Talk about a lesson in one’s own
topic of research! This week presented me with several hurdles in order to
develop, produce, and deliver a visual presentation of my action research, “Admission
& Acceptance Through Curiosity & Courage”. Typing the paper was easier
than making the movie. My week began with the assigned readings. Much to my chagrin,
I learned one of my favorite programs, PowerPoint,
is now considered passé in the world of presentation programs. I was challenged
to step outside of my comfort zone and use a newer program in order to present
my paper to enquiring minds. As with any assignment, I began with research.
I went to the sites for
SnagIt, Jing, Screencast,
Screencast-O-Matic, Voicethread, Morae, and
Camtasia. It was like the day when eight track and cassette players
were replaced by the Walkman. I haven’t even made the leap to MP3 players! I
felt like a fish out water and my head was swimming from the virtual overload
of the latest tech devices designed to capture the audience’s attention. Quite
honestly, I am not exactly certain if I buy the notion of high-tech equals high
attention span; nonetheless, I pressed on. Paul Harvey would be proud. Most of
the programs provide the ability to control the content and present it in a way
that avoids the pitfalls outlined in Reynolds’ (n.d.) “
Presentation
Zen…” and “
The
Big Four…”. However, when you come from a generation where the overhead
projector was the machine to have for presentations, all of the programs seem
quite ominous. I had initially decided to use
Prezi. Why? My teenage son uses it for his school presentations and
I remember watching him put a presentation together. It looked relatively easy
to navigate; and, if I needed assistance, I could call on him. What’s the
saying? If you need to know how to work any piece of electronics, call a
teenager. As I read about
Prezi, it
was not clear if I could add audio. Since this was a requirement, I wanted to
select a program that would provide both video and audio options. That is why I
chose
Camtasia. I truly believe God
never asks us to do any more than He knows we can handle. This was certainly
tested this week.
Thursday morning was the first day
of operation action research project, the movie. I watched the tutorials,
re-visited the dos and don’ts of presentations, began to learn my way around
the program; and, by early evening, I had completed the first opening segments
of my presentation. I used the rest of the night to go through my paper to
identify the pieces of information I felt were important to present. Thank God
for Google and the many photos
accessible with a few keystrokes. I was able to match verbal concepts with
visuals. In the back of my mind, I tried to remember all of the bad
presentations I had attended. I wanted there to be a sense of entertainment sprinkled
with a bit of knowledge that would hopefully leave the audience asking questions
and willing to go in search of the answers. By late Saturday afternoon, I had
finished and uploaded the link for grading. I thought all was well; but, I
forgot God has a sense of humor.
Sunday morning quickly turned into a
panic zone for me. My instructor could not open my Camtasia project. For more than three hours, I tried all I knew to
upload the project to YouTube, attach
it to The Brain, and zip, and unzip
the file. I cannot tell you how much I was longing for the days of PowerPoint. I was so frustrated, typing
this reflective blog was not even a consideration. Trust me, no one would have
wanted to read the words I was thinking earlier today. Again, thank God for Google, specifically, Google Drive. This new program also
allows me to share the project with Google
Drive in addition to YouTube.
Since the video was too long for YouTube,
I tried Google Drive. The rest, as
they say, is history. My professor was able to access the video, and I passed
the assignment.
So, what is the moral of the story?
Patience is definitely a virtue; and, just a St. Thomas Aquinas explained, it
countered the initial disappointment I felt while pursuing this new path of
curiosity. Likewise, the fatigue I experienced while trying to force this new
notion, PowerPoint is passé, was
alleviated with perseverance, my constant pursuit of uploading the project
stopped me from abandoning the quest, and, finally, the pusillanimity I was
feeling was quelled with generosity from a patient professor. Anxieties aside,
I will commit these lessons to memory and be a bit more receptive to trying to
ways to present information. There are still a few things I need to learn about
Camtasia; but, I can see how it does
make a presentation more personal and unique, which I welcome.
