Prezi vs. PowerPoint

PowerPoint and Prezi both have the same idea in mind; both are made to give presentations in an appealing way. PowerPoint is a program that must be purchased and downloaded onto a PC or Mac, where as Prezi has a free option that only requires you to have access to the Internet. PowerPoint is a more linear and structured program that gives the option of one side after another slide. Prezi is a more open concept where there is no set structured layout that users are limited to like the linear slide-to-slide option PowerPoint has.  In PowerPoint there are many options that allow differentiation of the very plain slide-to-slide method.  PowerPoint offers a variety of transitions, animations, and sounds to distinguish slide shows from one another.  Although I am not incredibly familiar with Prezi I do know that you can create whatever path you would like and Prezi formats it as if you are moving on a map. Prezi gives you a grid where you can make something as big or as small as you would like, and when your ready to view it you can zoom in as if it were normal sized. Like PowerPoint, Prezi offers templates that you begin with to start you off in the right direction and then you can customize them and make the presentation your own. For people who want a very straightforward organized presentation I would tell them to use PowerPoint, however if you were looking for some less conventional and new I would say to try out Prezi.  

Prezi Presentation over GBU 310

Programs of GBU 310

My Web Use

Over the course of the semester I have learned about several different Web 2.0 programs, some of which I will use in the future and some that I will not. Some of the sites I plan on using in the future include: Facebook, Twitter, and Wikispaces.  Facebook and Twitter are both good sites to connect with other people both personally and professionally, and I feel like I will keep better contact with other people using these sites than I would if I was using other methods of communication. I had never heard of Wikispaces before this semester and I think by far it is the most useful tool I have learned to use, and I will definitely use it in the future to work with groups. Today people are using the Internet more commonly as a source of communication to share information, and socialize. Also in the workforce it is becoming more normal to need to know multiple ways of contacting not only coworkers but also clients. I have learned a lot about how my information is public and how I need to protect myself so I don’t have to worry about future employers looking my name up and finding my private information. The Internet is becoming a place where you can find information within tenths of seconds and people need to learn whatever you put out there is not private, so protect yourself. Overall I would say this course helped me learn a lot about different Web 2.0 technologies and how I can use them to my advantage.

Wordle

My Wordle cloud based off my blog!
Website used to create: Wordle

Finding Yourself

Today I went to Google and began by just searching my name without any quotes around it and Google found 7,030,000 results related to my name within 0.20 seconds. The results showed a lot of my accounts including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. I’m amazed by what just googling my name found, and partially freaked out that people can so easily find information about me. When I added quotes around my name the search was narrowed down to 714 results. It is amazing at what future job employers will be able to find, and now I know that I need to watch what I say and post on my personal pages, and accounts because it may interfere with future opportunities.

SlidesShare

Here's a little show that I found on SlideShare about how businesses are using Facebook. Hope you enjoy!

Facebook For Business from Firebelly Marketing

Privacy Policy

Pinterest is a website that allows users to share pictures of a multitude of things, like recipes, fashion, crafts, and much more. Pinterest's Privacy Policy allows them to access any information you give them when you register, plus any information on the profiles you may link to your account like Twitter or Facebook. They use this information to help customize your account to show you boards that you may find more appealing. Also they use this information to send out newsletters, and help better their products for the future. The Privacy Policy that is posted on Pinterest's website does not mention what should happen if there is a breach in security, which is a concern for me personally. After reading the privacy policy I'm going to check to see what information they can access of mine and make sure in the future that I do not post anything I consider personal.

DIGG

Digg.com is a website that holds several links to popular news stories and links to the most recent news stories. This website also gives a list of the most shared stories in the past 18 hours which in my opinion is nice because you can quickly find some of the most popular stories. Looking through the website I noticed that there are a variety of stories, which is a lot like traditional news sites. I personally like the idea of Digg.com much more than traditional news sites because I can see what others are interested in and quickly access the more popular stories that other people will most likely talk about. Digg.com allows you to easily access the stories by one click anywhere in the story’s box. The only downside to Digg.com would be its appeal; I personally like websites that contain more color rather than a bland white background. Overall I would say that Digg.com is a very good website that I would use in the future.

Digg

Social Networking in Business

Social networking has become increasingly important not only in peoples’ social lives but also in their work lives. A lot of companies are now integrating social networks into their everyday ways of communicating with employees. Not only are companies using social media to communicate with their employees but they also use it to communicate with their customers, and advertise to their customers.

Companies like Red Robin and SuperValu are using social networks to make connections between the leaders and all of the employees at every level. Social networks allow company employees to see whom they are working with and get to know more about co-workers that may live in different locations. These networks help co-workers get to know each other on a more personal level and help employees understand each other better. Also a lot of companies, like Red Robin, are creating internal social networks, these networks are a lot like Facebook.  The internal social networks help speed up the delivery and feedback of important information that is passed from different ends of the company.

In addition to making connections within companies, social networks are helping communications with customers. Companies can get feedback from their customers that will ultimately help improve their products. Social networks allow companies to communicate on several levels with customers; companies can offer deals that bring in more customers, and also receive feedback about customers’ overall experience. Social networks are helping companies connect with employees and customers, which ultimately helps the companies improve.

Article: Social Media is Reinventing How Business is Done 

Company Use of RSS

Motorola uses Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to help enhance their intranet, by allowing RSS feeds to combine internal and external web sources. Motorola wants to replace e-mail newsletters with another sort of online tools, like a blog, or RSS feed. The company promotes sharing of information and asking questions through internal services. During a study done on Motorola it was discover that several employees leave work with at least 30 unread emails each day and that employees are open to new technology as long as training is available to help them better understand. Also employees revealed that they would be able to manage the online communication if fellow colleagues learned simple etiquette rules. RSS feeds can only be successful if the employees clearly understand the principle and rules. First Motorola began by getting the support of their managers.  Next Motorola provided training in different ways like classroom training and online short videos with quick tips. After the training employees that use RSS feeds are able to merge news in one place, which in turn condenses what could have been multiple emails over one topic. The RSS feeds will never completely take the place of emails, however RSS feeds can be a useful tool to those who understand how to use them. 

Article: How Motorola Uses Social Media to Help Manage Information Overload

Google Reader

Using Google Reader is quite easy once you realize what you are doing. Google Reader allows you to put news feeds from all of your favorite websites in one place, which is very convenient and efficient if you are in a hurry. You can customize your subscriptions to fit what news you want to receive and cut out all news that you normally avoid; it is like a personal news site that will keep your interest.  Also Google Reader is iPhone capable, I easily accessed it through the Internet on my phone and it has a mobile view, which is very appealing for people constantly on the go. However when using Google Reader I did notice that it is not the most eye appealing, it is just plain black and white with hints of orange, which to me personally is very boring. Another downside to Google Reader is the fact that you can’t subscribe to all websites, some websites do not offer a RSS, for those websites your have to visit them separately.  Overall Google Reader is a very effective and efficient way to receive your own personal news feed.

Xtranormal on Wikispaces

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/14198254/wikispaces

Wiki

Over the past several years technology has increased in the workplace allowing employees to be able to share their work more easily. Employees often work with other coworkers and have to share information relevant to their assigned tasks, wikis is a great source to help multiple people share information and be able to all edit the information in a practical manner. Wiki is an online tool that helps groups of people collaborate in one place; wikis allow people to share attachments and links also.
Several companies are bringing wikis into the workplace to share information with not only the employees but also the clients, some of the companies that are amongst these are Pixar, Carbon Five, and Red Ant. Other companies use wikis for collaboration within the companies for internal discussions, blogs and RSS feeds; companies that use wikis this way include: Disney, Motorola, Yahoo, New York Times, and DrKW. Many technology companies like IBM, SAP, and Sony Ericsson use wikis to share development idea networks, which is quite convenient. More and more companies are using technology in the workplace and they will continue to grow in the online world with sites like wikis that are easy to navigate and practical for working with groups.


The article used as a reference for this blog:
Using Wikis for Collaboration and Enhancing Organizational Knowledge

Photo

 

 

Myself and my brother Chance in Estes Park, CO during Christmas Break.

Introduction

Hi, I'm Savannah. I am twenty years old, born July 9th, 1992. I currently go to SFA and look forward to going to optometry school after I graduate May 2014. I am the middle child in my family, I have an older sister, Constance, who is twenty-four and a younger brother, Chance, who is fifteen years old. My favorite website would probably be Facebook because I enjoy looking at what my friends that went to other universities are up to. My second favorite website would probably be Yahoo because it has interesting news stories and that's where I get my email. My third favorite website would probably be Pinterest, I love getting ideas from other people on how to braid my hair, what to wear, and see funny little quotes. I tend to spend a lot of time on the computer for school and personal reasons. I get my news and weather updates from the internet, it is really easy and a lot faster than watching the East Texas news, which is not all that great. That's just a little information about me and my internet usage.