SwimBike

Ok... So I am working towards a Masters in Education right now and taking a class called Educational Technologies. Now in this class we need to create a powerpoint using all of the bells and whistles (video, pics, sound, transition effects) nothing really hard, more of a pain.

I am trying to think of various topics to do my presentation on, I need to teach something though. I decided to do race tactics for dummies on powerpoint. This is where you come in. Might you have any ideas as to where I can steal (and cite) good pictures or videos?

I was thinking of including...
-basic paceline
-pack formations based on wind
-the purpose of an attack
-and finishing off with some fun finish line sprints

any help you can give would be great! Thanks

SwimBike

ha, just came across this too.... nothing to do with what I need but is a fun video

https://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Treefox

'All the bells and whistles' in PowerPoint should be strictly forbidden under all circumstances.

Like using the HTML <BLINK> tag back in the day.

The important thing about PowerPoint (and its kin) is conveying information in a concise and clear manner. While a cross-fade transition can be classy, typewriter noises and text spiralling on and off the screen detracts from the clarity of a presentation and ultimately distracts an audience from whatever is being presented.

Same thing with gaudy backgrounds with low-contrast text.

(also worth a giggle is when someone tries to insert a frivolous video in their ppt, but the computer in the classroom or conference room is too decrepit to handle it and it crashes... and then you see the dreadful choice of background the guy has on his desktop and you lose all respect for him and whatever it his he's presenting)

And for whatever it may be worth, a dark background with light text tends to be easier on the eyes than the standard black text on white.

SwimBike

Oddly the profs wants a cheesy powerpoint just so she knows we can use all the features. I typically go with a 4x4 rule on power points. no more then 4 bullet points per slide and no more then 4 words per bullet. Keeps it simple. I dont like all the transitions and sounds too....cheesy

urbanknight

It's an education class. Since the OP is probably only doing one powerpoint presentation to satisfy the entire class, the teacher wants to see that s/he can use all the features. It does make a crappy, blingy presentation, but the presentation design isn't being graded. What is being graded is if the student can succesfully make multiple types of transitions, various backgrounds, play sounds and animations on command and automatically, etc. etc. etc.

I've done it before, and the professor doesn't give a hoot about the presentation actually being presentable.

Anyway, that's a hard subject to teach in a classroom, but let's face it: Your professor doesn't care if the class can actually do a paceline after viewing your presentation. The subject lends itself to the "bells and whistles" by allowing you to show video clips sprints, graphics/animations of drafting, maybe sounds of beginning paceline calls (or just music to intro), etc. Keep searching youtube for your topics and you'll find plenty of material.

urbanknight

Ummm, since you're representing the highly educated, I feel it crucial that you know the difference between then and than, of which you should have used the latter in this case.

SwimBike

urbanknight- lets take a glimpse at the american educational system. There are greater problems. Anyways my undergrad was in a fake science so give me a break! (Psych BS- you cant actually prove anything)

slim_77

+1

Try cycling in traffic...there are plenty of illustrations and videos to use.

Given that the audience may not know a dang thing being presented, your grade will fall on the presentation style as well as the ppt bling--or how you conduct yourself. Keep the slides simple (no "rule", just simple) so that your audience can listen to the accompanying lecture and copy notes if needed. Teachers encounter problems when they require the audience to copy and listen to disparate bits of information simultaneously. The bullets and images/music/video should just .illustrate your point, not make it for you.

PPTs don't teach--that is your job (don't forget that!). Just my 8 years of experience on both sides of the desk.

slim_77

...such as the ability to generate clear written thoughts and expressions.

If no one teaches the proper use of words, how can we expect kids to use them. If they can't use them how can they interpret them? Interpreting cause and effect, determining quality and time order are essential educational problems that need correction.

Good luck in the pres...

cmh

Why would the teacher of a graduate level education class care if the student can use bells and whistles of ppt? I think most 7th graders can learn this stuff in 10 minutes.

At any rate, I think race tactics and pacelining stuff is an excellent topic for this grade school assignment.

dmb2786

Will this be posted on BF when you finish? I am interested.