June 20

Congratulations to everyone on a job well done! Everyone should have a digital artifact of their final presentation and performed a live presentation on June 13. 

If you did not do a presentation OR if you want to do it again and get some peer feedback - please come to class at 11a.m. on Friday June 20. This is not mandatory.

At the very least we will wish each other a great summer.

Cheers!
Greg

Week 12: May 23

For this class I checked your informal draft (1st draft) script for the final presentation. For most people I asked that you come up with a clear take away. 

What is a 'take away'?
Do you remember, "Tell a story, make a point"? The 'take away' is the 'point' of the story. You should be able to summarize the key take away message in a short memorable phrase so that your audience will remember it and repeat it. You need to give them a good reason to listen and you must try to give them something worthwhile to take away from listening to you. When you have identified the 'take away' then you can write your formal draft script, keeping in mind who your audience is. 

Make sure that everything builds toward the 'take away'.

I asked everyone to develop a clear understanding of their 'take away'. I also asked them to think about and identify their audience. Know who your audience is so you can speak to them in a way they will understand. For example, you would speak to a child differently from the way you speak to an adult. Also, you would speak to your friends differently than you would speak to your professors. Know the audience you want to speak to!

For May 30 ...

For our next class (May 30), you must come to class with a complete script. Your script must be complete, detailed, and typed double spaced. It should be very clear who your audience is and what your take away message is. 

• As I suggested to some students on May 23, it might be a good idea to make a practice VT that I can look at and offer suggestions on how to improve. 
• In this class we will be editing this script (and your practice VT if you have one). This is your last chance for any input from me or your class mates. 
• Your final VT presentation must be posted by midnight June 06. I will not accept late submissions. 
• Remember, that your live presentation will (probably) have more of a script that the VT presentation.
• Live final presentations are on June 13 & 20. 
• You must hand in a typed final script for the live presentation at 11am on June 13.

CLASSROOM CHANGE May 23

Hello everyone. 
Our classroom is being used for a university sponsored presentation so we have been bumped into Study room C. It's over on the other side of the GZ near the round computer tables.

TED Talk: Kevin Briggs, "The bridge between suicide and life"

Click Week 11; May 16 on the right side of this blog for information and directions on what you must do before class on May 23.


Today, I just wanted to share something with you...

I saw this Tedtalk and thought that not only is it an important message to get out to people, but also, it's a good example of some of the visual and oral skills we talked about in class on May 16. 

Can you identify which skills Kevin Briggs uses to get his message across? Leave your thoughts in a comment below.

Week 11; May 16

The goal for today's class (May 16) was for each student to create their own voice thread, and review visual and oral presentation skills. Finally, I wanted to nail down a topic for final presentations.

We managed to make a VT and share it with others. NOTE: As LK demonstrated, to share a VT you will need to click 'Invite your friends', then click on the group 'Spring 2014 MCE'. From the group list you can choose the people you wish to share your VT with. Include me when sharing.

NOTE to GROUP 3;
You MUST include me in sharing your VT - otherwise I have no evidence that you participated in the class activity.

We then explored visual aspects of presenting. These included; body language, facial expression, ppt (Lessig Method & Takahashi Method), movement, and lighting (Thx, Silver!)

Ss should consider collaboration as an approach to creating their presentations and to making them the best they can be. Few people in the real world work completely on their own – they usually employ a variety of people who might bring specialized skills needed to complete a project. 

For your final presentation, you may work together to create a presentation HOWEVER each student must create their own presentation.  If you have questions, please ask!

For the final hour of the class, we explored oral aspects of presenting. These included clear pronunciation, cadence and rhythm (thought groups), music, silence and pauses.

Unfortunately, we did not get to any kind of a discussion of what your final topics will be.

 So this week BEFORE class on May 23, you must:

• Leave a comment below telling us about your idea for a final presentation topic.
• Write a first draft of your final presentation and bring it to class. 
• On May 23 we will be editing scripts, and brainstorming how to make your words into a GREAT presentation using different visual and oral effects.

In conclusion I want to share a youtube clip of a very effective pause from the Rocky Horror Show.

Now, leave your presentation ideas ........... below.

Week 10: May 09 (Online Class)

Welcome to your first online class!

We must have 15 weeks of classes each term, however, we miss two Fridays this term so I have made May 9 and June 6 into online classes. 


Voice Thread (VT)
This link is to a new VT I have created that asks you to comment on the midterm presentations you did on May 2. Your comment on this VT will be your attendance and participation for the May 9 online class.

Just follow the instructions I give on the first slide - and have a great weekend!

Week 9: May 2

Congratulations to everyone! 

Overall, the presentations today (Friday, May 2, 2014) were very good. However, there is always room for improvement -  so-oooo, ... what is one thing that you will be trying to improve on when you do your final presentation? 

Leave your answer in the comment section below.  
: ) 

Voice Thread (VT)

1. I have emailed a link to everyone to join the class VoiceThread group. This will make your comments as a class easier to follow and allow me to track your VT activity online. Please click the link as soon as possible. If you did not get an email from me on Monday, May 5; please send me an email (gslewi@gmail.com) and tell me so I can fix it. Thx.

2. We must have 15 weeks of classes each term, however, we miss two Fridays this term so I have made May 9 and June 6 into online classes. This link is to a new VT I have created that asks you to comment on some questions around the midterm presentations you did on May 2. Your comment on this VT will be your attendance and participation for the May 9 online class.