280+Slides

return to Design Library = = =**2**80slides=
 * Edgar Chavez**

=Description= My Cadre Gift consists of a web 2.0 tool known as 280 slides. It is a free online presentation tool. With 280 Slides making online presentations is simple and the best part is that they can be shared online and or downloaded for later use in Powerpoint 2007 format. 280 Slides uses the familair apple GUI (graphical user interface) and is fairly intuitive. One of the many features is that pictures can be added effortlessly by just dragging and dropping, or by searching for them on the internet. Youtube videos can also be embedded in the presenation and one of the best features is that the presenation can also be embedded on your website! The media browser makes adding pictures and video a real effortless task. In order further share your presenation you can also sign up on SlideShare where a community of users can leave you feedback and comments. Comments can also be added through myspace, facebook, and other social forums. If you have friends who use google or yahoo they too can be invited to view and comment on your 280 slide presentation. In my example I created a presenation and embedded it here on this page below. 280 Slides offers three ways to share your presenation, first you can place in on SlideShare.net, email the presentation to someone, or simply create a 280 Slides account by just providing a valid email address, login, name and save your presenation, and then you you will be provided with a permanent link in order to embed the presentation.

=**Activity**= My plan for this Web 2.o tool is for my 641 group or other cadre members to create simple presentation and share it among themselves or with the cadre. The presentation can be a rough oultline for each others action research project, or a group presenation of the eachother's Web 2.o tool using 280slides (each member can make one slide). The presenation can then be imbedded on a website or simply placed on [|www.slideshare.net], and seen by anyone (it resembles a youtube page). I hope is this tool is helpful and beneficial to the cadre members.

Here is a demo:

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Reflection
My final thought on the cadre gifts is that they were very helpful in getting the entire group to work as individuals, but at the same time have cohesiveness as a group. I personally felt that my gift was mediocre and could have used more development. Although the tool is highly accessible and most importantly it is available online, I think I could done much better. In all I think that my learning was instrumental in developing my gift, even though I did not respond in the forum on a timely manner. I did read their entries and I found their thoughts very insightful. Throughout the assignment I felt a bit lost and confused since I had never really collaborated on an assignment like this one. My confusion and uncertainty came mostly during the time when I was researching my tool. Initially I had chosen something to do with collaborative communications, but then I rejected it since I thought too many members were already doing something similar I thought. I began to look for other different web 2.0 tools and came across a site with a huge listing of them. I really could not make up my mind, but I finally did due to time constraints. Overall I think the most crucial part of the entire assignment were the presentations made by each member to the cadre. The Elluminate tool was very instrumental in introducing everyone’s tool and at the same time expressing ideas and thoughts through a new tool. Although I felt that my own presentation was flawed and did not really articulate what I had envisioned as my presentation. On the other hand the cadre members were very supportive and even though a few of us had difficulties everyone was very patient. Before this assignment as I previously stated, I had never encountered the idea of web 2.0 tools. I personally learned that tools and different mediums are available to everyone who wishes to collaborate. I feel that I have been exposed to a whole new different aspect of technology, and in short a sort rethinking of what the web really is, and can be used for. I really never put much thought on what the web could do, before the OMET program I thought the web was mostly static and mainly a huge chunk of data. I now that it can be much more than a stationary object. It can move ideas and opinions through which these web 2.0 tools facilitate sharing. In the end I think that this exercise was extremely beneficial and has prompted me to see, and use the web in an entirely new different fashion. 