5130: Peer Reveiw and Presentation Prowess

Well, I just turned in my Presentation Prowess project. Had a little scare when I tried to open the design script and Word kept saying there was an error and shutting down. But I managed to get the issue resolved fairly quickly (no idea what was wrong, it just finally worked). I also turned in the actual project as a PowerPoint because when I uploaded it to SlideShare, some of the transitions did not work the same. I still uploaded it to SlideShare for the experience, and here is the link: http://www.slideshare.net/cmlynch/presentation-prowess-presentation

In the past I have not been the biggest fan of peer reviews. Maybe it is because the experiences I have had with them have not been that useful or great. But with this assignment, and even the Instructional Message, I have taken away a lot more from the peer reviews. Doing them for other classmates helps me get a better grasp on the assignment and an eye for looking at how they could do things different, as well as examples of techniques I can use in my own work. And having the reviews from my classmates has also been extremely helpful. These big projects take so much time and effort that it is easy to get stuck or not be able to "see the forest from the trees." You can get sucked into working on one aspect so much that another is completely invisible, even though to others it may be quite obvious. I read some of the other reviews and am impressed with how professional and courteous everyone has been with each other. They are polite but still point out the flaws and what might be done better. So overall this has been a very helpful, positive experience.

As for the project itself, I decided to go with PowerPoint because I use it often when I teach. In the readings we have done this semester, I feel like there has been so much to learn about how to use the program effectively that I wanted to improve my skills and really work at it. I did things like use much bigger font and less text, more compelling images, relevant transitions and motions, contrast, using only one consistent font, etc. Because we had a design script to write, it was easier for me to keep track of ideas along the way and while I was reading. I kept a log of ideas from the text that I could use and reference later, and it feels great to have actual, logical reasons to back up the work that I have done.

I know in one of the last posts I was very frustrated and having a hard time with the concept of the assignment, but I think it ended up working out well. I took the idea of Americans having extra (food, water, and medicine) and expanded on the idea of giving to the poor by sharing that we could not waste this extra and there would be more for others. I was surprised to learn that 12% of food that Americans buy is wasted. That means 3 out of every 25 shopping trips are for nothing. If someone went shopping every week of the year, 6 of those weeks would be wasted. Imagine if we would be more cautious about what we bought and could instead either send the money or food to other countries to prevent people from dying! I did not want the message to be too cliche, and I think it might have been a little bit, but I hope that I did take it in a little different direction than the norm.