Google docs

Google docs is like using word collaboratively.
Working on a library brochure or newsletter together would save a lot of email drafts going back and forward.
I typed up a document on the site and sent a sharing link to the course trainers.
They can then add comments and so on.
This is good for teamwork especially when there is not time to meet and librarians are working across large amalgamated council areas.
There is a size limit on files uploaded eg.

Presentations

• Presentations in both .ppt and .pps file formats from your local computer can be up to 10MB in size or 200 slides.
• By entering the URL of a file on the Web, you can upload presentations up to 2MB.
• By emailing in your files, you can upload presentations up to 500K.
• You have a combined limit of 5000 documents and presentations and 5000 images.

So my dad's 70 Mb Powerpoint presentation cannot be uploaded to Googledocs.
So I'm going to take another look as slideshare:
Check out some popular content at http://www.slideshare.net/most-favorited.

You can upload your own presentations and documents. SlideShare hosts them for free. You can make it private or make it public and get lots of traffic.
Yes, it uploaded my powerpoint about my dad! I can share this or further develop it using uploaded mp3 Music as a background, to make a slidecast. I think I'll stick with no music for now.
So, how to share a Powerpoint presentation - as I'm fairly new at all this, I use one of slideshare's own explanations to learn how. http://www.slideshare.net/dswaters/how-to-share-a-powerpoint-presentation-using-slideshare
Now to sit back and learn.
Hmm, i made an animation some years ago, that I'd love to add music to - that will be my next learning experience.
PS. And my dad? Well I'll post the link as soon as slideshare has processed it for public viewing.
PPS. And here's the link all ready to view - how quick was that?http://www.slideshare.net/goannagoanna08/peter-stephenson-artist-and-illustrator-2160732

File conversion and online tools

Recently I made a slideshow for my father's 80th birthday, celebrating his life as an artist working for the Courier Mail in the days when press artists did page composition, retouched photos and maps, did pen and ink illustration and colour illustrations for the cover of the Sunday Mail colour magazine. This was just before the days of digital photography and Photoshop. My dad retired as computers began to make inroads into the work of a commercial artist.

Anyway, on the day of the party, my brother brought his laptop along, but he had a different program for slideshows, he uses Ubuntu software as an alternative to Microsoft. My slideshow wouldn't work on the day.

Uploading it to Google Docs also seems to need a change of format, so I apply my SLQ Licence 2 Testdrive part B lesson one - I use Zamzar, an online tool to change a file format. It's a big file, but Zamzar will take up to a 1Gb file so stay tuned for the result, which will be emailed to me - stay tuned.
PS. I'm doing this at nearly midnight, showing how people can learn with this sort of online training, at their own pace, and in the timeslot that suits them best.
PPS.

Success- I had a 79 MbPowerpoint presentation changed from pptx to ppt promptly and accurately. The zamzar site only stores and allows downloading/sharing of the file for 24 hours, so you need to pay for their advanced service, but for what I want it is an excellent service. McAfee siteadviser doesn't like the popup ads but I can live with them just fine.

October 7, 2009 12:41 AM