Blog Post #3: Presentations
There is a vast array of presentation tools available for teachers to utilize in the classroom. Thats right, it doesn't just have to be a boring old title and content slide on a PowerPoint. But don't get me wrong, PowerPoints can still be be designed and used to engage students in an enriching learning experience with their own creative control, with the additional of a few things...
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Upgrade your PowerPoint game
PowerPoint can and should be used as a tool to support oral presentations in school, but if it is, at least add some digital media to improve the teaching and learning in your classroom. As visual and kinaesthetic learning is far more effective than auditory learning on its own (Cole, 2014). There are multiple options to add and embed digital media such as images, audio, and video into PowerPoint slides. Furthermore, there are a multitude of visual effects and designs that can be incorporated to make the presentation more visually appealing to the students and thus engages them in learning. On top of this, is the opportunity to embed text or recorded video and audio into PowerPoint slides. Post Covid-19 world, this is an ideal tool for teachers to understand and use. Teachers can record lecture notes into the text section or record themselves speaking for students to review in their own time. Much like our recorded zooms for this course. Even if students are present in the lesson, there is the opportunity for students to return to the file and review the content at a later time. These recorded PowerPoint can be saved and uploaded as a file for students to view, for example, the file could be uploaded to SlideShare, which can then be shared to communication and file storing platform such as a class websites on Google Sites, Microsoft Teams or OneNote. PowerPoints can also have interactions embedded that create a "storybook" mode for students to explore. With some cleverly placed text-boxes and hyperlinking, students can use a PowerPoint to answer questions and get immediate feedback, which is also a key component of effective learning for students.
Student Presentations
PowerPoint presentations should not just be used by the teachers, it should also be used by students. Creating PowerPoints can be a deep and enriching learning process. You can't deny it that as a teacher, making PowerPoints is either fun and/or educational! I know from experience, that reading a PowerPoint made by someone else and creating my own are two very different things. I come out of the former knowing surface level content and having to regularly revise the slide for information, whereas I come out of the latter feeling more confident and cable with the content. Students will feel the same! Get your students to create a PowerPoint on a given topic and see what they can come up with. Of course give them some criteria to lead them on the right path, but this process allows students creative control over their learning and is a rich and engaging strategy for students to learn.
Other Tools:
There are of course presentation platforms other than Microsoft PowerPoint for teachers and students to use. Some examples include Comic Life, Google Slides, and Visme to name a few. All of which provide teachers and students with a wealth of learning experiences intended to enrich learning.
References:
Cole, D. (2014). A message from your brain: I'm not good at remembering what I hear. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/140312-auditory-memory-visual-learning-brain-research-science?fbclid=IwAR2p_kwlrLmTEGeBVka85mx_OohidWZ8rgfxsknNXoz9b3CTKl91njsdKMg