Advice

My advice to new students taking this course is to complete all homework. Although Dr. Belisle does a great job in explaining step by step what was completed in class, you should not miss class because the practice you get is essential for that night's homework. When photoshop comes around, my advice to you is to download the free trial that Dr. Belisle suggests. I did not do that and I had to come to the lab every time we had homework. The computers at the library or Murchison don't have photoshop installed. The computers on the first floor of the library have photoshop but an older version; so I definitely recommend that.
Have fun!

Websites

Three of my favorite websites were those of Ryan Beall, Natalie Toto, and Ali Kimura.

Ryan's website is very interesting because the monopoly board background is very catchy. His idea of creating a website where you can play games was very creative and unexpected. He ahad a wide selection of games. He also did a good job on his main page, choosing a picture that made you want to actually browse the website.

Natalie's was very unique. It was apparent that she spent a decent amount of time on this website. There is so much information that is well organized. My favorite part was the image map at the top of every page. The pictures used for that were well chosen. I also liked that she linked videos, names, and pictures to different websites.

Ali's website was very well organized. It's style and design was impeccable as the pictures were all organized as well as complimented with the background colors. The black and white image map at the top of the page is a very effective way of design, especially as she compliments with faded pictures in other pages of her website. My favorite part was the briefcase with the stickers that link to other websites. How creative!

You can look at my website by going to : http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~mtrevin2

My Two Favorite Presentations today

One of my favorite presentations today was Stephanie Hill's. This presentation was very personalized. Not only did Stephanie relate it to her experience as she traveled to Washington D.C. and encountered multiple homeless people. These people clearly made an impact on her and her other travel companions. Her presentation touched me and the pictures were outstanding, especially the city view on the Title slide. The stories she was telling drew the audience's attention because of her interesting storytelling. 

Morgan Latin's presentation was also very interesting. Her graphics were great, especially the first picture. She was very passionate about her topic. I loved how she introduced her presentation by relating it to her personal life. That makes the presentation much more effective. The issue she chose was well explained. 

Presentations

Two very effective presentations were that of Lachlan Fogarty's and Nick Alexander's. 

Lachlan's presentation, "Beach Conservation and Surfing" had a couple of slides with vivid photographs of beautiful beaches that he knew a lot about. With few or no words on each slide, he explained the importance of each and their pertinence to his presentation. The use of his examples were very effective and interesting. The vivid pictures helped the audience pay close attention to him as a speaker as well as kept us awake and looking at the slides. 

Nick Alexander's presentation on Coca Cola's advertising also had very good graphics. The use of his background (Coca Cola image)  throughout the presentation was a good way to decorate each slide. His presentation was interesting, especially the way he narrowed the subject down to the "secret formula". The Youtube video was a good way to catch the audience's attention, demonstrate the effective advertising, and explain further his career path. 

         

Power Point

The articles gave me further insight on Power Point. All tips that are given should be easy to follow and are definitely useful guidelines for when creating a powerpoint presentation.
Five guidelines that I believe are pertinent to powerpoints are:
1.Keeping it simple.
The more pictures and text you fill the space with, the more distraction and less powerful the slide is.
2. Keep it simple with the transitions.
I find it annoying when every slide has different transitions (swipe, fly in, checkerboard). It is even more annoying when the transitions are slow. This bores the audience.
3. Use photographs instead of clipart.
Using photographs helps the audience relate the message to themselves more. It also increases interest. If the text is more important than the picture... make it opaque, blur, or fade the image.
4. Always use slides that reinforce what you are saying.
Do not create slides that contain every piece of information. It annoys me when speakers do this because it switches my complete attention to the powerpoint instead of focusing on the presentor.
5. Use font, color, and pictures (visuals) to trigger emotion.
The audience needs to be able to engage with the presentation and be able to relate to it. Choose carefully.

These five tips are only a piece of advice that leads to a powerful powerpoint presentation. However, these articles reveal much more. By taking every tip into consideration, I will make my powerpoint presentation the best it can be.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office's Excel offers a spreadsheet that allows users to organize data properly. Before this class, I knew the basics: how to type in data into each slot. However, this is merely nothing compared to what I have learned. These spreadsheets give us the opportunity to calculate with different formulas that I have learned to use. It is the most useful program that I have yet encountered so far. I feel like having had this experience with Excel, I will be able to use it with future business interactions, with school work, or even in my personal life. Whether making lists, keeping track of grades, or balances on your accounts, Excel facilitates life. I had no knowledge of how to sort, calculate or perform different functions that exist. Ms. Belisle has taught me well!

CLT

I had never been at CLT. To me, it was just the bottom floor of the library. I learned, however, that the most up to date technology you will ever need exists at this lab. Not only is technology offered; help is always offered as well. Photoshopping projects or presentations that require different software will be good assignments to take advantage of the technology offored at CLT. Not only do school assignments have priority over these software; hobbies such as photography, video making, music, and art can be developed and improved.