PowerPoint: An Underrated Tool

When I started my Masters in Technical Communication and E-Learning, I expected to learn a lot about various software and digital tools, and I anticipated that my basic skills in Microsoft Office would be irrelevant. I was right about the first but, fortunately, wrong about the second.

This blog post will explore Microsoft PowerPoint, its features, my personal experience with the software and its potential benefits and challenges.

PowerPoint is a presentation software programme that can be used in business or education. It can present information through text, graphics, images, videos, and animations.

PowerPoint enables the user to create slideshows of information. It has many of the same features as Microsoft word. However, PowerPoint sets up your presentation in slides instead of pages.

The user can select a blank slide or use one of PowerPoint’s designs or templates.

Choice of designs from PowerPoint.

Templates to organise text and images.

It is easy to add, delete, copy, or move slides. Just like in Word, the user can add text, upload images, create graphics using the shapes tool, and present data in the form of flow charts or graphs. It is also possible to add videos from your own files or from the internet.

Animations and transitions are features that Word does not have and, if used properly, can add greatly to a presentation.

Animations and effects

I used PowerPoint a lot in my teaching. It is an invaluable resource for teaching vocabulary or new poems in Irish. Teachers are expected to teach Irish without using any English. I endeavoured to abide by this rule as I could see the value in immersing the children in the language. In order to minimise my use of English, I would make the lesson as visual as possible using PowerPoint. I would have images representing the new vocabulary on a number of slides and I would create games in the presentation to help the children to remember the new words.

PowerPoint enhanced the way I taught songs and poetry. I would find images to represent each line in a poem, and present them in the correct order on a PowerPoint presentation with the text underneath the image. I would read the poem to the children and for the most part the visuals would help them to understand the meaning. As the presentation progressed the children would be reading the poem. Further along in the presentation, I would delete words here and there and the children would be able to fill in the blanks as they read the poem. Eventually the text would no longer appear and the children would be able to recite a full poem just by looking at the pictures. PowerPoint would make this achievable in one lesson. See the example below.

I am still using PowerPoint in my MA for storyboarding. As part of a module, we must design a digital resource. I am in the planning phase of this assignment and PowerPoint is allowing me to create a clear overview of my digital resource. I find that I can easily create the same look and feel in all my slides.

In my opinion, the benefits of PowerPoint are the ability to move around slides and to copy and reuse slides. In addition, if the user does not want to move through their presentation in a linear way, they can create hyperlinks from one slide to another one. For example, if there is something mentioned on slide 2 that is further explained on slide 6, a hyperlink can be set up on slide 2 that will send the user to slide 6. Another hyperlink can be added to slide 6 that brings the user back to slide 2. This allows for the design of a more complex presentation.

People often misuse PowerPoint. Instead of using it to present visuals and sum up the main points to support their narrative, users often overload slides with all of the information they are presenting.

I think PowerPoint is an underrated resource and that its full potential is not exploited enough by users.

Localisation in the Virtual Project

The Virtual Project has entered the translation phase. After a busy week of editing, editing, and more editing, we finally handed our document over to our French colleagues for translation.

We were relieved with their initial report that the document seemed clear and straightforward to translate. However, the conversations currently happening in the Translation channel in Slack are sparking my interest.

We have explored localisation in a few lectures and readings. Until now it was still an abstract concept to me. I understood it but it was not something I had any hands-on experience with. I am excited to see this concept come to life in the translation phase, although it may add to our extensive to-do list.

The first query that arose was the phrase ‘pop quiz’. The translators interpreted this as a quiz on pop culture. As I researched the term pop quiz in order to give them a precise definition, it also dawned on me that ‘pop quiz’ is not a phrase commonly used in Ireland either. I know the phrase from American television, but I have never had a teacher who gave us a ‘pop quiz’. We were given tests or exams. Note taken: ‘pop quiz’ is not suitable for a global audience.

We began a step with the word ‘Continue’. For example, ‘Continue filling in all sections of the form’. In writing this document as a group, we overlooked this phrase and how it may not be the clearest way to instruct the user. The translators pointed out that this would not make sense if translated directly into French. They suggested we change ‘continue’ to ‘repeat steps ___ to ___’. This will make more sense in French and it makes the step clearer for English-speaking users.

The translators’ input will lead to some changes to the document. Some team members are reluctant to go back into the editing phase and I understand this reluctance. The editing phase took a long time and we realised the more we looked at the document the more we would change. It was a relief to hand it over to the translators. However, I have learned from the editing phase and from my previous post that it is essential that we have a strategy before we start making any changes. Formulating such a strategy is my goal for next week.

Depth Education: A Masters Student’s Experience

This week we discussed the Depth Education Model in college.  We looked at the three aspects of a Model of Deep Learning. They include:

1. Conditionalised Knowledge
2. Metacognition
3. Communities of Inquiry

Conditionalised knowledge can be described as problem-based learning. It gets the learner to apply their knowledge in situations that are as authentic as possible.

Metacognition involves getting the learner to think and reflect on what they have learned.

Communities of Inquiry are learning communities where participants collaborate to understand concepts and share knowledge.

As we discussed this model in college, I began to think about our experience in our Masters and analyse how well this model is applied to the course.  

Conditionalised Knowledge

Our assignments are realistic and represent the type of work that we will be doing after the course. Each module provides us with an opportunity to apply what we have learned to an authentic problem. Some examples are listed below:

• To apply our knowledge of writing an instructional document, we were given a poorly designed set of instructions describing how to assemble a polytunnel. Our task was to redesign the instructions. This felt like a realistic situation as I, for one, had no prior knowledge of polytunnel assembly, and had to start researching the topic from scratch. This task was worthwhile as I know that in future I may be working with topics with which I am unfamiliar.
• I will be applying everything I have learned about instructional design during my developmental project. To add to the authenticity of this assignment, we carried out needs assessments and front-end analyses with SMEs and end-users.
• To consolidate our technical writing knowledge, we carried out a research project. In this project, we either did a content analysis or a usability test. I did the latter and went through the whole process of designing the test, interviewing real participants, and analysing and documenting the results.

Metacognition

This blog plays a major part in bringing the metacognition aspect of the model into our studies. It definitely gets me to look back over what we have covered and think about how each topic applies to my experience in the teaching world and my future career as an instructional designer/ technical writer.

Communities of Inquiry

A community of inquiry has run, and continues to run, throughout our time in the masters, in the form of an online forum. The forums in each module are an invaluable tool in this course where questions can be asked and ideas shared. Very often when I read through the forum, I find an answer to a question that I had been wondering myself.

Additionally, our virtual team is acting as a community of inquiry. We have a slack account where we discuss our ideas and debate the best course of action for our project. We have also talked about topics unrelated to the project, such as our jobs, our daily lives and our college experience. It has been a fantastic learning experience for me to hear from students around the world as well as those closer to home. It has given me an insight into how other people like to organise information.

Why employ a Model of Deep Learning?

The benefits of this model are clear to see. Students gain a deeper understanding of an area, the opportunity to use their knowledge, and an insight into the knowledge of others. Writing a blog twice a week is time-consuming and, as a first-time blogger, it is difficult to gauge the appropriateness of my writing style and content. However, it has engaged me in critical-thinking and encouraged me to look at other blogs and articles to find solutions to any problems I may encounter with my virtual team. I have looked at theories and concepts covered in lectures as topics that are applicable to my own past and future experiences.

In a way, Communities of Inquiry must provide relief to teachers and lecturers, as students can answer each other’s questions and questions are usually not repeated as everyone has access to the answers. This is also very important for distant learners who cannot ask questions face-to-face. These communities give distance learners the feeling of being in a classroom with others and the ability to engage with both students and teachers.

Editing: What I have learned so far

Before this project, I would not have known what an editor did. I knew they read articles, documents, and novels, and made corrections or adjustments, but I couldn’t understand how that was a full-time job.

My brother was a journalist. While working with a newspaper, he would keep his eyes and ears open for a story. He would go to the courthouse. He would telephone the guards. He would interview people involved in current affairs. When all of this information was gathered he would write numerous articles in a day, and then send them to the editor.

I could see how my brother was putting down the day, gathering information and writing. I had difficulty understanding what the editor was doing all day while this writing was happening. Were they sitting in their office waiting for the articles to arrive in? Did they even really need to change anything in the articles? My brother has a master in journalism and is an excellent writer. Did the editor just get paid to read the paper before anyone else?

The tables, however, have well and truly turned. We are in the editing phase of our virtual project. To the readers of last week’s blog, this statement may feel like déjá vu. Last week we were also in the editing phase of our virtual project. A week has passed and I now understand how an editor spends their time.

As mentioned last week, we were struggling to come up with a system that would enable us to edit as a team. We decided to put the text into Google Docs and put our thoughts into comments. If we agree or disagree with someone’s comment, we reply ‘agree’ and resolve the comment, or ‘disagree’ and add an alternative suggestion.

With a team of three editors, this has actually been going well. We have, for the most part, been in agreement about certain changes and cuts. The writers decided to keep their distance from the document during the editing phase. This is a decision I would highly recommend in a project like this. The writers did a fantastic job. They had spent a lot of time on their first and second draft, and I know if I was in their position, I would not enjoy watching a group of editors dissect my work. It also gave the editors the freedom to express their opinion without feeling like they were stepping on any toes.

Even though our editing process has worked for us, it is still not an ideal system.

1. It is time consuming.

That is evident in the fact that over a week later we are still editing a relatively short document. When we make a suggestion, we must wait to hear back from the other editors before making the change. The positive side of this is that it ensures that the edits are really well thought out. However, it makes the process seem never-ending.

  2. It is difficult to know when to stop.

I find that every time I look at the document, I think of something that I would change, omit, or add. I mentioned this to the group and they all felt the same. We reintroduced the writers to the document yesterday and even after all of our editing, a new pair of eyes saw issues that we did not see. I think knowing when to stop must be one of the skills of a good editor.

Our system has its pros and cons: it takes time but we are producing a document with which everyone is happy. I’m sure this isn’t the last time each of us will be involved in the editing of a document. I was reading some blogs to see what advice other writers have for the editing process. One blog I found, called A Writer’s Path (https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/72085838/posts/95226), gave two helpful pieces of advice with regard to editing, and I would apply these tips in the future.

1. The blog advises proper preparation before editing.

We did prepare and devise a system prior to editing. However, this blog recommends formulating a strategy and having one particular aspect to work on during each rewrite. This got me thinking that maybe instead of looking at the document as a whole during each rewrite, we may have been better off looking at sections of the text, or focusing our thoughts on different elements of the text, such as the numbering of the steps or the headings. It may have made our tasks more defined and our discussions more focussed. Still, this advice is not fool proof. I do think there is value in looking at the text as a whole, particularly a set of instructions.

2. The blog recommends a healthy amount of self-criticism.

While it is important to be critical of your own writing, it is possible to be too self-critical. Self-criticism helps us to edit our writing and improve on drafts. However, looking at a text too critically, as a writer or editor, can inhibit the whole process. Naturally, this advice resounded with me. As mentioned already, I realised a few days into editing that it didn’t matter how many times I looked at the text, I was always going to find something to tweak.  

The key message I would take from this blog and apply to future projects is the following strategy:

1. Ask somebody else (another editor or writer) to read the document.
2. Compare their comments to your own comments, to gauge your level of criticism. If their criticism is similar to yours, your editing is probably on the right track. If your comments are much more critical, you are probably being too hard on yourself, or the writer.

If I was to do the editing process again, I think it would be better to assign a head editor. I think the head editor should be given time to review the document and note the edits they would make. Then the head editor should follow the two-step strategy above, by giving it to sub-editors and using the sub-editors’ notes to review their own comments. The head-editor should lead the process and seek advice from their sub-editors throughout.

EDIT: Even after publishing, I have gone into this blog three times to edit something. It is time to close the laptop!

Consistency: A Team Challenge

How does a team divide their workload and merge their products into a cohesive document?

It is week 3 of our virtual collaboration project and the cogs in the Team 6 machine are still turning. The process, however, is not without its challenges.

I think one of the biggest tests faced by our virtual team is dividing the workload among the nine members in a way that is fair and results in a product with a consistent layout and style.

We have moved into an editing phase in our project. Last week, we had assigned two team members the task of writing the first draft of our instructions. They were working from style guides put together by our research team. They also had a lengthy phone conversation about the style of writing, headings, and numbering that they would use. They decided to work on separate sections and merge them into a first draft. This all seemed to make sense; agreeing on the style and formatting, and sharing the workload between them.

The first draft came back and each section was well-written and clear. However, even with all the prior planning and preparation, it still contained many inconsistencies in format and writing style. It also highlighted how an application can appear differently on all computers, and how everyone has their own way of carrying out a task. For example, if two people were describing how to save a document on Microsoft Word, one person might say “Click File> Save”. Another person might choose to say “Ctrl + S”.

This left us with a dilemma. What is the best way to divide work in a virtual project? We started to use Google Docs in order to critique the draft and make suggestions. Having never used Google Docs before, I was fascinated at how I could watch somebody on the other side of the world make live changes to a document. The writers took the comments on board and redrafted the piece before leaving it in the hands of the editors. But again, the same question stands: how do we divide the editing among the editors?

One suggestion was to give a section to each editor, allow them time to edit and then put the pieces back together. However, I feared that this would produce the same result as in the writing phase: inconsistencies in style and formatting. The ideal situation would be to have a live meeting and edit the piece together. Alas, time differences and work commitments are also preventing this. While researching how to overcome this obstacle, one editor found this useful article:

https://www.samepage.io/blog/9-rules-better-real-time-team-document-collaboration

We are taking on much of the advice outlined in the above article.

1. We are not oversharing the editing task. The rest of the team have access to the document as we edit it, but they have agreed to save their comments until we are finished.
2. We have an editing channel set up in Slack so that we can discuss the process and ask questions, and not overcrowd the document with comments.  
3. No changes are made until the full editing team is in agreement. I think this is essential and shows respect towards your team mates.
4. Also on that note, nobody is to overwrite changes made by somebody else, without discussing it first.

I have suggested that we each make our editing comments on Google Docs to the full document rather than sections, and respond with whether we agree or disagree. We will make changes when the editing team are in agreement. Hopefully, this will lead to a more consistent look and feel to the document. If this process does not work, however, we may have to go back to the drawing board and find out from a technical communication professional how editing works in the professional world.

A Working Relationship Built on Emojis

Over the past few days, I have been looking at the communication challenges identified by Flammia et al. (2016), and cannot help but reflect on the communication styles on display in our own virtual collaboration project.

Flammia et al. (2016) describe four categories of communication styles and their challenges:

1. Direct/ Indirect Communication Styles:  Speakers with an indirect communication style do not express themselves explicitly and avoid bluntness. They focus on not upsetting the group. I think this reflects the mentality of a lot of Irish people. In my experience, we are concerned that stating things too bluntly or directly may be perceived as rudeness. To use a common Irish saying, we do not want “to put anyone out”; Translation: we do not want to upset or put any undue pressure on anyone. This results in a communication style fraught with ambiguity, which may be understandable to Irish people, but confusing to other nationalities, even native English speakers. However, from my point of view, the Irish faction of our team have been living up to the name of technical communicators by being as direct (yet polite) as possible. The chat groups have been clear, with the occasional clarification needed now and then.
2. Elaborate/ Exact/ Succinct Communication Styles: Flammia et al. (2016) define this style as a continuum, with ‘elaborate’ and ‘succinct’ on opposite ends, and ‘exact’ situated in between the two. The terms are self-explanatory: an elaborate communication style is long-winded in nature with the use of ornate language, and a succinct communication style uses the minimum words necessary. As I reflect on our Slack chat groups, I would identify the team’s communication style as being mostly ‘exact’. The Irish group sometimes appears to sway to the more elaborate side of exact but this may be due to the fact that we outnumber the other groups, or have not progressed on to the translation phase of the process. Our position on the continuum may alter as the project progresses on to other stages, where some participants will become more involved, and possibly more vocal, than others.
3. Instrumental/Affective Communication Styles: As the project manager for this assignment, I have strived to use an instrumental communication style at all times. An instrumental style is specific and conveys a message as clearly as possible. During meetings, I have attempted to have a well-defined agenda and ensure that I make my point understandable to the whole team. This communication style is very effective in this forum as it has led to our success in delegating tasks, organising a schedule, and providing constructive feedback.
4. Personal/Contextual Communication Styles: In a personal communication style, the speaker places emphasis on himself/herself. In a contextual communication style, the emphasis is on the group. In the latter, the speaker uses ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. I would not have thought about these communication styles before this week and I cannot say, as of yet, which bracket the members of our team fall into. However, so far the team has been working harmoniously, looking out for one another, and giving words of encouragement where necessary. This may indicate that we are employing a contextual communication style. In other words, the team is thinking of the group as a whole and not emphasising themselves over anyone else.

Non-Verbal Communication

Flammia et al. (2016) emphasise the importance of non-verbal communication. They point out that the inability to communicate non-verbally with a virtual team may interfere with overall communication. My virtual team are communicating through chat groups on slack. It is difficult to convey the correct tone or emotion in a written message, particularly when most of the group have never even met face-to-face. We are not familiar with our colleagues’ personalities, and yet we are striving to build up a positive, friendly working relationship. To help convey the tone and emotion behind our messages, quite a few of us have started using emojis. We don’t overuse them but they have proven to be useful in lightening the tone or conveying when we are joking about something. It may not seem like a very professional approach, and it probably would not go down well in the working world. However, it has definitely helped build a good balance of work and play. In fact, I was looking at this blog post by Someone Somewhere:

https://zedie.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/what-your-emojis-say-about-you/

This blog discusses how psychologists are investigating the effects of emoji use in communication. They have found that emojis enable non-verbal communication and add to the clarity of a message. Our virtual team group chats are the living proof of these findings.

References:

Flammia, M., Cleary, Y. and Slattery, D. (2016) Virtual teams in higher education, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Unconventional Meetings for Non-Conventional Students

Virtual Collaboration Project Update

My virtual collaboration team have crossed another few items off the to-do list this week by deciding on a topic and devising a schedule for the coming weeks. We are in a research phase at present, investigating style guides, existing instructions, and usability tests.

Convergence

I was reminded of my virtual Team in a lecture this week, when the topic of the convergence of student types arose. Tait and Mills (1999) describe student archetypes of the conventional and non-conventional (distance learning) student. They describe the conventional student as being aged under 24, and most likely not working. Therefore, being a student is their primary role. The non-conventional student is the opposite of this description, i.e. over 24, and working as well as studying. Nobody on my virtual team seems to fit the conventional student archetype described by Tait and Mills (1999). The group fit in both the over 24 and under 24 categories, and study both on-campus and off-campus. Yet, the majority seem to work in some capacity. A younger member of the group particularly contradicts the archetype, as she is studying full-time for an undergraduate degree and working in the evenings when lectures are over. Most team members appear to be juggling work, family, and college life, and this brings its own challenge.

Unconventional Meetings for Non-Conventional Students

Due to the team’s range of commitments, it is nearly impossible to arrange a meeting time to suit all team members. This is not ideal because we will always be missing somebody for whom we may have a question, or who may have a valuable suggestion or solution to a problem.

To overcome this problem, we have set up channels on Slack about different topics. Usually, we need everyone’s input on a topic, but cannot arrange a whole-team meeting.  Now, we put a deadline for when we have to have come to a consensus on this topic. For example, we have been trying to research and agree on a design template and style guide so that the writers can get started. We want everyone to be in agreement about this but due to work and family commitments, we cannot have a meeting to discuss it. Therefore, we set up a design/layout channel on the 6^th of February. Everyone has agreed to check in each day with the channel to provide their own research, review the research of others and come to a consensus, by the 9^th of February at 2pm.

We have started to call this process ‘informal meetings’ and they usually take place over two or three days. The obvious drawback is that the decision process takes much longer, but on the plus side, everyone is included and this process generally leads to a fully informed decision with which everyone is happy.

References:

Tait, A. and Mills, R. (1999) The Convergence of Distance and Conventional Education. London: Routledge.

My First Experience with a Team Collaboration Tool

Slack

My virtual collaboration team has decided to use Slack as our main tool for communication and planning.

Purpose of Slack

On a basic level, Slack is a messaging app or website for teams. It is used in workplaces and colleges to enable teams to communicate with one another, and share documents, while they work on a task or project. This communication can take the form of a forum-like discussion with the whole group or a one-on-one chat between individuals.

Key Features

Everything you need in Slack is accessible in the purple menu bar located on the left-hand side of the screen.

• Search bar: To find a certain channel, application, or team member.
• Channels: Set up to discuss different topics. Channels appear as a chat thread. When setting up a channel, the user can invite the whole team to the channel or just those who need to be involved in that topic.
• Direct Messaging: To contact team members individually or to discuss tasks that do not involve the rest of the team.
• Slackbot: If a user has a query about Slack, they can ask the slackbot and it responds instantly with a solution.
• Applications: Applications such as Skype, Google Drive, or Trello can be added to the team’s Slack account to enrich communication and co-operation (See image below)

Slack enables a team to work across a number of apps.

My Personal Experience

I am a part of a team of nine people, living across three time zones, who, for the most part, have never met each other before. Yet, with the help of Slack, we have been able to volunteer for roles, agree on frequency of communication, decide on the technologies to be used in the project, and hold meetings. All of this was achieved without meeting face-to-face, without spending a penny, and without arousing too much confusion or frustration.

The team have set up a number of channels to discuss different items. For example, one channel is called meeting times. This channel is only used to discuss times that suit to meet and to post the times of future meetings. This is useful because team members can access the meeting times easily and important details do not get lost in long streams of conversation.

Two team members are taking on the role of researchers. They have set up a channel to discuss and share their findings. They will be the main users of this channel. However, the rest of the team can access it to keep up to date with their progress and to stay informed.

We have also availed of the option to add the Google Drive App to our team account. This allows us to upload documents as they are updated, thus keeping everyone abreast of the team’s progress.

Potential Benefits

I think the strength of Slack is being able to set up different channels for different topics of conversation. Most of us can relate to being part of a large chat group, on Whatsapp or Facebook, where the important points of information, e.g. times and dates, get lost among the chatter of participants. The channels feature enables participants to stay on the topic of a particular channel, while still having fun and casual conversation in another channel. It means that it is not all work and no play.

Additionally, I have found Slack to be very intuitive. I had not used it before this experience and I did not follow instructions or watch a YouTube tutorial in order to familiarise myself with the app. I simply joined the group and learned as I went. The interface is self-explanatory with a simple, user-friendly layout.

Potential Challenges

As with all text-based communications, messages or comments can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. As participants cannot hear the tone of voice being used in the comments, it is a challenge to ascertain how people are feeling, or know when people are being serious or light-hearted. So far we have not experienced this challenge but the team are striving to be as clear as possible in our writing. It has been a positive challenge that will, I’m sure, allow our writing skills to flourish.

Slack does not allow teams to screen share, which would be a very useful feature when working on a joint document.

Overall, I will use Slack again for collaboration projects and I would definitely recommend it to others.