iSean

i was excited when Apple released Keynote. Keynote is much like PowerPoint, but it also has a more professional look and feel. i jumped on board and started using it; however, in the back of my mind it just didn’t feel too new. so, i jumped off of the bandwagon shortly thereafter. instead, i have found just using the internet to be much more powerful and more natural. the topics that i typically would have used PowerPoint or Keynote for are most likely related to technology in some way and i often needed to get online to demonstrate this or that . . . why not start online and make the materials available to anyone? while i used Dreamweaver to make my presentations, i recently discovered another way — a wiki.

Donna DesRoches and Rob Wall did a presentation using a wiki last year and i just discovered it from Alec Couros who is doing something very similar. the wiki can be present as you walk the audience through your presentation and then the wiki remains for when the audience returns home (or gets online on the spot and follows along). or, could they log into and make changes while you are up there presenting? eek. while i am intrigued by the thought of using a wiki for a presentation — particularly because i am doing a presentation at the MACUL conference (Detroit) next month on wikis and textbooks — i am still not sure i can see this model into the future.

i note that Alec thought about using the materials on the DesRoches / Wall wiki and decided he didn’t want to “mess with their stuff” and that he wanted “control over his own work.” this is where i am getting hung up on things. i don’t know the protocol for using someone else’s personal wiki that is public. if i can create an account and make changes, will my changes still be there next month when i give my presentation or will the administrator revert to the version prior to my edits/revisions? will someone else come along and make changes before my presentation for their own needs? i don’t mind asking someone else if i can borrow their content for my own wiki, but i probably wouldn’t customize someone else’s wiki for my own needs. and, if i was really preparing for a presentation, i’d probably not want someone messing with my content either. hmmm. i like this model as a way to present and share information, but think i need to see it mature a bit before it becomes a PowerPoint killer . . . thoughts?

Technorati Tags: keynote, PowerPoint, wiki