Preparing to share: Thing 17

I decided to try option one for Thing 17 and upload a PowerPoint Presentation (PPT) to SlideShare. I’ve looked at resources on SlideShare before but never thought to use it to upload and share my resources. Being able to access my presentations anywhere or point people to them makes good sense. I duly located and uploaded several files to SlideShare and being a member of LinkedIn I didn’t need to join another website to do so. The process was very simple – upload the file, give it a title, description, and privacy level. I opted for limited level of access - any one with the link could see it. Once uploaded the presentation was displayed in SlideShare’s typical fashion of slides above and notes below. And that’s where I discovered a problem. I had always thought the notes section below the slides displayed what was in the notes section on a PPT. But no. It displays any text on the slides. I keep my script either in the PPT notes or in a separate word document, and using this approach is no use for SlideShare. Also, I use PPT to run quizzes with interactive elements onscreen which do not transfer with the upload or the arrow that points to the answer is on the screen all the time. The Commonwealth Quiz here will show you what I mean.

https://www.slideshare.net/secret/xC9GKkbVnnw8sj

The market that SlideShare is aiming at is maybe not for the things I produce or perhaps the way I produce my PPTs. I’m using mine for class talks and group talks, sometimes just as images to refer too. Without the notes being included it makes little sense. Which is a shame really as I would like to use something like SlideShare to allow my pupils and teachers to some of my resources. If I want to use SlideShare effectively I’m going to have to re-think how I produce my PPTs specifically for this format, making sure every screen is labelled, leaving quiz answers to the end of the presentation, leave interactive elements out etc. Or I can look to other file sharing applications like GoogleDrive or OneDrive to store and share these on and send out access links, especially if there is a script of text to go with the slides. I did find more instructional presentations flowed better and perhaps this is type of presentation SlideShare is better set up for. https://www.slideshare.net/secret/jgfAbckIFLKwzb

I did go back and alter one of my presentations, so every slide had some detail on it which duly appeared in the text section of the SlideShare page. Here is the link to it - Mapping Moray. Feel free to have a look especially if you are interested in old maps.                                                      https://www.slideshare.net/secret/ulLKivvNSCDxhG

My first experiences of using SlideShare to upload and share files hasn’t been the totally positive experience I had hoped it would be. While the process is easy and straightforward, how it displays the slides along with notes and text doesn’t support how I do presentations. I have options though – change how I do my presentations to fit with SlideShare’s abilities, look to other applications or use both this and other applications depending on the type of presentation I need to share. One thing I will be doing though is looking at the SlideShare presentation on how to do a good presentation which should be of use no matter what application I choose to use in future.