The Power of Powerpoints

Powerpoint presentations have become a highly popular form of teaching these days and for many reasons. The presenter can display things such as information, as well as pictures and graphs and other data all with the click of the mouse. They are easy to make and provide a much better presentation as compared to just reading off from a sheet of paper or writing on the board. However, when making a powerpoint, there are some useful tips one must remember. First of all, less is more. You dont want cluttered slides, so plan on simple notes and oral present the rest of the information. Next is to make sure that you use colors that are easy for the reader to follow and do not blend in with the background. Also, it is wise to insert pictures to help grab the readers attention, just be careful to not insert too many pictures. Sound is also a great addition to any powerpoint. Finally it is crucial that the powerpoint have some flare to it in terms of background and slide effects. This helps set it over the top and makes the audience of the presentation enjoy it more. If you remember these simple things, you can make an over top powerpoint presentation with ease.

Spread Sheets

To be honest, when i came into Trinity this year, and enrolled in Belisle's computer skills class, i really had no idea how to make and use spread sheets on excell effectively. However it didn't take me very long at all to figure out the basics, and then learn almost everything a person needs to know to use spread sheets. I'm confident in saying now that i probably know how to use excell better than any other microsoft office program. I feel that thanks to learning about excell in class, it will carry me farther in the workplace when I am out of college. Also i know now how to do things like keep a simple budget for myself. In conclusion I feel much better about using excell than I did maybe two months ago.

Photo Editing

I chose the image that was found on the cover of Texas Monthly Reporter to discuss image editing with. This image displays Ann Richards sitting on top of a massive motorcycle, something you wouldn't expect her to be doing at all. The image was created by splicing her head onto the body of a madel siting on a motorcycle. This was done to make Richards more appealing to the human eye. Richards was not mad about the picture and stated that it in fact made her look better by placing her head on the body of a model. So I guess you can say that not all image editing is a bad thing.

Students @ CLT

To be quite honest with you, i personally had no idea there was two floors below me everytime i stepped foot into the library of Trinity. I knew there was one floor below me, but had no idea about this firts floor. And let me tell you, it is a floor that everyone on campus should take the time to visit at least once in his/her tenure at Trinity. The first floor of the library is known as the AT&T Center for Learning and Technology, and it is filled with some of the most innovative and recent technology one can but into a library. this is all thanks to the somewhere around 5 million dollars that AT&T has donated to Trinity. If a student has any type of asssignment dealing with media or some sort od presentation, this would be the place to go. Personally, I can see myself using the AT&T Center for tasks such as converting VHS tapes to DVD or even editing movies i may have composed for a class project. Perhaps I will also use this center for presentations of a project or viewing of a film of some sort. Whatever the situation may be, if it involves media and technology, the first floor of the library is where i am going to go from now on.

Copyright

Computer skills class was different on tuesday in the way that we recieved a lecture from Diane Graves, the University Librarian. the lecture was over copyright laws and the common misconceptions about it. I found the lecture to be highly informative myself, and learned quite a bit of information that i did not previously know. One thing that stood out most to me is the punishment for downloading music off of a program such as limewire. i'll admit that i used this program before college many of times, but when i came to Trinity and learned of all of the people who got caught and the harsh fines they recieved, i was quick to uninstall it. upwards of around $12000 in fines and fees is not worth some free music to me. I can understand why the RIAA is pursuing these violaters and that it is illegal to download in this way, but I still just feel that the penalties are way to harsh. Thanks to Diane and the lecture she gave us, i know now that i will not perform any acts that can violate copyright laws.