology in my days, this would take a little getting use to and also using to its full potential without having the costs of advanced usage, but already with the little look at the tutorial and what is on offer i can imagine this works really really well with students in a classroom environment.

I need to check the interaction availability and how this would work if someone was unable to attend class and weather they would still be able to be part of the class?

This could be useful for sickness or unexpected long term absences,


PRO -

•  lots of interaction with the audience
• reporting of performance (in class)
• ITS FREE :)  

CON -

• time consuming
• only one template to use
• does reduce eye contact with audience
• very dependant of a good internet connection 

Week 3 Prezi

Wow found this a little complicated and couldn't really find my way around it, I liked the layout but like i said found it difficult to operate,

This could be due to the first two weeks being presentations so I was looking to incorporate new slides but this wasn't the case? or i have done it wrong..



PRO -

• online and offline zooming presentation
• flexibility in creating slides
• prezi can go through different directions
• better integrations of multi media

CON -

• wonder if the animations could be distracting to the audience
• limited fonts and colours ( they have no purple :( my fav..)
• time consuming to master (oh I know this..)
• monthly cost to subscribe to all services
• time consuming to export prezi

Week 2 - Google Slides

Personal I enjoyed using google slides and I am not sure why but found it easier to use than power point, I liked the notes that I was able to attach and could defiantly see the benefits of having these if delivering a presentation to other agencies and in case I got stage fright..



I would need to play around a little more and get familiar with the workings of google slides to use it to its full potential.



I like the idea that a group of individuals can all input and work together no matter were in the world they may be,  I am having a little trouble with the embedding but this is not a google slide issue just mine!



After using google slide i think this would be my preference over power point presentation, i can access this were ever i am and can edit etc.. just by logging into my google account, especially when i forget my memory stick as i have today!!



PRO -

• it is already set up with my google site
• it is easy to share with other people if you are working in a group
• simple, easy to understand directions
• it is saved in the cloud, so you can access it from anywhere
• you can easily upload youtube videos

CONS -

• if you don't have internet, you are out of luck
• there isn't as many flashy pictures and pretty slides

Week 1 - Powerpoint

Powerpoint

I find using power point useful and a good practical way to get the point across without going on to much, but there is a risk of the whole 'death by power point' scenario.

Identity Development in Young People - Power Point







developed by Microsoft for the use on windows and also Apple mackintosh, power point originally known as ''presenter'' was created by Thomas Rudkin and Dennis Austin of forethought inc.. in 1987 

PowerPoint provides three types of movements:

1. Entrance, emphasis, and exit of elements on a slide itself are controlled by what PowerPoint calls Custom Animations.
2. Transitions, on the other hand, there are movements between slides. These can be animated in a variety of ways.
3. Custom animation can be used to create small story boards by animating pictures to enter, exit or move.

pros and cons of using power point presentation

Pros 

• keeps the presenter organised 
• presents material in a legible neat fashion
• students can print out slides ahead of time and make notes next to each slide during a lecture

Cons 

• important points and information often reduced to bullet points
• presenter sometimes just reads from the slides and has has little interaction
• the watchers attention is on the slides rather than the presenter 
• little opportunity for intellectual digression as slides are presented in sequance