1. Unit 1 – Improving Productivity Loren Thomas Instructions ~ 100 words

2. 1.1Why did you use a computer? What other systems / resources could you have used? I used the computer program PowerPoint because it makes it look more appealing and formal for parents to view. Power point is a very persuasive computer program because you can use videos and picture with are appealing to parents that don’t enjoy reading because the can just listen or look at the slide. With PowerPoint you can also use custom animations so you can view thing separately and at different times. Using PowerPoint you can save your work and come back to it so you can do it over a certain amount of time. If I hadn’t of used a computer software I would have had to write it out which would have been time consuming, you can’t insert animation also you wouldn’t have a automatic spell checker so every time you spelt a word incorrect you would have to rewrite all your work out again. You would also have to of thought about the cost because you would have to get a copy for all the parents so you would have the cost of photo copying. The other alternative to not using computer would be to present it verbally which can get very boring for some of the parents so they might not collect all the information they need.

3. 1.2What skills did you need to learn in order to use PowerPoint? The skills I needed to use in order to use PowerPoint were: How to insert animation, video or sound and control them by mouse click or automatically. How to add texts and use of text boxes. How to insert and use master slide. To use keyboard shortcuts to speed up the process of my work. How to use the formatting this is changing the colours or size of text. How to insert picture and change the shape or add borders to the picture. How to insert text files into frames. How to add tables and use them to present data. How to crop photos to the right size of your choice. How to add in hyperlinks to texts and shapes.

4. 1.2What resources did you need to make the presentation successful? The resources needed were: A computer with a keyboard and mouse, I needed these in order to save and create and enter the data. PowerPoint to create the presentation. Movie maker to edit my videos Camera to take videos and pictures. The internet to find extra information that wasn’t stored on the college shared area. Sound editing software like audacity to create and to edit my sounds. Graphics software like fireworks to edit my pictures. Ingots website to upload my work to the exam board. Email to email work so I can do my work at home. USB stick to also be able to complete my work at home.

5. 1.4What factors might have affected how well you completed the presentation? (e.g. time / attendance / knowledge of software) The factors that may have effected how well I completed my work: Distractions from the people around me in lessons which caused me to talk. How well I understood the task that the teacher set also how long I had to wait for help. Been ill and not coming to school meant I fell behind with my work, then I had to come back after college to catch up. Going on holiday in school terms which meant I also fell behind with my work and had to come back in my own time. The knowledge of the software i.e. using master slide it took me time to understand how it worked. Not designing the work properly in enough detail I then wasted time thinking about what I needed to do on the slide. Not collecting the resources I needed before I did the presentation so then I had to find them in the time I had to finish my presentation and I also lost a lot of time looking on the internet for things I needed.

6. 1.6Why did you use PowerPoint to make your presentation? What other software was available? Why did you choose not to use them? I could have done it on word or publisher but I would not have been able to use videos, sound or animation and this would have not been very interesting. Also I would have had to have everything on one page and it would have been difficult for the audience to find the bit they are interested in. I could have done it on Dreamweaver to create a website and it would have looked like my PowerPoint but I would have had to learn new skills and that would have taken more time. I choose PowerPoint because it is a lot easier to use than other programes and I wanted to put some multimedia in my presentation also I have a lot more skills with PowerPoint because I have got used to using it.

7. 2.2Which tools within PowerPoint made it appropriate for your presentation? The tools within PowerPoint which made it appropriate: The insert tool which helped me add things like text boxes, predefined shapes, tables, pictures, videos and sound. The design tool helped me change my background to the colours I wanted and then when I finished my presentation I could go back and adjust it so it looked better with the text and photos. The transition tool allowed me to have a nice flow between all of my slides. The slide show tool allows me to view what my presentation will look like when it is finished. The master slide allowed me to create a template for all the slides to follow.

8. 1.7Were there any legal constraints or local constraints that changed the way you created your presentation? (e.g. copyright, file sizes, AUP) The problems with PowerPoint is if you use lots of videos and pictures and you want to send the PowerPoint to someone using email the file might be to large to send so you have to use smaller videos which means the graphics wont be as good as a larger video. The other thing is the some of the videos, photos and videos I didn’t make or create myself so I may have broken copyright rules as I didn’t check to see if I was ok to use them. I also may have broken the data protection act as some of my photos show students and I haven’t checked to see if it was ok to show their faces. The college filtering system didn’t allow me to access the sites I wanted to use.

9. 2.4What improvements do you think you could do to your presentation? The things I could improve are: Using higher quality videos and photos. Make it more suitable for the audience because it could be more suitable for the child. Add more content by having more information about what happens in lessons and around the college. Also key staff that have a big role around college. Voice overs to help visually impaired parents and some people don’t enjoy reading. More photos which show college life. Hyperlinks to websites that are used in college like show my homework and my maths. Scans showing pupils work from all different subjects will help students and parents understand what happens in different lessons within college.

10. 3.2What improvements do you think you could have done to improve your work rate? (keyboard shortcuts, file names & locations, backups, work after school, templates, planning) To improve my work rate I would have to; Create a time plan and stick to it. Design the presentation giving full details of what I want it to do and where I'm getting everything I use from. Collect resources before I create my presentation. Always name my files appropriately and place them in the right folder. Create templates so I don’t have to keep doing the same thing over and over again. Use period 6 sessions the make sure my work is up to date and if It isn’t finish it and get it back up to date. Use appropriate keyboard shortcuts like ctrl c to copy or ctrl v to paste and instead of cutting I can use ctrl z.