After thinking about the topic of present ion and readability of a website, I'm compelled to respond to the competition between the online networking site of Facebook and Myspace. I've heard several comments from my students as well as my friends on their preferences for these networking sites. I read an article in Newsweek about the growing competition between these two sites and the different features they offer. Myspace used to the "place to be." However, Facebook is now the cool spot for teenagers and 20-somethings. Myspace allows you to upload interactive graphics and backgrounds as well as music to your virtual "space." I've heard several comments from people that this is rather annoying because it can up to five minutes to upload webpages and its difficult to read the font amongst all of the jewels and glams on the page. On the other hand, Facebook provides only a white background, website sections are sectioned off with one blue line and it's much "clearer" to read. Additionally, facebook Focuses more on the "interaction" and building of features rather than the fancy graphics and texts. The article commented "MySpace is glam, Facebook is geek." From what I have gathered, people prefer being a "geek" rather than "glam." Teenagers, in particular, like the simplicity of Facebook yet love the interactive features. 
So...I'm drawn to a couple of non-scientific conclusions: 1. Teenagers love interaction and uploading pictures and writing on message boards. 2. Teenagers want easy access to information. The article entitled, "Usability of websites for Teenagers"stated, "To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features." Students get easily frustrated when they have a difficult time gaining information and finding answers. I have found that students are not as web-savy as we like to think. It took me several weeks to get them used to moodle and teach them to upload a single document to my moodle page. They are not as "researched-based" as we think, but rather, tend to like more easy-interactive features on websites. Just like research from books, students want information spoon-fed to them in an easy manner. They lack the patience needed to search broad topics in many databases.
It has taken me awhile to learn how to make an interesting and interactive powerpoint. There are numerous features of powerpoint that most students are not familiar with at all. I came across some really useful tips on how I can approve my powerpoint presentations:
-Use images to communicate ideas, rather than words
-Use images or single words on the screen to represent your ideas and speak the sentences with your voice
If I ever require students to create a powerpoint presentation or when I assign a technology-based assignment, I generated a few tips to pass on to students:
Place your outline on the powerpoint with 3 or 4 bullet points per slide. Students still need to talk through and expand on their slides. Students need to consider it a "speech" with the powerpoint only guiding them through their presentation.
Students should use 1 visual per slide to enhance their main point.
So...I'm drawn to a couple of non-scientific conclusions: 1. Teenagers love interaction and uploading pictures and writing on message boards. 2. Teenagers want easy access to information. The article entitled, "Usability of websites for Teenagers"stated, "To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features." Students get easily frustrated when they have a difficult time gaining information and finding answers. I have found that students are not as web-savy as we like to think. It took me several weeks to get them used to moodle and teach them to upload a single document to my moodle page. They are not as "researched-based" as we think, but rather, tend to like more easy-interactive features on websites. Just like research from books, students want information spoon-fed to them in an easy manner. They lack the patience needed to search broad topics in many databases.
It has taken me awhile to learn how to make an interesting and interactive powerpoint. There are numerous features of powerpoint that most students are not familiar with at all. I came across some really useful tips on how I can approve my powerpoint presentations:
-Use images to communicate ideas, rather than words
-Use images or single words on the screen to represent your ideas and speak the sentences with your voice
If I ever require students to create a powerpoint presentation or when I assign a technology-based assignment, I generated a few tips to pass on to students:
Place your outline on the powerpoint with 3 or 4 bullet points per slide. Students still need to talk through and expand on their slides. Students need to consider it a "speech" with the powerpoint only guiding them through their presentation.
Students should use 1 visual per slide to enhance their main point.
0 comments:
Post a Comment