Thursday, August 20, 2009

SlideShare



My experiences with SlideShare have not been good. I have spent countless hours attempting to create a synchronised slide show but to no avail. It began with problems downloading the powerpoint presentation. When I had finally sorted that out the problems really began. I used Audacity to create an MP3 file with few problems, I even found the option to change the pitch of voice, and I created a child's voice effect very simply. However I was unable to load this file onto slideshare through the slidecast process. I tried downloading the file from my own computer with no success (I checked several times and it was saved and operating as an MP3 file) so I saved the MP3 to Archive.com and attempted to load from there but still with no success. The error messages I was receiving suggested that my problem may have been with the site server, so I tried over a three day period but still with no success. Considering the hours I have spent, I would not be able to justify that time commitment when I was working full-time in a classroom. So my assessment of SlideShare is that due to the technical problems that I encountered, I would look for an alternative to this site.


Considering the alternatives I would probably just create a photostory (where I can link sound or music unlike SlideShare which only hosts voice files). My photostory could then be posted to a file storage site, such as MediaFire for storage and distribution. Other options I discovered include a site called Slide.com. This is also a free slide sharing site that hosts music and voice files and it may or may not be more reliable.


What I have learned from this experience is that there are times when you have to acknowledge that the technology is not working for you and you need to consider alternatives.


I have been able to upload my presentation however I can't even get it to post to my blog as I keep getting a Blogger message saying that there is a hosting problem. I have cut & pasted the link to the presentation, so hopefully at least this will be accessible.


2 comments:

  1. Hello,

    I am from SlideShare. Found this post through Technorati.

    Its unfortunate that you had problems in creating a slidecast. We'd like to understand this better and help out if possible. Please email me at amit AT slideshare DOT com.

    rgds

    Amit

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  2. Hi Amit,

    I was also disappointed that I was unable to create the slidecast. The initial problems with the presentation were sorted out, it just took some time to be able to view, however my major problems were with making a slidecast. No matter how hard I tried I was unable to get my mp3 file to process through to the synchronisation stage. It continually failed to load and provided me with an error suggesting a problem with the server. Any ideas?

    btw, thanks for you comment

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