Animating in PowerPoint: Using "Emphasis" in your Presentations

Joseph Carroll, English, DWC

Posterboard	Presentation

Posterboard Slideshow

We’ve all seen the old trick of covering up most of a plastic overhead with a piece of paper, then pulling the paper down one bullet at a time so our students’ attention could be riveted on what we the instructor are talking about – presumably the topic of that bullet. But did you know you can do the same trick with PowerPoint? Not only can you show one bullet at a time, you can "time" other objects – graphics, for example -- so they appear only at a certain time, or appear only in a certain fashion. For that matter, you can make your bullets fly across the screen, resting on key information. 

Need to draw your student’s attention to a portion of the slide? You can add pointers, arrows, or callouts to point out important aspects of the slide, or draw a circle or rectangle around that important fact. Like the bullets, these can be timed and animated. Finished talking about that topic? Make the text or graphic reference disappear, accentuating other parts of your presentation. Samples will be shown that demonstrate how this is done. Get emphatic!

Angel Course: Investigating the Effects of the Tsunami

Ann Norton, Art/Art History
C.B. Wood, Biology

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The South and Southeast Asian Countries devastated by the tragic 'tsunami' of December 26, 2004 is the main theme of this course.  The culture -- including the arts, religion and traditions of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and the Maldives -- is studied.  Both the culture and science of the areas affected by the 'tsunami' are addressed.  A more comprehensive study of the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction can be followed, both through the Internet and through reports by specialists.  A class website project and a series of team PowerPoints is part of the course’s outcome.

Using Video Audio and Graphics to Supplement Language Instruction

Katheryn Besnier, Modern Languages

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I introduce and use technology in all of my foreign language classes.  Technologies such as PowerPoint and Photo Story presentations with audio, music, video clips, interviews, and web links add to the visual stimulation and presentation quality of the material, and enhance my students’ knowledge of both the culture and the language.  I also use Premier Elements to edit video segments that have been acquired from different sources, including foreign cable TV.  I also film my students performing job interviews, role playing, and ten-minute skits involving verbal performance and stage presence.  An additional goal is to save time in the classroom while spending more time on some cultural aspects and differences.

Incorporating Mathematica into Mathematics Courses

Liam Donohoe
C. Joanna Su
Wataru Ishizuka Mathematics/Computer Science

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The purpose of this project was to investigate a variety of approaches to the use of the powerful symbolic computational package Mathematica in the classroom. The project participants sought to use Mathematica in a manner which would enhance understanding on the part of students without making understanding dependent upon it. Mathematica as employed across a wide range of classes (eight in all) affording the participants the opportunity to gain considerable insight into how it might be successfully integrated into future courses.

Using GIS Technology in Biology Courses

Patrick Ewanchuk
Adam Lambert
Michael Zavada, Biology

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Our primary objective was to integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology into environmental, ecological and organismal biology courses.  GIS is a collection of computer and software tools used to enter, edit, store, manipulate, and display geographically referenced data.  GIS technology is now at the forefront of environmental research.  We are using this technology to train students in both the classroom and research labs.  In the classroom, GIS software can be used interactively to enhance course concepts and demonstrate applications to real environmental issues and research.  With a site license, this software is now installed in the computer labs, where students can work on assignments and independent projects.  Ultimately, this technology will give students and faculty the ability to present course work and research in a high-tech fashion.  It will also make students more competitive for graduate school positions and in the job market.

Learning Online:  New Online Training Provided by the ITDP

Michael J. Fimian
Instructional Technology
Design Specialist

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Over the last year there’s been a revolution in the way training materials can be developed and distributed.  Increasingly, they’re video-based and prepped for online delivery.  Delivering portrayals of software steps needed by faculty on a “just in time” basis provides the learner with a rich source of training materials that meet their needs at that moment, right on time.  On the ITDP site (http://itdp.providence.edu/) we now have links to a variety of materials produced to get you up and running. 

Want to learn more about PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Project FrontPage, or Access?  One of the newest offerings is MELL, or the Microsoft eLearning Library, an extensive number of “how to” videos and textbooks online for Microsoft Office (click on Faculty Training & Support | MELL @ PC for the entire list)! 

Want to learn more about Camtasia, PowerPoint, Photoshop Elements, Photo Story, Premiere or Angel?  Check out our home-grown video-based tutorials on any of these applications:  click on Faculty Training & Support | ITDP Training Online | Video-based Tutorials and choose a topic.  Over 150 videos address a wide variety of skills. 

Wanted to make it to one of the ITDP workshops, but was unable to do so?  Click on Faculty Training & Support | ITDP Workshops Online | PowerPoint-based Tutorials to choose a review of over a dozen workshop topics. 

And, if you’d like to try out our new training format, choose any of the “New” topics from this list:  Using PhotoStory, What is the ITDP?, Intro to Graphics Editing,  Creating Panoramas with Photoshop Elements, Using SmartBoards at PC, Using Ad-Aware to Keep your Computer Clean, and Using SnagIT to Capture Screen Graphics.

Need help with PowerPoint? Check out our PowerPoint Resources page!

Mentoring the Use of Assistive Technology in the Pre-service Classroom

Laura Hauerwas
Deborah Goessling
Elementary/Special Education

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A technology-savvy professor and a technologically-phobic professor collaborated on a mentor/mentee Davis grant to develop instructional technology skills of the professors.   Key components of the successful mentoring relationship will be shared.  Literature and instructional practice in Rhode Island related to current practice in assistive technology for students with disabilities were reviewed.   Course assignments, prompts, and rubrics using assistive technology were embedded into two diverse special education courses for elementary/special education pre-service teachers. Products developed will be shared.  Technology used included: Board Maker, Kidspiration-Inspiration, Co-Writer, Write Outloud, MS Word and Writing with Symbols.

Dollars & $ense: Using the Internet to Solve the Mysteries of Personal Financial Planning

Paul Maloney, Finance

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In conjunction with ANGEL and PowerPoint, students in the Personal Financial Planning course learn to use Internet resources that can be incorporated in the personal financial planning process.  Addressing financial questions that confront students (and their professors!), this poster presentation provides Internet-based insight and guidance to issues such as managing your debt, charitable giving, personal income taxes, insurance and investment strategies.

Academic and Assistive Technology Support Software to Promote Student Learning

Bryan Marinelli
Academic Services

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The Office of Academic Services (O.A.S.) will demonstrate various academic and assistive technologies designed to foster student success and self-awareness.  Some of these technologies include: 

• Dragon Dictate Naturally Speaking 8: A flexible, discrete recognition system that allows the user to create, edit, format, and move text by way of voice commands in virtually any Windows application; 
• ZoomText 8.1: A powerful screen magnification and screen reading software intended for low vision or visually impaired individuals; 
• E-Text Reader: Free, downloadable software that reads aloud electronic text from the computer or from Electronic Textbooks; 
• Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI): An 80-question inventory that provides an instantaneous assessment of students’ academic strengths and weaknesses.

Using Technology in Science and Mathematics Instruction

Peter Morgan
Elementary/Special Education

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For this project, science curricula was developed in two methods courses -- Teaching Science and Mathematics in the Elementary Classroom, and Science in the Secondary Classroom -- using computer-interfaced data collection probes and data analysis software. Pre-service teachers in these classes explored the use of technology in the instruction of science and mathematics, and implemented a series of lessons in school-based settings that would pilot the effectiveness of the curricula. Further honing of the curricula will take place in subsequent semesters.

Increase the Power, Emphasize a Point using PowerPoint

Margaret Ruggieri
Accountancy

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Want to improve the instructional impact of your PowerPoint lectures?   This poster session will demonstrate two techniques of enhancing PowerPoint lectures that can have a positive impact on student learning; custom animation and the narration of slides.  Use of the custom animation feature of PowerPoint helps in sequencing the flow of slide information for increased student comprehension.  This easy-to-use feature helps in emphasizing a point and can make your lecture come alive!  The second technique that will be featured is the use of narrated PowerPoint slides.  Narrating your PowerPoint lectures and posting them to Angel can free up class time for more discussion and allows for student access and review 24/7.  Learn how Camtasia makes the job of recording and editing simple.  The narrated slides are also a great aid to the instructor for subsequent course preparation.

Collaborative Multimedia Group Projects

Giacomo Striuli
Nuria Alonso-Garcia
Kate Serio, Modern Languages

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Our primary objective is to use software such as Photo Story, Camtasia, and PowerPoint to develop materials and presentations that focus in our respective areas (Italian and Spanish), and that will serve as models of possible pedagogical applications of technology in language studies.  Central to our collaborative project is the desire to adhere to the collective endeavor that defines college teaching, especially as stated in the mission of our Department.

Giacomo worked on a variety of projects using both Camtasia and Photo Story for his Distance Learning Class, Modern Italy (SCE, summer ‘05) as well as other language and culture courses for the Fall.  Meanwhile, Nuria and Kate tested Photo Story for developing a presentation on Globalization. This provided us with the opportunity to understand the great potential of these tools for educational purposes. During the course of the Fall 2005 semester, students from different Spanish and Italian courses will be using Photo Story in course assignments that will allow us to accurately assess the pedagogical value of this software.

Teaching is a collaborative and collective effort; we hope that our project may be useful as a point of departure for other investigations of the use of media technologies in both teaching and learning.  Ultimately, we want to provide students with better resources for their intellectual growth, and hope that more students will become curious and excited about other cultures and languages.