Yesterday had been looming ominously for weeks. The knowledge that we had to complete a PowerPoint presentation summing up our Exploring Futures module was daunting enough but never having used or even opened PowerPoint before made it even more so…Anyway, I found to my delight that the programme is actually very easy to use (although I only scratched the surface of the surface...) and is great fun to play around with, so then came the unforeseen problem of not making the presentation too long!! We each had 15 minutes: 10 for the presentation and 5 for Q&A sessions afterwards. I was on first, which had the advantage of meaning I could get mine out of the way and relax while I watched my friends, and the disadvantage of not seeing how they presented theirs first! After a worrying few moments at the beginning when it looked as though I wasn't going to be able to use the "presenter mode" I'd set it up on and where my vital notes were lurking, it went OK and I was quite pleased with it, particularly graphically. I think I probably had too much content by trying to cover a bit of each aspect of the module. As there were many different and equally interesting facets, I may well have been better advised to select a few from the whole. The timing worked pretty well with just a couple of slides rushed at the end. Several of the other students gave more informal presentations and I liked some of the personal approaches. Still, it was a part of what is proving to be a huge learning curve and prodded me into developing another skill/ability.
It was a great day, fascinating to hear each person's experiences. It's extraordinary how one module, albeit such a full one, can generate so many different responses. Still, it was a stressful few weeks with it hanging over me and I'm glad it's finished. Now I just have to finish my journal and folder and deliver all the work for the final assessment…..It'll be interesting to see what's next on this inspiring and challenging course. Watch this space…..