Presentations

Presentations are a useful tool that allows the creator to tell a story, this is often constructed through images, words and other media sources in a sequence. The main aim of presentations is to collectively use text and media to persuade or educate and inform, images within a presentation should not merely be aesthetically pleasing but hold meaning and contribute to conveying the message of the presentation. 

PowerPoint

Almost everyone will be familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint as a program that provides presentation creation and it continually progresses its software to keep up with modern technologies and offer up to date medias to be embedded such as 3D imagery. 

Using PowerPoint is a great tool to not only present information but have students interact. Creating an interactive PowerPoint is actually quite straightforward once you know how to do a few tricks such as linking words to pages and embedding video loops. 

I managed to create a quick interactive PowerPoint on movement and anatomy in less than 30 minutes. I created a continuous loop presentation that would provide information on movement that could be accessed within the interactive PowerPoint presentation, I exported the continuous loop presentation as a video and was surprised at how easy this was to include.

Creating a continuous loop presentation

Saving the continuous loop to video format to embed in the next presentation

Here is the link to the interactive PowerPoint presentation I created, have a play around with the various linked buttons and if you have any feedback I would love to hear it: Interactive Presentation

SAMR

The tools and capabilities available in PowerPoint presentations mean that they are a great resource or task to use in the classroom to progress along the SAMR model. 

S- substitution level

The way in which students can use a PowerPoint at the substitution level would be by accessing a PowerPoint presentation that the teacher has created and following the instructions rather than it being written on the whiteboard or discussed by the teacher. The student would therefore answer questions on the presentation rather than write them in their workbook.

A- Augmentation level

Some students may prefer to record their answers in various other methods instead of writing. By following information on the PowerPoint presentation provided to them they could then answer the question section by adding in an audio file or video file that allows them to speak to demonstrate their understanding through their preferred learning style. This could be scaffolded with audio prompts for low-level learners and can give extension questions for faster learners.

M- Modification level

At this level, the task is adapted so that students respond in a way that is more interactive and creative. Students could therefore create their own presentation through PowerPoint, including audio files or video files and export the presentation as a continuous loop video to embed within the teacher's presentation as their answer to the tasks. To extend the high-level learners in the class they could be asked to include at least 2 different loops to demonstrate their understanding of two aspects of the content. The lower level learners in the class could be provided steps to follow to create a loop presentation and what to include on each slide as scaffolding.

R- Redefinition level

At this level, students redefine the task by responding in a way that encourages communication, collaboration and creation. Students could create their own interactive presentations in collaborative teams that can then be shared with wider audiences for learning purposes and feedback. There are numerous ways to share their presentations such as through a blog like this one or a wiki with the wider school community. However, there are websites such as AuthorStream that allows seamless sharing of interactive presentations that can be shared publically or privately. 

Safety with online sharing

As PowerPoint is also used in an online format, the safety measures of students sharing online need to always be considered. There are a number of considerations such as communicating with others outside of our communities, cyberbullying, and access to content that could be deemed inappropriate. Some recommendations are provided by the eSafety Commissioner which provides guidelines and resources specifically for educators of various ages. Some of their recommendations are to teach students to:

• - Identify and establish personal online safety boundaries
• - Develop skills to question what they encounter online
• - Develop skills to identify problematic situations which may impact their online safety or security
• - Consider appropriate help-seeking and reporting strategies for dealing with unsafe situations online.

(eSafety Commissioner, 2019)

I would love to hear any feedback and suggestions you have on this topic to further collaborate and share ideas.

References 

Author stream (2022) http://www.authorstream.com/

eSafety Commissioner. (2019). Safety by Design. Australian Government.