My orthodontist's name is Dr. Hechler....coincidence? Or is it a conspiracy? :cue Twilight Zone music:
Anyway, I learned a lot about computer hardware from Mr. Hechler. I thought it was nice that he told us that he is always open for business or even just for simple questions. It makes me feel like I can trust him and that he is a genuinely nice person who just wants to be here for the students whenever we need him. Something new I learned was actually just the inside of what a computer system looks like. I had never seen anyone take apart a laptop before, so that was really cool to see how everything is hardwired and sautered together to make a beautiful piece of technology.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Importance of PowerPoint presentations and My Presentation Topic
It seems we have a lot to cover in this blog entry...
I think the articles really helped me in understanding how to make a great PowerPoint. I like how they used some bad examples to help balance out the good sides, some of which were common mistakes that I often used without knowing they were bad.
Five guidlines that I think are important when making an effective PowerPoint presentation for myself and for my classmates:
1) A clean and simple background with easy to read font is greatly appreciated (no wacky or extremely harsh colors for either the background or the font; otherwise, the audience will literally cringe and hesitate to look at the slides)
2) Make the topic simple to understand through use of images/graphs/a little animation if necessary to get the point across
3) A few website links to help furthur develop your discussion on the topic are great helpers, too
4) Don't just read the presentation; memorize it slightly, refer to it as needed to help you as the teacher/boss/employee/whatever get your point across effectively
And finally,
5) Using too many graphics clutters up the screen, something I learned the hard way when I was in middle school and my teacher gave me a bad grade on a computer assignment for having too many cliparts in it
I think for my Presentation Topic, since I am a history major, I want to give a presentation about Leonardo DaVinci or Raphael. They are some of history's most famous painters, and the fact that their works still exist today and are revered as masterpieces simply astounds me. I want to talk about their art and how they were considered "revolutionary" and "brilliant" during their times.
I think the articles really helped me in understanding how to make a great PowerPoint. I like how they used some bad examples to help balance out the good sides, some of which were common mistakes that I often used without knowing they were bad.
Five guidlines that I think are important when making an effective PowerPoint presentation for myself and for my classmates:
1) A clean and simple background with easy to read font is greatly appreciated (no wacky or extremely harsh colors for either the background or the font; otherwise, the audience will literally cringe and hesitate to look at the slides)
2) Make the topic simple to understand through use of images/graphs/a little animation if necessary to get the point across
3) A few website links to help furthur develop your discussion on the topic are great helpers, too
4) Don't just read the presentation; memorize it slightly, refer to it as needed to help you as the teacher/boss/employee/whatever get your point across effectively
And finally,
5) Using too many graphics clutters up the screen, something I learned the hard way when I was in middle school and my teacher gave me a bad grade on a computer assignment for having too many cliparts in it
I think for my Presentation Topic, since I am a history major, I want to give a presentation about Leonardo DaVinci or Raphael. They are some of history's most famous painters, and the fact that their works still exist today and are revered as masterpieces simply astounds me. I want to talk about their art and how they were considered "revolutionary" and "brilliant" during their times.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Mr. Nolan's Presentation and Legal Photo Use
I liked Mr. Nolan's presentation today about the use of search engines and the validity of websites. What suprised me was that I didn't know that even with a .gov/.org/.edu tag at the end of a website link, it does not automatically make the website credible. I guess I have always had good luck in finding credible websites, but now I will definetely be more careful. Something new that I found out was that mass media sites are more likely to be found at the top of a results page from a search engine, rather than the more scholarly websites. That really intrigued me because it simply means that those websites won a "popularity contest" of sorts, and the more studious and "nerdy" websites are found on the lower ranks of the search engine.
In concern with the article, I'm surprised that the father had to go through so many managers and lawyers and other professionals to argue his case against the magazine for rights of a photo of his son. They gave his $4000 as a form of an apology, but not a direct apology itself, which was rather rude of them, I think. Unfortunately, people who work in customer services nowadays are not really friendly, so for him to have to go through all that work without an apology would be upsetting to anyone.
In concern with the article, I'm surprised that the father had to go through so many managers and lawyers and other professionals to argue his case against the magazine for rights of a photo of his son. They gave his $4000 as a form of an apology, but not a direct apology itself, which was rather rude of them, I think. Unfortunately, people who work in customer services nowadays are not really friendly, so for him to have to go through all that work without an apology would be upsetting to anyone.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Power Point Presentations
Power Point Presentations.....say that three times fast!
I think that Power Points, to make them effective, they need to be brief, clean (not a lot of animations), and the instructor needs to study the slides in order to be able to teach class well. My history professor uses Power Point slides every day to show us pictures, brief facts, and important names/dates. It says on one of the links that a lot of "white space" or "negative space" is a good thing, and I completely agree. Even if the slides have a simple but interesting background, a lot of negative space is a good thing to keep the audience's attention on the content of the slide. Also, slides create the mood for the presentation to have its greatest effect. My teacher uses a simple and clean design for the classroom, so as to rely on herself to keep her students' attention.
I think that Power Points, to make them effective, they need to be brief, clean (not a lot of animations), and the instructor needs to study the slides in order to be able to teach class well. My history professor uses Power Point slides every day to show us pictures, brief facts, and important names/dates. It says on one of the links that a lot of "white space" or "negative space" is a good thing, and I completely agree. Even if the slides have a simple but interesting background, a lot of negative space is a good thing to keep the audience's attention on the content of the slide. Also, slides create the mood for the presentation to have its greatest effect. My teacher uses a simple and clean design for the classroom, so as to rely on herself to keep her students' attention.
Monday, January 28, 2008
My Thoughts For The Day
I've used Word 2003 before, but I recently downloaded Microsoft Office 2007 (rented from the library) onto my laptop. I'm still trying to get used to it, and today's class really helped in learning where stuff is on it, since I was used to 2003. I think I just need to use it more and to practice different things with it, but I don't have anything specific that I really need to know how to do on it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Computer Experience and Learning
The only computer experience I've ever really had has to do with home computers and school computers. I've never actually had to format anything or create shortcuts like we are doing in this class. I have a wide screen Gateway laptop with Windows Vista as my main program. I also have Microsoft Office 2007 that I rented from the library. I can connect to all of the folders, like the Y-drive, the class folder, and the groups folder. I mainly use my laptop for my school work, although occasionally I've had to go to the library to be able to post homework on Blackboard. My laptop does not have the software necessary for me to work with posting on Blackboard, but I do not have a class anymore that requires me to.
I think as for what I would like to learn, I would like to be able to be more knowledgeable about my computer, especially in finding ways around problems and potentially fixing them. I've already learned a lot in this class alone, like how to create my name at the bottom of my first post but actually have it send to my email address. That is a neat effect in and of itself, I think.
I'm going to try my email thing again:
Alex Caspers
You know what they say: practice makes perfect!
I think the one question I have about my computer is how do I set it up so that I can post on Blackboard in case I have a future class that makes it a weekly requirement?
I think as for what I would like to learn, I would like to be able to be more knowledgeable about my computer, especially in finding ways around problems and potentially fixing them. I've already learned a lot in this class alone, like how to create my name at the bottom of my first post but actually have it send to my email address. That is a neat effect in and of itself, I think.
I'm going to try my email thing again:
Alex Caspers
You know what they say: practice makes perfect!
I think the one question I have about my computer is how do I set it up so that I can post on Blackboard in case I have a future class that makes it a weekly requirement?
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