1. Unit 1 – Improving Productivity Instructions ~ 100 words per box

2. 1.1Why did you use a computer? What other systems / resources could you have used? I used a computer because it is quicker and easier to write and find information, it is quicker because you don’t have to worry about your handwriting or spaces between letters etc. also if you do make a mistake it is easy to erase it. I could have used books to find information but it might take longer to find it, I could have used pen & paper instead of a computer but it takes longer and isn’t as accurate as using a computer. You can draw accurate shapes and change the font of your writing so that anybody can read it so that nobody isn’t able to understand and view your presentation. With computers you can easily distribute and share your work so it is quicker than printing large amounts of work and posting them or giving them to individual people.

3. 1.2What skills did you need to learn in order to use PowerPoint? To use PowerPoint you need to know how to use a computer, not in an advanced way just a way that you can click and type, it is easy to use PowerPoint so you don’t need to be skilled in using computer, almost anybody can use PowerPoint so anybody can make a presentation and distribute it easily. PowerPoint isn’t complicated so it makes it easy to access and use by anybody that need to use it. A lot of the skills needed to operate PowerPoint you learn in primary school but in primary school you learn to just put some things on the PowerPoint you don’t learn about making the PowerPoint suitable to a specific audience e.g. younger children. When you learn a bit more of PowerPoint you learn about the layouts that suit different presentation.

4. 1.2What resources did you need to make the presentation successful? To make the presentation successful I needed electricity so that using the computer was possible, a computer so that I could use the programs like PowerPoint, PowerPoint so that I could make the presentation, the internet to research things that go with the presentation, the shared area to get images and videos for the presentation, if I didn’t use images and videos then it would be harder for anybody looking at the presentation to understand what things were actually like.

5. 1.4What factors might have affected how well you completed the presentation? (e.g. time / attendance / knowledge of software) Factors that could have effected how well I completed the task are things like distractions around me, people talking and shouting across the class and then the teacher shouting at people shouting, not hearing the instructions clearly could also affect the way that the task is complete. Being pulled out of lessons could also stop you from completing the task because I can only do the work in school time and not at home. People stopping the teacher from teaching could also be an issue because if the teacher isn’t teaching what we need to do the task them the task can’t be complete or will be complete to a lower quality than required.

6. 1.6Why did you use PowerPoint to make your presentation? What other software was available? Why did you choose not to use them? I used PowerPoint to make my presentation because in PowerPoint you can add videos that represent your PowerPoint, this makes PowerPoint better because you can add a video that correspond to the presentation you are doing. You can add buttons that can take you to a website that goes along with your PowerPoint, this makes PowerPoint a better option because you don’t have to scroll all the way up and down a document you can just add a button that goes to a specific slide. There are slides that you can use for quick navigation of different slides instead of scrolling up and down all the way through the document also you can change your background and/or layout depending on what suits your presentation. I didn’t use other programs because with PowerPoint you have more freedom to do what you like with your presentation.

7. 1.7Were there any legal constraints or local constraints that changed the way you created your presentation? (e.g. copyright, file sizes, AUP) Legal constraints such as copyright didn’t affect my work but could have affected my work in the way that pictures and videos could have been copyrighted meaning that I couldn’t use their pictures in my presentation, however local constraints such a file sizes did affect me because I had to find a smaller sized video so that I could save and email the presentation. The AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) didn’t affect me negatively because I used everything that was shared to everybody to use so I wasn’t worrying about breaking rules going on different websites searching for images, videos etc. However it affected me positively because in the AUP it states that the computers aren’t allowed to be damaged therefore my work is safer and it also states that nobody else is allowed to log onto my account so my work wont be tampered with.

8. 2.2Which tools within PowerPoint made it appropriate for your presentation? Buttons, they let you transition between slides quicker, they made PowerPoint a better option because there's multiple slides on PowerPoint so its easier to get from one place to another. Slide transitions, adds an animation when you switch between slide, it makes PowerPoint a better option because it makes switching slides more attractive for the viewer - Videos, adds a length of video to the presentation, makes PowerPoint a better option because you can add a custom video if you need to so you can make the presentation more relevant. Charts, lets you add a statistic in the form of a chart e.g. bar chart, charts make PowerPoint a better option because you can show amounts of value using a chart making the presentation more professional. Hyperlinks, hyperlinks let you link a website directly from the presentation, hyperlinks make PowerPoint a better option because you can make it faster to get to websites straight from the presentation, like linking a video.

9. 2.4What improvements do you think you could do to your presentation? Improvements I could do to my presentation are things like adding background music so that the presentation isn’t boring and bland also I could add variation in the background colours, add more information or more slides with more information on them or I could made the information that was already on the PowerPoint more clear I could also add more animations or images to fill the empty space in my presentation I could change the format of certain images to give it a more professional look, giving it a more professional look is better because it shows skill when using PowerPoint showing that you can make better PowerPoints in the future.

10. 3.2What improvements do you think you could have done to improve your work rate? (keyboard shortcuts, file names & locations, backups, work after school, templates, planning) To improve my work rate I could have used more keyboard shortcuts like ctrl+z or ctrl+y to undo and redo mistyped words instead of using backspace all the time, also I could have attended catch up sessions to get to the same level that everybody else. Planning my presentation before I start it would increase the work rate because everything is already planned all you need to do is copy the plan and edit parts that need to be edited. I sped up my work rate by saving all the relevant files in the same place so that they are easy to find and easy to access once needed.