Powerpoint and Web Readability

I spent a little time walking through the sites I go to most often, and I started to notice some elements that make a site easier to read than others. The elements I found most useful included: *Color schemes that weren't distracting (too loud or busy) *Sites that had SOME color--not just black and white *Tabs and menus that remain the same throughout browsing *Information set up with headings, bullets, etc (not just chunks of text) *Tone of voice appropriate to the site and its audience After reflecting on these sites and their design elements, I returned to the two sites that I manage and changed some of the layouts! I think both of my sites are much better having thought through these issues.


Powerpoint thoughts: I have used Powerpoint or some kind of presentation software for a very long time. I used it in my teaching as well, but I tried to avoid the death-by-powerpoint approach. To be honest, I still had plenty of slides that were very dry, too big, too many bullet points, and too much one sided information. Over time, I worked on including more stopping points and handouts that had gaps for students to complete. When our school got Activ boards (interactive whiteboards), I used their presentation software everyday. Built in their software is an interactive quizzing program. You are able to embed questions into the presentation and have students respond with remote 'clickers.' You are able to ask them to respond with T/F, ABCD, Rank, type a response, and Use numbers. Our interactive presentations improved a GREAT DEAL after we had that program. Now that I no longer teach there, I will need to continually focus on what PP has to offer and how to keep things interesting. Along this journey, I found the "Prezi" program listed on our class Ning. I LOVE this program! For me, it makes a lot of sense for teaching that concepts are connected and interrelated. It was a lot of fun to make the presentation that I made. I focused on the word "therm"--teaching a word part is the idea of the presentation. I will use this program when I get my own classroom again one day and will include it on my final project website. I wanted to really get a feel for it, so I signed up for a 1 year membership.