Never lose a powerpoint presentation
Have any of you felt the embarrassment of not having a powerpoint presentation on a flash drive when you thought it was there? I've learned the hard way when I couldn't locate a lecture 5 minutes before class started. Now I make sure each lecture is on my work computer, on a flash drive and as a final insurance, I email each lecture to myself. Uploading to shared documents on your campus system is one more way to save your hard work.
Patricia,
Yeah, it's like lossing any file that you've worked on for hours, then disappears. Ay-yi-yi! I carry two flash drives, one on my keycahin and one in my pocket. The identical files are also saved on my work computer. I am fortunate I can remotely access my work PC from virtually anywhere I can get a WiFi signal. Emailing also helps. Like most of us, I have had to use a plan-b when I couldn't get to the PPT file for wahtever reason. This demonstrates the purpose and value of good back-up plans.
Barry Westling
Not having my power point presentation only had to happen to me once for me to learn my lesson. Luckily I have the whole week’s worth of assignments and handouts ready the week before so I was able to switch up the order we usually do things so the students would not know I made a mistake. They know I am new to this but I do not ever want to show up looking unprepared. I am really glad my subject topic is something I have done myself for over 10 years so I can definitely find something to talk about that is interesting to them when I need a filler.
Mariam,
Good information! Anyone who's ever lost a file, PPT, or spreadsheet will appreciate your post. This is why having preset back-up plans are valuable. Good plans are those that can be implemmented immediately, are low tech, interesting, related to the topic, and engaging for students. Some plans could be used without the students even knowing that was not the plan all along.
Barry Westling
A few years ago, due to a crashed network, I could not access my power point presentation. I ended up conducting the class without it. I found that I did a much better job without it, and the class was more involved. The experience has now given me more independence from my power point presentations.
Eric,
Nice self analysis. I find PPT is best used as a guide to my discussions, not the point by point details I want to share. Like you, this adds to lively and productive discussions.
Barry Westling
This probably happens more than we think. It has actually happened to me once. Thank goodness it was early enough for me to download it from the textbook website.
I would encourage instructors to take advantage of "cloud technology" if possible. This allows us to virtually have all of our files as close as an internet connection. Tools such as Microsoft Skydrive is a simple download that will allow you to have everything you save as a file, available to you in an instant, even via smartphone in a dire emergency.
Sebastian,
Good advice. I work from four different work sites on seven different computers (my office, my lab, my classroom, my home, three different lap-tops, and an iPad), and when creating course materials, forgetting to remove a thumb drive or not able access one collection of files from a different computer can be at least frustrating, and at worst, devastating when a class presentation is dependent on accessing a needed file. The cloud is becoming an increasingly important back-up/storage location for files.
Barry Westling
