Assessment 1: Embedded Reflection Task 4

Presentation Software

Presentation software is an authoring computer application that permits the user to create a professional and sophisticated presentation using a range of tools (Rouse, 2011, para. 1). Presentation software allows the user to combine text, graphics, images and sound to create a great variety of multimedia presentations (Alkash & Al-Dersi, 2013, p. 5). There are many websites that offer both free and paid presentation software such as Prezi, Glogster and Thinglink. The most actively used presentation software however is PowerPoint which comes as part of the Microsoft Office software package (Starr, 2011, para. 3).

Technical Aspects

PowerPoint provides users with a variety of tools to create, format, change and personalise their presentation. Below is a screenshot of PowerPoint. 

The PowerPoint below illustrates how PowerPoint tools can be utilised:

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<div><h3 style="padding: 0px; margin: 3px;"><a href="http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/amgriesel-2448879-lines-immune-defense-quiz/" target="_blank" style="font:normal 18px,arial;">Lines of Immune Defense Quiz</a></h3><object width="425" height="354" id="player"><param name="movie" value="http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?fb=0&nb=1&ct=5&ap=0&c=dfdfdf&pl=as&p=2448879_635641094746223750&fi=1" /><param name="allowFullScreenInteractive" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?fb=0&nb=1&ct=5&ap=0&c=dfdfdf&pl=as&p=2448879_635641094746223750&fi=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreenInteractive="true" width="425" height="354"></embed></object><div  style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">More presentations from <a href="http://www.authorstream.com/amgriesel/" target="_blank">Anna Griesel </a></div></div>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

As illustrated above, PowerPoint allows users to do a multitude of things. PowerPoint is very easy to use and if more support is required there is a question mark (?) symbol in the top right hand corner of the page that takes the user to a page that explains how to use certain aspects of PowerPoint. Additionally, there are a vast range of materials both in written and video form that explains how to do specific things on PowerPoint. 

PowerPoints are usually used by teachers to convey information or by students to accompany oral presentations. Although these uses have their benefits, these methods are not using PowerPoint to its full potential. PowerPoint should be used by the students rather than the teacher to build up their digital literacy and support their creativity. Teachers should thus educate students on the use of PowerPoints by discussing the technical aspects, providing templates, and discussing document protection. Furthermore, teachers need to consider the technical ability of students and consider when and for what purpose PowerPoint should be used. Teachers should additionally support students to consider the audience and purpose of the PowerPoint before creating it. Moreover, teachers need to explore websites that allows students to upload their PowerPoints and embed it to other sites so that they can present their work to a wider audience. 

Below is a short quiz I created using PowerPoint for a year 11 Biology class:

Lines of Immune Defense Quiz

More presentations from Anna Griesel

Presentation software in the classroom

Presentation software is very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways across all curriculum areas to enhance the learning experiences of learners. Teachers need to allow students to create their own presentations using their own initiative and creativity (Investintech, 2015, para. 4).

Teachers can use presentation software to offer students interactive lessons that allow learners to complete work in a self-paced, self-controlled manner, thus creating individualised learning opportunities (Tomei & Balmert, 2000, p. 1). Additionally, teachers can utilise presentation software to offer specific, logical, sequential lessons to foster invidualised instruction (Tomei & Balmert, 2000, p. 1).  As presentation software allows the user to use different types of media, it may also support students to retain the content more effectively (Investintech, 2015, para. 3). PowerPoint may also be particularly useful for students who struggle with public speaking as it allows users to record a narration (Investintech, 2015, para. 4) thus eliminating the need to face an audience.

Presentation software will be a very useful tool to implement into my own teaching. Difficult biological concepts can easily be broken down into a simpler form and supported by a range of different media. Historical timelines can be presented by the use of virtual museums. Students can additionally use the virtual museum concept to create a virtual ecosystem or an interactive evolutionary timeline. 

So what can Presentation software support in the classroom?

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Example of using SAMR

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References

Alkash, K. A., & Al-Dersi, Z. E. (2013). Advantages of using PowerPoint presentation in EFL classroom & the status of its use in Sebha University. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies, 1(1), 5. Retrieved from http://eltsjournal.org/pdf_files/Advantages%20of%20Using%20PowerPoint%20Presentation%20in%20EFL%20Classroom%20%26%20the%20Status%20of%20its%20Use%20in%20Sebha%20University-Full%20Paper.pdf

Investintech. (2015). Using PowerPoint in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.investintech.com/content/powerpoint/

Rouse, M. (2011). Presentation software (presentation graphics). Retrieved from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/presentation-software-presentation-graphics

Starr, L. (2011). PowerPoint: Creating classroom presentations. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech013.shtml

Tomei, L. A., & Balmert, M. (2000). Creating an interactive PowerPoint lesson for the classroom. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/articles/2000/08/01/creating-an-interactive-powerpoint-lesson-for-the-classroom.aspx