Technology Formats

The last couple weeks have been quite a learning experience for various technological teaching methods. When we first started the lesson, I was very excited to begin exploring new teaching methods. I became engrossed with the examples. After watching a tutorial or exemplar for each technology offered, I was excited to take each one for a test drive. I began opening up each link, skimming over the sites, seeing what each had to offer. However, sometimes, once I started looking deeper, confusion might hit. The sites were not what I had envisioning as teaching formats. In my opinion, online teaching formats were ways to present lectures and slide shows. The first site I opened had nothing to do with a presentation format. The first site was for creative, short teaching moments. The site was called Infographics & Data Visualization by Visual.ly. The site assists people in creating fun and aesthetically pleasing posters to present information. I was very impressed by what I saw. These were some of the most creative, yet professional looking posters I had ever seen.  The biggest disappointment for me was the cost to be able to use the tools.

                Cost amongst most of the websites was one of my biggest disappointments. For many of the formats, I would have liked a free trial. This would have allowed me to become familiar with the program and determine whether it was an investment I was willing to make. Instead, anything with a cost associated and no free trial was immediately dismissed. Technology can be fairly expensive. As an educator, determining what presentations styles are entertaining, user friendly, and cost effective can be difficult.

                The one presentation I found that fit these three criteria was the Screencast-O-Matic. This was the technology I chose to use for my first presentation. At first, I was trying to complete the presentation using only the free trial. However, after further investigation, I found the subscription was affordable, considering how many more editing options were included. I enjoyed working with this format. However, I quickly concluded a simple PowerPoint may be just as effective at times. If the teaching material being presented is a “how-to” type of presentation, this format is perfect because of the ability to utilize video, audio, draw, and real-time screens.