Group Project FAQ

Check this area during the week for updates to questions asked in the Study Group area.

May we use research material we've generated for other purposes, e.g., our final project in this course, for this group project? In the spirit of recycling and reusing, yes. However, if your final project is a PowerPoint, it will need to be different from this group project.

Should the audio file be embedded in the PowerPoint? No, please record your audio file separate from the PowerPoint. Use an audio recorder like Audacity and turn in a .wav, .mp3, or .ogg file. Only one person needs to record and submit this file.

What is the best way for our group to get started on this project? I highly recommend starting with a script first. It doesn't have to be a finished or polished script. But a script will have the content which the PPT workers need to build the slides and animations.

How much do the avatars cost? The avatars don't cost anything. Just tell me which one you want to use from this page of options: Character Builder Avatars. Please keep in mind the gender of the group member doing the recording, your subject matter and audience. Another option for the avatar is a PhotoFit. This is where you send me a photo and I made the avatar look like you. See the following video for an example. The video is for multimedia producers, so pay no attention to most of the technical stuff. The stuff you want to see begins at about the 4:00 mark: PhotoFit Avatar Demo.

May we use pre-existing content from http://www.umuc.edu/gogreen? Yes, you may. If you are looking for an idea and content, Dr. Fu has directed other students to the http://www.umuc.edu/gogreen web site. Dr. Fu mentioned that a number of posts there contain great content but need to be redone to fit concepts of new literacy and communicating with a non-technical general audience. You can select a pre-existing presentation from that site and simply redo it as a strong PPT. Dr. Fu mentioned the material on run-off from that site as but one example of good content that needs to be redesigned.

Some group members have Office 2003 and others have Office 2007. How can we share documents? Those who have not upgraded to Office 2007 should install Microsoft's Office Compatibility Pack, which allows a user with Office 2003 to view and save 2007 Word, PPT, and Excel documents. Click on this link: Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack

If our presentations are 3-5 minutes long, how many slides should we have and how long should each last? Depends, especially on number of animations and elements per slide. Your goal should be to:

  1. maintain interest with movement
  2. keep slide uncluttered
Both of those goals can be accomplished in dozens of different ways. Design and present your PPT based on those two principles, not arbitrary/artificial time limits.

Our group is considering Carla as our avatar. What do you think? Very lively, eye-catching choice. She's a Toon, so that implies an upbeat, fast-paced, maybe slightly humorous take on the topic. I look forward to working with her.



Should we make a sound file for each slide or one sound file for the entire presentation? One sound file for the entire presentation. I can chop it up and time it to the animations in the PPT.

We are considering Jessi for our avatar. What do you think of that choice? Jessi looks great. As always, remember that your choice of avatar should reflect the tone of your presentation, the vocal characteristics of your audio person, and the presentation's intended audience.













In this class we are using the APA style of source citation. What is the best way to insure that we are putting our sources in the correct APA format? Learn to use a citation machine. According to my experience the most accurate and easiest to use is the Bedford Bibliographer. I have made a video tutorial on how to use the Bedford: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFascioBK2M