Video and Tele-Conferencing for Under $100

If you would like to download the presentation used at the Ed Tech Conference in Myrtle Beach on October 14, 2009, please click on the links below.

Video Conference Handout

SMART Notebook Presentation File

Four tips for a killer PowerPoint presentation

Have you ever been tempted to chew off a paw to escape a mind-numbing slide show? Bad design and flawed delivery may have been to blame. BNET’s Dave Johnson offers a few simple suggestions to help presenters avoid some of the worst pitfalls.

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I hate PowerPoint presentations. Let me clarify; I don’t hate PowerPoint. I actually like the program quite a bit. But most of the PowerPoint presentations I am forced to sit through seem to combine all the world’s worst presentation habits into one unbearable hour of pain, sadness, and cheesy fonts. Here are four things I’ve learned from years of delivering PowerPoint presentations.

Note: This article is based on an entry in BNET’s Business Hacks blog.

1: Choose a simple PowerPoint template and apply it consistently across your deck

Honestly, I’m not even sure how people manage to do this, but I routinely see presentations with a ransom note assortment of fonts, sizes, and styles on each slide. PowerPoint goes out of its way to make it easy to apply a consistent style; take advantage of it. In PowerPoint 2007, for example, click the Design tab and choose one of the themes. And keep it simple; make sure the text is readable against the background and that there isn’t a busy design competing with the text. Remember what Halle Berry told me once in a dream: Just because a theme exists, doesn’t mean you should use it.

2: Less is more

Don’t feel the need to pour your entire speech into your slides. As a rule of thumb, each slide should list three to five main points in bullet form. You’re in the room to expand on those nuggets verbally. The slides are there to enhance your overall presentation, not to replace you. If it takes more than a few seconds to process the text on any given slide, it’s too much: Your audience will spend its time reading instead of paying attention to you, and probably end up doing both of those things somewhat poorly.

3: Test your links

If you embed video or links to content on the Internet or a network share, for the love of Woden test it before you walk into a conference room and try presenting it to a dozen people. I can’t tell you how frequently I encounter folks who don’t know how to launch an external link from within their deck or who have linked to an obsolete version of the document they wanted to show. Do you homework.

4: Test your projection

Along the lines of testing the innards of your presentation, be sure you know how your laptop connects to the projector. As a rule of thumb, make sure the laptop is fully booted and then connect the VGA cable. If you’re on Vista, you should then choose Win+X to open the Windows Mobility Center and click Connect Display. (If you’re testing Windows 7, it’s even easier: Press Win+P to open the projection settings directly.)

Finally, if you’re sharing your deck with attendees, be sure to check out my recent tips on keeping your PowerPoint deck small enough for e-mail.

Free Clip Art Site

Well, we've come to another round of webpages and it's time for a new system. This year, and for the next 5 years, thanks to a contract, we will be using SchoolFusion.

At first, I was bummed because I didn't want to create a new page. I was doing just fine with the old system, right? I finally had it down to a science and could update quickly.

Well, when you see this new system, you will be happy for the change. Just take is slow. Work with the basic text and graphics in the beginning, and then let it tempt you into pod casts and blogs.

To help you out, I thought you might appreciate this site for free clip art for non-profits. Of course, you've had it available to you but probably didn't know about it. For those who did, good for you, and shame on your for not telling the rest of us!~:)

It's Pete's PowerPoint Station. Here is the address to take you straight to the clip art page:
http://www.pppst.com/clipart.html They are all in the same style, so your website will have a uniform look about it.

Here are some examples:

Teacher Perks

Well, as a teacher of 21 years, I know that Teacher Perks sounds like an oxymoron, but it's not, and I'm not talking about the philanthropic rewards.

Most of the office supply stores offer some sort of teacher reward in the form of money to spend in their store when the teacher spends a certain amount of money.

Well, there must be more competition than usual, because Office Max just improved theirs. In the past, a teacher had 3 months in which to spend $75 to begin getting a kick back. If you spent $45 in the first quarter, at the beginning of the second quarter, you started over at $0.

Well, starting July 1, the amounts will carry over, so you will not lose what you accumulated at the end of each quarter! That's good news. It is good enough to keep me spending at Office Max.

Staples has a similar system, but you must reach $100 to get any reward. Perhaps someone should tell Staples that Office Max has a better system to get them on the same page.

If you do not yet have a rewards card for Staples, Office Max, and Office Depot, make sure you sign up for one the next time you are there. It is worth it even if it only gets you $10 worth of rebates. That could buy 2 reams of paper or copies that your school might not allot you because of the budget crunch.

Online Productivity Software

I got this from one of my newsletters and thought some would apply very nicely in education!
My new favorite is #1 Bubbl.us! Check it out! It's Inspiration for adults!

1. Bubbl.us: A brainstorming tool that lets you put your ideas into bubbles and save your mindmap as an image.
2. Relenta: A tool that helps you manage your contacts, emails, documents, and other activities.
3. Slideshare: A tool that allows you to create and share slide shows online.
4. Toodledo: A Web based to-do-list to help you organize.
5. Mint: A very simple and easy to use finance tool for personal use and for managing your freelance finances.
6. eFax: Although you might think Fax is outdated, we are pretty sure most of your clients still use it, especially the corporate ones. Use this site to make your life easier when it comes to faxes.
7. Webnote: This tool allows you to quickly take notes using a Web browser. You can save the notes using any computer and visit the site later to retrieve notes. It’s useful when using public computers.
8. Box: Share files online with your clients and friends using this simple tool.
9. ReadBag: A bookmarking service that lets you save links that you can read later in your browser, email, phone, and even in an offline mode.
10. Stock.xchng: Free stock photography for your blog, site, or any other use that you might have for images.
11. YouSendIt: This tool allows you to send files and folder that are up to 2 GB without clogging your or your client’s inbox.
12. Wordfast: A translation tool that is compatible with any language supported by Word.
13. FaxZero: Lets you send free faxes to the United States and Canada.
14. Copyright: Find everything you need to know about US copyright.
15. RSS 2 PDF: Turn your RSS feeds into PDFs and read them even when you are offline.
16. CentralDesktop: Helps freelancers collaborate, communicate, and share files with clients and coworkers.
17. InstaCalc: A Web based calculator that includes spreadsheet capabilities, unit conversions, and programming commands.
18. Blinksale: Lets you send invoices online, recurring templates, and keep track of your invoices and purchases.
19. Skim: Helps you take notes directly on a PDF file as you read.
20. Icebrrg: Lets you easily build online embeddable forms.
21. ConceptShare: Allows you to invite clients to take a look at your design work and get real-time feedback while you work on the project.
22. GoToMeeting: Set up online meetings with clients and colleagues using this popular meeting tool
23. Wufoo: Another tool to help you build forms.
24. Escrow: Use this service to protect yourself and clients when the stakes are high.
25. XE: Most freelancers work with international clients, and a currency converter is a must to determine the payment. This tool takes care of giving you up-to-date information on currency rates.
26. ProjectStat.us: This tool allows your clients to view the status of a project using a token.
27. Creative Commons: This site provides free tools that lets freelancers easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry.
28. ProofHQ: Lets you annotate a variety of document types - PDFs, PSDs, JPGs, Word, PowerPoint - and Webpages.
29. Proposal Kit: An online tool that helps freelancers with proposal and contract management.
30. SlimTimer: An online timer that helps you track time spent on a particular project and bill your clients accordingly.
31. Spot Runner: Use this Website if you are planning to build a TV advertising campaign.
32. Monkey On Your Back: Allows you to create a to-do-list that you want other people to do.