Sometimes getting things setup for student presentations is as stressful for the teacher as it is for the students. This past week I planned on having my college students at SNHU participate in VoiceThread to provide their peers with feedback during our Thursday evening hybrid class. I discovered that the new updates to the software in my computer lab in Brunswick prevented the class from being able to access the VoiceThread website. ... time for Plan B!
I then changed the method for students to provide feedback so that students would use Wallwisher ... same problem, students couldn't access the site thanks to some software conflicts created by the IT Department at the Manchester campus ... onto Plan C!
I turned on my LCD projector, opened a generic presentation and asked students what they liked about it, what areas needed work, and then led them in discussion on the use of fonts, white space, graphics, and citing sources in their presentations. My goal of having them use Voice Thread never materialized due to problems in the lab but at least the majority of the students used the advice I provided them in fine tuning their presentations.
The joys of technology...sometimes! It sounds like you pulled your class off well with some good instruction on how to use Powerpoint as a presentation tool, not just a product in itself. I hope you are teaching your high school students these same skills, too.
ReplyDelete