U Training Consortium, Collaborating for Training Success

UTC Tech Tip of the Month

Resizing Images in Your Presentations is Easy!

By Thuy Nguyen
PR Specialist, Human Resources

Have you ever resized an image in a presentation and it just didn’t look right?  The person’s head was bigger than their body or the image was so warped it no longer looked the same?

As a graphics designer, I’ve seen many presentations where the images looked so distorted I wanted to stop and give the person a quick lesson. Images usually look distorted when they have been lengthened or widened to fit into a space on the page or screen. But there’s a way to resize an image and keep its original proportions.
 
It’s not hard…it’s a matter of knowing how to do it.

THE STEPS

After inserting the image into your presentation, do the following:

  1. Click on the image. Small dots will now appear on the corners of your image.
  2. Hover your mouse over the bottom right corner of your image. A double arrow will now appear.
  3. Hold down the shift key, click and hold your mouse, and then drag the mouse diagonally in towards the center of the image. This will make it smaller. If you want to make the image larger, just drag your mouse diagonally away from the image’s center.
  4. When you have the size you want, release the mouse and the shift key.

These instructions should work in any program: PowerPoint, Word, etc.  Following these easy steps will ensure that your images will never look alien-like again.  They will always maintain their proportions.



Training Toolbox: Encouraging Questions and Participation

By Dale Larsen, Education Service Librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library and Adriana Parker, Education Services Librarian, J. Willard Marriott Library

Here’s a scenario:

You’re faced with teaching a subject that is mercilessly boring.
Your audience is neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed.
You are bored (and boring!).
You have to make a good first impression.

What do you do?

In 2002, Cardiff University mandated a new information literacy program for first-year medical and biological sciences students.  Librarians Nigel Morgan and Linda Davies quickly realized that a traditional lecture style would not be suitable for the subject matter or the anticipatedly-large class sizes; thus began the Cephalonian Method.

The Cephalonian Method

The Cephalonian Method is a cooperative teaching technique that’s designed to engage students and promote information retention. Here’s how you do it:

  1. Create a list of questions related to your content.
  2. Write the questions on color-coded cards.
  3. Create an accompanying set of answers (PowerPoint, online demo, etc.).
  4. Pass cards out to students and have them read the cards as if they were asking you questions spontaneously.

So, rather than lecturing and waiting around for questions to occur, you can use the Cephalonian Method to bring out those questions that you always hope for, but never get (“I’m mortally afraid of librarians.  How can I use the library’s resources without talking to anybody?” or “I really, really need to know how to get rid of head lice.  Help me!”). 

Questions don’t need to be asked in any particular order—that’s where the color-coding comes in.  You can assign each sub-topic a different color for some amount of predictability (e.g. in the kind of library instruction we do, red cards could be used for questions about article databases, green cards for basic library information, and so forth).  When you come to a point in your training session where you are ready for a certain type of question, you can ask, “Who’s got a red question for me?”

In Cardiff University’s original version of the Cephalonian Method, answers to questions are presented on PowerPoint slides. However, we’ve found that answering questions verbally—with or without a visual aid—works just fine, too.  The big benefit of using PowerPoint or some other visual aid is that you can provide verbal answers PLUS textual answers with additional graphical information.

ad lib is essential

The ability to ad lib is essential.  Be prepared for the unexpected, like spontaneous questions that aren’t covered by the cards, learners who have special needs, or learners who are too shy to participate.  You can announce at the beginning of your session that those who don’t feel comfortable reading aloud may pass their card to a classmate.

Pacing is difficult to predict until you’ve tried this technique out once or twice.  Be aware that the process—especially the initial planning—can be time-consuming.

And if you’re devoid of humor . . . well, let’s just hope that you’re not. Making the question/answer format a little fun and light-hearted will keep your learners engaged, or at least awake, during those not-so-fun-sounding classes that every trainer faces at one time or another.  

resources

For additional information, check out:

Morgan, N., & Davies, L. (2004). Innovative Library Induction: Introducing the
Cephalonian Method. Society of College, National and University Libraries
(SCONUL) Focus, 32. Retrieved April 22, 2009, from
www.sconul.ac.uk/publications/newsletter/32/2.pdf

You can also contact one of us! We use the Cephalonian Method regularly in our classrooms, and we would be more than happy to help you reach the level of self-actualization we have achieved through it (like you, we are continuously learning and finding ways to improve our instruction).  

Survey Says . . . UTC Assesses Trainers’ Needs

By Andrea Brown, Director, Training and Development, Human Resources

In June 2009, the U Training Consortium (UTC) sent a needs-assessment survey to our members and other trainers across campus. Questions covered topics such as the UTC website, UTC newsletter, and training resources in general.  The response rate was 35%, and those who participated provided valuable information that will help us plan and prioritize over the next two years. We are still analyzing the data, but some of the initial results show that a majority of the people we surveyed:

  • want the UTC to provide more tips and tools to help them become better trainers; this was the number one priority people expressed
  • would be interested in attending a training conference sponsored by UTC
  • would like to learn more about assessing the needs of learners

utc's response to survey

The UTC plans to respond to the needs identified in this survey by adding new features to the website and providing other resources to trainers campus-wide. We will publicize these efforts through the newsletter and through our mailing list.

how to join utc

We also learned something that surprised us: many trainers had not heard of the U Training Consortium and did not know how to join or participate. To learn more about the UTC, please visit our website at www.training.utah.edu.  If you want to become a member, please click on the “Join Us” button on the UTC homepage and follow the instructions.  Membership is free and will allow you access to the “Membership Resources” portion of the website; it will also ensure you receive emails about upcoming meetings and events. 

utc meetings

UTC meetings are held the second Friday of every month from 11:00 am to 12:00 noon.  For meeting locations, agenda items, and learning topics, feel free to join the UTC to begin receiving monthly emails.  Please email any questions you have by clicking on the “Contact Us” button on the UTC homepage.  We also welcome your continued suggestions about how to assist you in all your training needs!

Don’t Just Dream It, Do It: Writing for the UTC Newsletter

By Melanie Hawks, Learning and Development Coordinator, J. Willard Marriott Library

Contrary to popular myth, the editorial office of the UTC Newsletter is not a smoke-filled room where fortunes are won or lost, reputations made or destroyed. The Utah Indoor Clean Air Act prohibits us from smoking, and we only have a cubicle.

send us your idea

If you’ve ever wondered how you could join the ranks of our illustrious contributors, here is the secret: send us an idea. Our readers have told us that they want more, more, more—more tools, more resources, more information. This means that we need more writers, and since we do not have a competing campus training newsletter to steal them from, we are now making this public appeal.

types of articles

What kind of ideas are we looking for? Each newsletter usually includes two or three feature articles, one training toolbox article, one review/recommendation, and one tech tip.

Feature Articles (250-600 words): highlight a program or service relevant to trainers at the University; describe training technologies; announce upcoming training-related events or opportunities.

Training Toolbox Articles (250-600 words): describe/provide examples of pedagogical approaches, instructional models, classroom management strategies, and specific techniques related to all aspects of training (design, delivery, evaluation, etc.).

Reviews/Recommendations (150-400 words): suggest training-related resources that readers will find useful; resources include books, articles, Web sites, instructional technologies, and classes.

Tech Tips (75-150 words): provide “how to” information related to workplace technology; do not need to be specific to trainers or training.

You don’t even have to be a UTC member; if you’ve got something our readers can use, we want to hear from you! Please contact Melanie Hawks with your idea. Please don’t send completed pieces, but send a brief description with as much of the following information as you can:

Topic: What is the subject of the article?
Purpose: What is the article intended to do? How will it help/inform readers?
Target Audience: Whom are you trying to reach? Whom will the article apply or appeal to?
Format: Which section of the newsletter does the article belong in? (feature, review/recommendation, tech tip, or training toolbox)

Contributing an article to the UTC Newsletter is a great way to participate in the Consortium even if you can’t come to meetings or serve on one of our committees. It’s also a great way to spread the word about your training programs, share your knowledge & expertise, and impress those so-called friends who laughed when you told them about your dream of one day writing for us.