Thing+Twenty-One


 * Thing Twenty-One**

** Introduction ** **SlideShare** is a site where you can host your presentations and share them with others. Presentations can be linked from the site itself or else embedded in a web page. You can also synchronize an MP3 audio file (podcast) with the slideset to create a slidecast - a more powerful way of distributing presentations/tutorials. Slideshare is also a tremendous resource site of presentations. In 2008, the [|Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT)] published a list of the Top 100 tools for learning professionals, and SlideShare shares the No. 26th spot along with FaceBook, Wikipedia & Ning. Before SlideShare, posting PowerPoint presentations to the Internet was not an easy task. Now, it’s as simple as can be — after creating a free account, upload your presentation and get a unique URL so others can view it online. I like to think about SlideShare as "YouTube for Presentations"!!! [|SlideShare Quick Tour - Summary of features & capabilities] media type="custom" key="9070556"
 * Application Ideas**
 * You can place your class teaching presentations to the site and then, using the embed code, you can place them in a viewable mode on a class wiki or blog, allowing students to view at home or elsewhere...it will handle PowerPoint as well as .PDF and .doc formats.
 * Looking for presentations/ideas for a topic? Search for presentations others have done, download them, and modify for your use...think of it as raw material for your presentations.
 * Send students there for research/raw material for their presentations as they can download and use graphics, etc. for their use. Just remember to have them credit sources, which would be a great opportunity to teach about Creative Commons.

** Discovery Exercise **

Explore SlideShare: http://slideshare.net. Have a good look around SlideShare. You can search on a particular topic by entering a keyword in the **Search** box, or you can go to one of the **Categories**, such as Education, Entertainment, Humor, etc. **Or** you can explore by choosing an option from this menu at the top: This exploration is up to you - no rules or guidelines for this Discovery Exercise: however, you are expected to review several presentations in order to create your blog entry on your exploration of SlideShare. So have fun and enjoy this "on your own" Scavenger Hunt. **Additional Resources**

Education on SlideShare SlideShare's Help Desk **Learning Tasks** **Task:** **Create a Slideshow in PowerPoint** Create a five to six slide presentation in PowerPoint on one of your favorite tools that was covered in this course. Include in the presentation why you chose this tool, how could you use the tool in your classroom (professionally) or in your personal life, and how it would be beneficial to students, etc. Create an account at SlideShare and upload your PowerPoint to the SlideShare site. You will share your SlideShare with the class in your blog entry in Task 2. **Task: Blog Posting - Slideshare** Write a blog post sharing your SlideShare exploration and findings. Tell about the slideshows you discovered and share ideas you have for creating slideshows to support classroom or professional learning. Embed your SlideShare in your blog. (Feel free to embed it into your wiki page as well if you want to experiment).

**HELP Page** : How to sign up and upload to SlideShare