Technology in Interpretation

Results: Digital Presentation Focus Group  

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Results of Digital Presentation Module Focus Groups

            The various categories that were developed from the transcripts can be broadly divided into two main sections.  First, many of the categories related to some sort of positive feedback about the technology training, which encourages similar incorporation into future courses.  Second, the other categories were suggestions for improvement, representing ideas for changing the training to enhance the student’s learning experience.  Based on the criteria set above, the most important positive feedback and suggestion categories will be listed with recommendations for the technology training.  The number of related participant responses follows each category.

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Digital Presentation Module: Positive Feedback

1.  The written step-by-step tutorials are an effective teaching method (33 responses):

            By far, the most discussed topics in the digital presentation focus groups related to an overall appreciation of the written tutorials.  These specific step-by-step instructions guided students in their discovery of Microsoft PowerPoint and scanning images.  Many students responded positively to the concise and detailed information built into each tutorial, while other students referred to the ease of using the step-by-step instructions.  Students especially liked the visual nature of the tutorials, complete with screen images, arrows, and color to help organize and clarify the skills being taught.  Individual comments from students in the digital presentation focus groups can provide additional meaning to this theme.

These [PowerPoint tutorials] have helped me so much.  I came into the project like, “Oh great, I have to learn this,” and it wasn’t that hard even for me, because you had it so specific.

They [PowerPoint tutorials] were very concise.  They had all of the steps you needed to do in them.  Didn’t take very long to do it.

I liked that they were really step-by-step.  You couldn’t really miss something.

I thought they were very user-friendly.  Very easy to essentially teach yourself.

You showed pictures.  [You] could always refer back to the pictures when you were doing it for real.  I am a very visual person.

The pictures are good because otherwise it is real difficult to find things.

I really like where you point to the buttons and describe them.  I thought that was very helpful because that was one of the harder things to figure out.

            Although the comments about the specificity and visual representation of the tutorials were positive, students had mixed emotions about the use of color.  The tutorials were originally printed in color to enhance the organization of information, and to increase the comprehension of skills by matching the computer screen with the paper tutorials.  Students overall liked the color, but had concerns about the financial and environmental repercussions of printing in color.  The following comments reveal these issues in more detail.

The color is helpful to see things, [but] I wonder how much that’s costing [the course].  The color was really helpful though.  I don’t know how you could really do this without putting it in color, because you really need to see the details.  Maybe looking into cheaper printing or something.

I liked having them in color, but I don’t think I needed them in color necessarily. 

I really liked the color.  I know it costs more to print them in color.  It made it more inviting to come in and take a look, and the fact that what was on the page mimicked the screen in every way including color really helped me to understand better.

I think it could be done in black-and-white.  The color adds but I don’t think it’s critical.

            The focus group responses justify the continuing incorporation of specific, detailed tutorials into future technology training.  These tutorials are not only well liked by the students, but serve as effective PowerPoint teaching tools.  As demonstrated by other comments, students feel comfortable using the skills they learned outside of class.  Graphics, screen images, and arrows are essential components of the tutorials.  Although the use of color resulted in mixed emotions, overall the benefits of using color to enhance comprehension seem to outweigh the costs involved with the printing.  The tutorials should continue to be printed in color for future courses.  To offset the printing costs, the course fee should be increased, or the tutorials should be purchased separately as a lab manual (see item #2 in the digital presentation suggestions section).

2.  Students use the tutorials and skills from the training module for other classes and presentations (16 responses):

            An interesting theme discussed by the focus group participants was the use of PowerPoint skills for other classes and projects.  This was a particularly important concept not included on the original question guide.  By using their skills in other situations, students demonstrate an acceptance and understanding of digital presentations development that goes beyond a single course.  This also supports the relatively high comfort levels reported by the students.  Many students responded that by using skills acquired through this training module, they had presented an effective PowerPoint program for another class or organization meeting.  A few students applied skills from this training, like scanning images, to other types of computer programs.  The following comments will demonstrate the breadth of this feedback.

I’m definitely glad I learned [PowerPoint].  I’m using it a lot this semester in a bunch of other classes I have.

These skills that we are learning carry over to other classes.  You could definitely tell the difference between the people that had the tutorials, and those that just put [PowerPoint presentations] together based on what they had done before.

I kind of looked forward to doing these [tutorials], because I knew this is something I will use after school all the time.  I know I’ll use it after school.  I kind of looked forward to learning more about it.

Since we are required to do PowerPoint [programs] and presentations, it’s nice to actually have a class that teaches it.

I use different skills from [the training], like… taking pictures [and] scanning pictures, not necessarily putting together a whole PowerPoint [presentation].  I have used various skills, like the sound option… for other things I’ve done. 

            One of the primary goals of this project is for students to be comfortable using technology skills in their professions after graduation.  The fact that so many students are already using these skills for other projects is very encouraging.  Students seem to comprehend and feel comfortable using digital presentations, and in this regard the training module is working successfully.  The training should definitely be an essential component of interpretation courses in the future.

3.  The take-home tutorial teaching method is preferred over an instructor-led course (16 responses):

            A core question of the focus groups was whether or not students believed that the chosen teaching method was effective for their learning.  In the digital presentation training module, the teaching method was a take-home tutorial that students completed as an assignment.  Besides a single 50-minute interpretive techniques lecture, no personal instruction was included in the training.  All participants unanimously agreed that the take-home tutorial method was the most appropriate way to teach the class.  Students believed that the detailed steps were easy to follow on their own, and that devoting more class time to the training would have been a waste.  Some students that had participated in both training modules contrasted the types of programs taught in each.  They agreed that PowerPoint was much more simple than the graphic editing and page layout programs taught in the desktop publishing module.  The following comments reiterate the preference of take-home tutorials.

I like the tutorials better than having someone go through it with you.  It was easy enough for me to do without having an instructor there. 

It would have been overkill to have an entire lab devoted to PowerPoint.  You were still available to help me [through e-mail].

I don’t think you really need a teacher there to tell you how to do it.  It’s pretty well said on paper for you.

The other applications [in the desktop publishing module] are much more complicated and necessitate having an instructor.  PowerPoint is not as complex and I think you can save time, energy, and goodwill among more experienced PowerPoint people.

            All focus group participants agreed that the take-home tutorials are superior to an instructor-led lab session for learning PowerPoint.  The tutorial teaching method should continue to be integrated into future training sessions. 

4.  Students are comfortable using PowerPoint and enjoy using it (14 responses):

            Another core question that the researcher hoped the focus groups would answer was how comfortable students felt using digital presentation skills.  Students who are comfortable and confident using technology skills are more likely to use those skills after graduation, and are more capable of learning other computer applications and equipment.  Overall, students reported that they would feel very comfortable using digital presentation skills in the future.  Some appreciated the additional skills that could be added to their resumes.  A few comments illustrate this high sense of confidence.

            I feel very comfortable.  It’s a great skill to have.

Thanks for giving me more things… to put on my resume.  It really made me comfortable using applications that I never used before.

A couple of students reported that they were comfortable using the skills, but the tone and wording of their answers seemed less confident than the others.  They stated:

            I feel much more confident than I [did] coming in, that’s for sure.

            [I would be comfortable] as long as I had the tutorials.       

            As it is currently designed, the digital presentation training module seems to effectively boost student confidence levels.  Students feel comfortable using these skills in other classes, which reflects how students may use the training after graduation.  When asked whether the PowerPoint training should be incorporated into future interpretation courses, all students believed that it should.  Like the other positive feedback categories confirm, the digital presentation lessons are essential components of the interpretive technology training.

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Digital Presentation Module: Suggestions

1.  Many students do not understand basic graphic concepts, like size and resolution.  The scanning tutorial should be rewritten (21 responses):

            Students feel comfortable using most of the digital presentation skills included in the training module.  However, many students reported difficulties working with images.  In a traditional 35-mm slideshow, every image has the same resolution and size, though the clarity depends on how well the camera was focused.  In PowerPoint, resolution and size are critical factors of an image’s clarity beyond the original focusing.  Despite being addressed in the scanning tutorial and during the techniques lecture, these concepts seem to be difficult for students to grasp. 

            Students reported that the tutorials taught them what pictures were at the correct size and resolution, but not why they needed to be these specific dimensions.  Others reported difficulties in understanding terminology, especially with the different types of graphics.  Apart from the general graphic concepts, the scanning tutorial specifically was an issue with most students.  Many were confused by the complex steps of the tutorial, and again wanted to know the reasons for scanning a certain way.  The following comments provide insight into this issue.

With the DPI’s (dots per inch) and the resolution, I don’t even still understand any of that, so maybe more explanation.  [The tutorial] tells you how to change [images] and everything, but I just don’t understand it at all.

I had big pictures and small pictures and I put the same things in all of those, and I was questioning if I was doing that right [and] if it was going to look right when it came up [on the screen].

I had difficulty later on doing my final presentation when scanning my pictures.  Resizing was confusing to me.  I knew I had to do it, and I knew what to put the measurements in, but I had no idea really what I was doing, or why I was doing it, or how it was changing my presentation.

I remember that the way [the tutorial] said to use the scanner seemed to me quite round-about.  It didn’t work for me for some reason the first time.  It was a different way than I had used a scanner.

            The difficulties encountered using and manipulating images is a serious one, especially since Microsoft PowerPoint is first and foremost a visual presentation.  Students need to be provided with the rationale behind resolution and size, and how those parameters affect the overall quality of an image.  More time needs to be devoted to these important concepts within the training module itself.  First, an “Image Tutorial” should be written to replace the ineffective scanning tutorial.  The image tutorial would introduce concepts of size and resolution in an easily understandable context.  These concepts can be applied to any graphic, whether it is scanned, taken with a digital camera, or saved from the Internet.  The tutorial would also include more specific instructions for using various scanners on campus and in the interpretation computer lab.  Second, a half-hour lecture session should also be devoted to digital images.  By using several different teaching methods, such as models, drawings, and relationships to other familiar things, an instructor could ensure that the majority of students in class comprehend the basic concepts of images.     

2.  Students feel that the tutorials should be available in a lab manual for purchase.  However, the tutorials should also be on reserve in the library and available online (19 responses):

            Due to the expense involved with printing the numerous tutorials, either the cost must be built into the course or another alternative must be decided upon.  Students in the focus group discussed this topic in great detail.  The issue of using color played into this category frequently.  Most students believed that the colored tutorials should be sold as a lab manual, available for easy reference in the future.  However, students also identified potential conflicts with experienced computer users that might see the lab manual as a waste of money. 

A potential solution offered by the students was to put the tutorials into public folders (an e-mail networking system that is available to all students in a specific course), allowing students to print out the guides with their own time and money.  This causes other problems, however.  Inexperienced computer users who would benefit from colored tutorials, for instance, might print off the tutorials in black-and-white from public folders since this alternative is much cheaper.  An additional alternative would be to keep the tutorials on reserve at the university library.  The following array of comments demonstrates this confusing issue.

Public folders.  They are there for you to reference, but I will only print it off if I feel I need the information a lot.  You pay for a certain number of pages to print, and I know I haven’t used mine at all, so I might as well use it.

Maybe you could keep a hard copy available at the circulation desk for someone who is having a hard time with computers. 

Public folders is a good idea and it saves a lot of paper.  But maybe the support of being able to get somebody hard copies if they need them. 

If it is a matter of fee, make it an option to purchase your tutorial manual for however much.  If you don’t want to purchase the already printed out copy, it is on public folders.

Just sell them in a binder.  You don’t have to deal with the bookstores.  You have the option to get them or not get them. 

            Through the jumble of comments and suggestions, a common theme seems to emerge.  Students would like the option of purchasing the colored tutorials as a lab manual, but they definitely want to keep it an option.  Raising the fees for the course may not be a viable alternative.  The use of public folders is another common thread that runs through the comments.  The tutorials are already available online through the researcher’s university website.  By placing them in the public folders, only students in the course would have access to them.

            For future training, the digital presentation tutorials (and possibly the desktop publishing tutorials) should be secured in a binder and sold to students as lab manuals.  The tutorials should also be placed into the university public folders as an alternative to the lab manual, or kept on the Internet for anyone to download.  However, students should be strongly encouraged to purchase the colored tutorials, which have the potential of increasing comprehension through more succinct organization and by closely linking the paper images with the computer screen. 

3.  Many students had problems incorporating sound into their presentations (13 responses):

            Beyond the problems associated with image concepts, students also had difficulty with some digital sound basics.  Students were encouraged to use sound effects and music in their presentations to enhance the emotional connections with the audience.  After viewing the final presentations, however, it became apparent that working with sound was a major issue, and the focus groups confirmed this assumption.  For many students, the sound simply did not work during their presentations causing frustration and undue worry.  Overall, students did not understand that the sound file needed to be saved along with the PowerPoint file, even though this information was included in the tutorial.  Student comments included:

A lot of people had trouble with sound… I know a lot of people that tried to put sound in their final project, and it either didn’t work or the computer wasn’t fast enough to make it go when they needed it to.

I had some problems with sound.  There were quite a few times when we had the icon and we pushed it, but we just didn’t hear anything.

Maybe like a whole one-time sound/video lab session, since those tend to be more complicated.  A lot of people forgot to put the sound file on the same zip disk as their presentation.

            Sound provides a unique opportunity for adding emotion and surprise to an interpretive program.  In order for students to effectively use sound, more time should be devoted to this topic in the training modules.  The last suggestion listed above seems to be the most appropriate solution to this problem.  After students complete the series of take-home tutorials, a follow-up lab session that focuses on incorporating sound and video would provide reinforcement of these more advanced skills (see #5 below). 

4.  Students would prefer 35-millimeter slide instruction (12 responses):

            The focus group method is powerful, because it allows open discussion among participants that can result in a variety of sometimes-unexpected results. One of the most interesting suggestions that arose from the focus groups was in reference to training that the researcher had not even considered: learning the traditional 35-millimeter slide methods.  In previous years, traditional slide programs were taught in great detail.  The class took a fieldtrip to the Instructional Media lab in the university library, where they learned how to take pictures of flat images using a specially designed camera, how to send in film for developing, how to burn words or line art into the image, and how to use slide projectors and dissolve units.  Since the emphasis has shifted so heavily to Microsoft PowerPoint in the past few years, the detailed 35-millimeter slide instruction was dropped from the course. 

            Students responded in the focus groups that they would still like to receive the 35-millimeter slide instruction.  They referred to the fact that many agencies and interpretive sites in the real world do not have access to digital presentation technology.  Slides are still commonly used for illustrated talks in the interpretive profession.  They suggested that training in using this traditional method be incorporated into the Oral Interpretation course.  The following comments illustrate this insightful recommendation.

There was a lot of emphasis on PowerPoint in my section.  PowerPoint doesn’t exist everywhere, and you might be better off bringing your own slides and actually stuff that makes your presentation run. 

It’s good that you brought it up, because PowerPoint isn’t everywhere, and is expensive for small non-profit places to have it.

I was even going to do slides, but [an instructor said] you should do PowerPoint.

It would be neat to take a day and go through how they produce the slides, instead of having each person do their own [program].

I think using slides will always be used.  I don’t think it will be terminated too soon in the future with technology.

            Students were correct that traditional slideshows are still a major interpretive tool in many sites throughout the country.  Ironically, so much emphasis has been placed on the more advanced computer techniques, that students now lack knowledge in using traditional technology, like slide projectors.  The efficiency, in terms of money and time, and the additional features, like sound and animation, still make PowerPoint a more appropriate interpretive medium for illustrated talks.  However, the 35-millimeter slide training should be reincorporated into future interpretation courses, so students at least have a basic understanding of traditional slideshow concepts.

5.  Some students would like to learn more about incorporating video into their presentations (8 responses):

            A final suggestion tied closely to using sound (see #3 above) is a more detailed training about digital video.  The final PowerPoint tutorial briefly touched upon the incorporation of movies into a presentation.  Students downloaded a movie from the Internet and inserted it into their program.  However, a few students wanted to digitize their own videos for use in PowerPoint, which was not covered in the tutorials or class.  The comments about this suggestion included:

In high school we learned how to take movies and put it into our PowerPoint.  In yours, you already had it and we just had to click on it.  That would be helpful to know how to do that, so you can put it all in one media.

One part that was difficult that might be nice to go through with the class, would be converting video over and installing that.  I had to go figure it out myself through someone in the library, which took hours and the quality was horrible, so I didn’t end up using it.  I think several other students in the class wanted to use video, but didn’t really know how.

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Digital Presentation Module: Subjective Skills Development Analysis

            Before each focus group, participants were encouraged to fill out a “Skills Development Questionnaire.”  For each particular piece of software and hardware, students indicated their perceived skill level before participating in the technology training and after participating in the training.  The skill level was based on a 10-point interval scale, with 1 indicating no skill at all and 10 indicating a mastery of the technology.  Since students subjectively interpret what each level between 1 and 10 represents, comparisons between absolute skill levels will not be useful (two students with the exact same skills, for instance, would still likely choose different skill levels).  However, the difference between the before-training and after-training skill levels yields some interesting information.  This represents subjectively on a scale from 1 to 10 how much a participant believes his or her skills improved from the technology training.  Table 3 includes the averaged results of the digital presentation training module. 

Table 3:  Results of Digital Presentation Skills Development Questionnaire

            Students believed that they had improved their skills by on average over 5 ranking points, which is half of the entire continuum.  Although this cannot be linked with the actual acquisition of knowledge and skills, students obviously felt that they had learned many of the skills taught in the training module.  Perhaps more than anything, these results confirm that students are comfortable and confident using digital presentation skills. 

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