Multimedia Presentation Basics


Sharon Huston
Instructional Support Specialist
Center for Support of Instruction
Published: January-February 2011

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies

Successful online presentations combine text, audio, and images to capture student attention. Achieving this success with today's students often necessitates a viewpoint shift both in how a presentation should look and in how to use presentation software to create an engaging experience. In video format, this article discusses the basics of multimedia presentations, including demystifying modern presentation design and highlighting some design tools and their effective use in presentation software. 

The video presentations were made entirely in PowerPoint and then converted into narrated Flash movies using a PowerPoint plugin called iSpring Free. While the content of the presentations provides important information about creating effective multimedia presentations, the presentations themselves are representative of good multimedia design that faculty can use as a model for their own work. The methods shown and described here are an easy way for faculty to create interesting, engaging, and dynamic multimedia objects for their classrooms using a tool with which they already have some familiarity.

The first video, which focuses on multimedia design principles, discusses what might be wrong with traditional presentation design and invites viewers to adopt design principles that can transform their presentations.

The second video is on smart design techniques, and it discusses and demonstrates software tricks that can help raise a presentation to the next level. Note that while this video mentions—and was prepared with—PowerPoint, many of these techniques can be replicated with other presentation programs including Apple Keynote.

Video Transcripts    

Transcripts for the two video presentations above are included here:

NOTE: When developing audiovisual material, it is important to also provide a transcript. Transcripts serve students with hearing disabilities (who may not be able to hear the audio), students with visual disabilities (whose screen readers or text-to-speech programs may not be able to access the object), and the various learning styles of UMUC’s multi-generational student body. A speaker’s script (which can be prepared before recording the audio) can serve as a transcript.

Related Tutorials

The step-by-step tutorial pages below provide instructions for replicating the effects shown in the video presentations above and will help you get started on creating multimedia presentations:

  • PowerPoint Design Tools - Provides instructions on using shapes, WordArt, SmartArt, animations, and transitions in PowerPoint.
  • iSpring Free Tutorial - Provides instructions on installing and using iSpring Free to convert a PowerPoint file into a Flash (.swf) file as well as embedding and linking to the resulting .swf file in a WebTycho classroom.

About the Author(s)

Prior to joining the Center for Support of Instruction (CSI) as an instructional support specialist, Sharon was a full-time instructor for the Dallas County Community College District where she taught face-to-face and online Web design/multimedia classes focusing on cutting-edge technologies like video podcasting, Flash, and Second Life. Sharon earned an Innovator of the Year Award for her service on the Teaching and Learning Team, a committee charged with bringing innovation into the campus classrooms. In addition to teaching, Sharon also served as a faculty trainer and mentor in which she helped fellow faculty design new online and face-to-face courses, fine-tune existing courses, and master course development software. She has a BS in History from Texas Woman's University and an MS in Computer Education and Cognitive Systems from the University of North Texas. 

 

Towanda Jones, instructional support specialist in CSI, earned a BS in Information Systems Management from UMUC and has continued to expand her professional career in instructional development; Web 2.0 and multimedia technologies such as Flash, video production, and podcasting; and Web design and development.

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