Reflecting on Presentations - How can I do that better?

 

We have all heard the dreaded words “This will need to be presented in front of the class with a accompanied slide show and written script  to hand in….marks will be reduce if the work is not orally presented”. The basic PowerPoint and speech assessment always ill fitting ,seemingly pointless in relation to criteria or academic/ individual development, how am I supposed to talk about that for 10 minutes?? How does it promote higher order of thinking if students are just regurgitating what they heard in class? Well luck for us in newer years there has been an influx of new approaches to presenting for both teachers and students, so the dreaded oral assessment begins to take a new shape.

I believe when looking to apply a present in front of a class or assign a presentation assessment it most is important to consider different ways of presenting knowledge – stepping away from the well know and perhaps over used Office provided tools like PowerPoint in to using things such as; comic life, google slides, visme, easely or prezi. These site and programs are easy to use with follow along instructions making integration in to the class room a breeze. It is also important to consider which presentation mode best suits the outcomes your are aiming for your students to have. Followed by which digital tool would be suited to the different types of learners in your class room; from low level learners to higher level learners or kinesthetic to auditory learners. Students now have access to previously unimaginable tools to not only enhance but redefine their learning. I personally took an interest in mysimpleshow which is a webtool that allows students to make videos which include audio, writing and visual prompts. Mysimpleshow is easy to use as it begins with an introduction video and has a wide range of story templates to pick from in relation to professional, personal and education outlines. This site allows students to start through writing a script which gives prompts sand examples along the way or the option to begin by uploading an already made PowerPoint. Mysimpleshow allows for a never ending amount of possibilities giving creators access to different drawings to selects from, in what ever colour is desired, students can even pick from a range of different narrators voices and are given the option of subtitles. If you follow this link it will take you to an example video I did with in a few minutes and by following along below you can see  a sneak peak the behind the scenes processes taken to make my example video. If you would like to seem more click here to be transported to mysimpleshow so you can create your own.

Photos by author

 Whiles creating my video I saw how easy it was to share or post my creation in a range of places, so it is important to remember when using these presentation tool that students are being legal, safe and ethical. Many presentations site allow for a privacy setting which can be applied; mysimpleshow for example has the option to upload to any social media, to just create the video privately  or to share a link via email. This email option creates endless possibilities for when students are creating whether it be for a formative and summative assessment or perhaps just a unique way of reflecting and summarizing a lesson for themselves to use later or share with friends. Looking at presentations in relation to Blooms taxonomy and the SAMR Model shows a transformation from the old school 6 minute oral presentations that all sound the same for example;

Level 1-Subsitution allows students to instead of just writing a speech are able to design an accompanying PowerPoint. This promotes a low order of thinking allowing students to only show recall and understanding.

Level 2 – Augmentation sees students inserting videos and photos to their slides to play and show as they give a speech. This approach gives students the ability recall, understand and apply.

Level 3 – Modification could allow students using the audio option on PowerPoint to voice over parts of their slides that can be played instead the video inserted; this creation of their own media allows for higher order thinking and allows students to recall, understand, apply, analyze and create.

Level 4 – Redefinition see students using the PowerPoint audio option to speak their entire speech and submit their own video or using a platform such as mysimepleshow to create a video and script.  This allows for higher order thinking as it makes use of student’s ability to remember, understand, apply, analyses, create and evaluate their own work before submitting.

As a teacher this same approach could be flipped and used when teaching content; programs like mysmipleshow are just brushing the surface of ways to redefine and improve  presentation. There are a range of interactive presentations like interactive google maps which allow teachers to create their own private section of map, a 360 interactive room with VR to get student engaged and even an online museum for students to explore. I am still only new to the digital world and discovering more every day, admittedly at times it can still be overwhelming but it is essential to ensure that I can give my students the best outcomes possible.

Therefore until next time- Just keep learning✌