About ITIT for StudentsIT for FacultyIT for StaffServicesHelpDocumentationIT Home

Technology Tip of the Week - January 24, 2007

Comparing PowerPoint Presentations Side-by-Side

If you are like me you are always changing your PowerPoint presentations and then saving multiple copies in different locations. This means you always have a copy of your presentation but sometimes it makes it difficult to remember what you changed in each revision. Of course you can always check the dates of the files to determine the latest version, but you can also open up two versions in side-by-side windows to compare the content of each slide.

To open two different files side-by-side:

  1. Open your first PowerPoint presentation (File - Open)
  2. From the menu bar choose View - Normal
  3. Open your second PowerPoint presentation (File - Open)
  4. From the menu bar choose  View - Normal
  5. From the menu bar, click on Window - Arrange All (you may have to click on the double arrow to see this choice)

You should now see your two presentations side-by-side and can alternate between the two to compare each slide. By the way, this works with documents in Microsoft Word too!

Note: You can also quickly copy a slide from one presentation to the other by clicking on a slide in one window and dragging it over to the list of slides in the other window. Wasn't that easy?

For more help with these features, please contact one of the IT Instructional Support team (Norm Grant, Gene Grande or Linda Beith) or faculty mentors Tony Basilico or Kathy Beauchene.

Website of the Week

Designing Learning Spaces that Promote Engagement

There is a national discussion going on about how a classroom environment affects learning and there are many schools experimenting with different classroom designs. Estrella Mountain Community College in Arizona has transformed 22  traditional classrooms into "Learning Studios" that explore the flexible integration of space, furnishings and technology. For their report (and a glimpse of their new spaces) see: http://www.estrellamountain.edu/awareness/studio.asp.

Feel free to post your thoughts or opinions of this site in the Teaching Forum message board.

These tips are provided by the Department of Information Technology instructional support team. If you have any questions on these tips, or wish to offer your own, please feel free to contact Linda Beith at lbeith@ccri.edu. View an archive of past technology tips at http://it.ccri.edu/Training/Tips/tip_week.shtml.
Go to top of page