Ask Mike...

Mike Floyd, Computer Specialist at The Teaching Center, 935-6810, mfloyd@wustl.edu

Q: My students often prepare multimedia presentations using PowerPoint, then have trouble getting the presentations to run on the classroom computers. Such problems lead to lost time in the classroom each time a student presentation is scheduled. What can I do to help my students prevent these problems?
A: I suggest telling your students to follow these steps when preparing a PowerPoint presentation:

1. Use common fonts, such as Arial or Times New Roman. Formatting problems are likely to occur when you use fonts that the PowerPoint software on the classroom PCs does not recognize, including fonts unique to Mac applications and newer fonts such as those only available in Microsoft Office 2007 products. An additional bonus is that Arial and Times New Roman are some of the easiest fonts for people to read.
2. Save the presentation on a jump drive. If you are using Microsoft PowerPoint 2007, save the presentation in a PowerPoint ‘97-2003 format. Failing to do so will create a document that will not open on the classroom PCs.
3. Save any video files on the same jump drive, so that the jump-drive version of your presentation will be able to find and play the video files. To save a video file, simply “click and drag” it from the hard-drive folder to your jump-drive folder. Unlike photo files (with file extensions such as .jpg, .gif, and .tiff), video files (with file extensions such as .avi, .mov, .qt, .mpg, and .mpeg) are not “embedded” in the PowerPoint document; instead, they are “linked” to the file itself, which is stored elsewhere--most likely on the hard drive on which the presentation is created.
4. Always leave plenty of time to test your presentation on another PC. Don’t assume that because it runs on the computer on which you created it, it will run on another machine without any problem. Ideally, you should do a test-run of your presentation on the same classroom PC you will use during class. If that is not possible, test your presentation on one of the PCs in the Arts & Sciences Computing Center in the lower level of Eads Hall or in any typical classroom on the Danforth campus (not in residential hall classrooms).Testing the presentation on a PC is especially important for Mac users, who will need to identify and resolve beforehand any formatting or other problems that result when a presentation created on a Mac is converted to run on a PC.