Digital Tools Reflection 4

This week we focused on the three main digital presentation tools; PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster.

PowerPoint

After experiencing ‘death by PowerPoint’ on multiple occasions, I was losing faith in PowerPoint’s ability to engage students and thought that it was only effective in the area of delivering visual content. However, this week proved to be significantly insightful as I was able to explore the other capacities of PowerPoint and I have since transformed my understanding and perception of this digital tool.

I have explored the following Technical Aspects of powerpoint:

·         You Tube

·         Audio clips

·         Text and Images formatting and editing

·         Embed links to other websites eg. Glogster

·         Record a voice over of presentation delivery

·         Collaboratively work on PowerPoint in Backstage view

·         Embed internal hyperlinks to create an interactive presentation

·         Animation

·         Can create video file and embed PowerPoint into other digital
mediums such as Wiki

In addition to the use of a concise visual presentation tool I learnt that PowerPoint can be used as an interactive model. I now endeavor to use PowerPoint as a HUB to deliver my lesson plans. In the first ten minutes of my lessons I intend to have an interactive reflection task such as a multiple choice quiz. I had ideas of implementing a game prior to this week’s lesson however, was unsure on how to deliver it in a time effective manner as it can only use the first ten minutes of the lesson. However, now I can have it prepared and it will be more simple to facilitate and therefore will be carried out with to a higher level in the given time frame. Therefore, I feel as though conducting the quiz through PowerPoint creates a more structured task than what I had in mind.

I appreciate the idea of the virtual museum as it links the subject of history to its historical sources and artifacts which furthermore, instils a deeper appreciation of these artifacts and the institutions of museums into our learners. Children so rarely are able to visit museums and therefore, grow up without an enriched understanding of museums and their importance to society. I believe that this then limits our learner’s ability to connect with artifacts and grasps the reality of our history. I feel that PowerPoint being used in this medium enables schools that are unable to attend a museums an authentic learning experience that may inspire our learners to visit museums when they have the opportunity. One of my favourite learning experiences was visiting the Jewish Museum in Sydney and listening to Holocaust victims share their horrific experiences. It was very moving and memorable and through using this tool I hope to transmit some of this authenticity into my classroom. 

I also hope to inspire my students to engage with and create presentations that optimise all of PowerPoint’s tools to explore and undertake their learning experiences.  

Prezi

I have enjoyed using Prezi in recent assessments and find it a very creative and engaging digital tool. My only hesitation when using Prezi is that I find it slightly more time consuming to construct in comparison to PowerPoint. Prezi provides an alternative digital visual presentation tool to PowerPoint. Similar to PowerPoint, Prezi is interactive and has the capacity to encompass many digital tools such as you tube clips, audio clips, images and links. However, Prezi’s zooming features can be very beneficial as you can actively explore concepts and map connections. I intend to implement Prezi into my classes through creating tasks where the students will be required to use it rather than me presenting and facilitating my lessons through Prezi. An example of this can be found in my model this week as I have used PowerPoint as my lesson hub however have incorporated a link to Prezi which requires the students to actively map out alliance systems in World War Two. They are expected to use the arrows, zoom features and add frames with the treaty details in the appropriate places. This Prezi task will enable the students to identify countries, identify and research alliance systems and then actively connect the countries through visually indicating the alliance systems on a world map. In addition, the map does not have the country names therefore it requires them to call upon their geographic skills and locate the countries. The task creates the opportunity for the students to engage rather than me simply showing a slide with the alliances already indicated.

Glogster

I was unfamiliar with the programme Glogster therefore I was very excited when we explored this digital tool in our tutorial. I found Glogster easy to navigate and consider it a very creative and engaging tool as you use a variety of digital tools within your template. In addition, I appreciate that it provides so many creative templates and images- I feel that the children will really enjoy this and my secondary students will enjoy the freedom and individuality. Again, I intend on implementing this tool within student tasks rather than using it a medium of content delivery. In my model for this week’s tool I have created a task where groups are to present their key personality profiles in the form of a Glogster. I have initiated a Glogster with some tools to assist students however; I have left mine relatively empty so the learners can create their own Glogster without molding it into my example. Therefore, I have allowed them the opportunity to present to me their key personalities using as much digital tools and creativity as they like. I feel that Glogster would be a really effective medium for homework tasks to be carried out as it is a fun and creative tool. I also would like to use it to teach students to collate their research for assessments as it collates it into the one place and therefore it is easy to find and accessible anywhere and anytime (if internet Is available of course).  

Please visit my Wiki which has my model of the digital tools embedded on this page.

Link: http://elearningabc.wikispaces.com/Week+5+Digital+Tools+Model+-+Powerpoint%2C+Prezi+and+Glogster 

Through viewing my model I hope you can gain some insight into how I intend to utilise these digital tools in the learning experiences of my learners.