Presenting with PowerPoint and Prezi

There are so many developing and engaging programs and software available to create presentations that it can be easy to spend many hours exploring these tools. The variety of presentation modes is quite staggering and there always seems to be a new tool being developed. As the students that I teach are part of the digital native generation, it is wise to employ some of these tools to ensure that we are providing engaging and relevant tools. I have used Prezi to create a presentation to provide and overview of learning in Project 600.

SlideDog looks like another versatile presentation software and I plan on exploring this further for its benefit of being able to import a wide range of file formats without having to reformat in slides.

After reading the module document on PowerPoint, I decided to explore its features in more detail as I was already very familiar with this software and wanted to investigate what else was possible with this software that all schools have ready access to. The feature that I had not used previously was the ability to create interactive presentations. I was very impressed with using this feature and can imagine a lot more ways that PowerPoint can be employed by both teachers and students. I was able to create an interactive multiple choice quiz and have embedded it below using Authorstream. Click directly on the slide to ensure that the interactivity works as designed.

PowerPoint should not be disregarded as an outdated presentation software. It provides many features that enables it to be used in many different ways and is continually being updated. 

Thylacine Quiz

More PowerPoint presentations from Kylie Joyce

On another point, I was relieved that Authorstream maintains the multimedia and interactivity features of PowerPoint so that it is possible to embed these presentations without losing these features. I used SlideShare to embed my affordances analysis table as this was used for my previous table.

Assignment 1: Reflective Synopsis

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” Dewey, J. 1944.

This quote by John Dewey is just as relevant now as it was in 1944. Even though there have been dramatic changes in education, technology and society since the middle of the last century, there has been a need to look to the future and consider that as times change, so should our ability to provide educational settings and learning experiences that enable our students to develop the skills that are needed for whatever century they are living in. The skills needed to thrive in the 21st Century are different from those of the 20th Century, but there will always be the need for schools to evolve and adopt new instructional approaches no matter the century.
Most of the digital tools and online spaces that are being used for educational purposes have been retasked from their original purpose. In order to ensure that new technologies are being used to transform learning experiences and not just using a new tool to achieve the same outcome, it is necessary to analyse the affordances of these tools and consider how they can redefine the learning task. The DiAL-e Framework  as referred to in The Affordances of Blogs post was identified as a useful tool to assist in this process. By identifying the features of an online space and how these can be practically used, this framework scaffolds the process of making the links between practical features and pedagogical practices to modify and redefine learning, with greater opportunity to develop higher order thinking skills as identified in Blooms' Taxonomy. The benefit of revisiting affordance analysis tasks results in a broadening of the range of learning experiences.
Not only is it necessary to consider personal pedagogy when choosing the most appropriate technology to achieve learning outcomes, it is necessary to realise the new pedagogy is being informed due to technological advances. The understanding of digital pedagogy will enable the classroom to become an interactive environment where the teacher is the facilitator and the students are able to collaborate within and beyond the classroom to become creators of knowledge rather than just consumers of knowledge. As Mishra and Koehler ( 2007, p. 7) state, 'Technological pedagogical knowledge is an understanding of how teaching and learning changes when particular technologies are used.' Our personal digital pedagogy should take into account that the learning outcomes should inform the decision as to which tools and online spaces are utilised in our classrooms and that these tools will change with the purpose of these tasks.
To this end, blogs, images and video were explored to consider the pedagogical and technical features and benefits for 21st Century classrooms. These tools enable students to engage in collaborative and creative processes that are essential abilities of contemporary learners, utilising constructivist approaches to become global learners.
It is essential that as educators we embrace the opportunities that evolving technology affords us and our students. 'The need to know the capital of Florida died when my phone learned the answer. Rather, the students of tomorrow need to be able to think creatively: they will need to learn on their own, adapt to new challenges and innovate on-the-fly (Chivetta, A.).

Daniels, M. (2011). 10 Inspirational quotes for edtech friendly teachers, retrieved 23rd April 2014 from
http://www.knewton.com/blog/teacher-tools/10-inspirational-quotes-for-edtech-friendly-teachers/

Mishra, P. & Koehler, M. (2007). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK): Confronting the
wicked problems of teaching with technology. Retrieved 8th April 2014 from
www.aace.org/conf/site/mishra_invited.doc

Chivetta, A. Retrieved 23rd April from The State of EdTech, http://thestateofedtech.com/ed-tech-quotes/

Video Exploration

With the rapid growth in easily accessible technology that allows us to access and create videos, there comes great opportunity to harness this engaging and creative medium. It is no longer necessary to have a high level of technological expertise to create digital videos that can be used for a plethora of uses. Also, it is no longer a medium that is just beneficial to explore and engage with, it is a necessity. The knowledge creation society that is evolving around us demands that we actively participate if we are to become contemporary citizens.

As many of the students we interact with are known as 'digital natives', many of them view, comment on, share and create video on a weekly basis in their personal lives. The use of video in the educational environment offers the opportunity for them to be involved in authentic tasks and reach authentic audiences, such as their immediate peers as well as a wider audience by sharing video creations online, this increases the value they place on these tasks.

I have explored and used quite a range of tools and software for creating videos, both for personal and educational purposes. The range of either free or affordable tools available is quite staggering and I have enjoy trying out a range of techniques. My 1st venture into video creation was using Windows Live Movie Maker for editing personal home movies. My kids still really enjoy watching the family ski holiday videos that I edited to create a library of home videos. This program is very intuitive and offers a range of editing tools to create really engaging videos. The embedded video below is a short video of a litter of puppies that my dog had edited using Windows Live Movie Maker (or Windows Movie Maker 2012 as it is now known).

Power point is a very powerful tool for creating videos and one that students of all ages can navigate. Most students become familiar with creating power point presentations in the early years, this knowledge makes it an excellent tool for video production. Both music files and audio files can easily be embedded and then the power point saved as a windows media video file (.wmv). 

This video was created using power point and Windows Movie Maker to create sneak peek video for Project 600 and was uploaded to the Virtual Classroom for the students to preview the following week's lesson.

Another option is to record the slide show while recording a narrative with the file then saved as a .wmv file. This facility allows teachers to create instructional or motivating videos that can be used to flip the classroom or provide reinforcement of more difficult concepts. Beyond this, students can create their own instructional videos that can be shared for peer learning or as a reflection tool. If students are tasked with recording a slide show of their creation while 'talking aloud' what is happening in the presentation, rather than just using a script, higher order thinking is encouraged.

Sandy Shannon refers to a screen casting software in her blog post Media 6.3 Video, Active Presenter. I explored this software after she explained how she used it to create an instructional video for the virtual classroom. This is a very powerful tool, even as the free version, that allows for real-time recording of the desktop to create instructional videos of computer programs and websites. It provides some excellent post-editing functions, such as zoom and pan, adding objects and adding annotations, that enhance the quality of the presentation. As Sandy mentioned, the file size is quite large which limits some of the online spaces that it can be uploaded to. I created a video using this software to show teachers how to access the help tutorials and documents for the virtual classroom and another demonstrating how to upload images. As the files were too large to upload to our team site, I uploaded them to You Tube. I will try Sandy's suggestion of using movie maker to decrease the file size.

Another excellent screen casting software is Screencast-o-Matic. One of its most powerful features is that it has an online free version so that it is not necessary to download software. This makes it a very accessible tool for schools and its very user-friendly interface would enable most students to feel capable of using it.

I have participated in several One Channel programs recently to learn about a variety of digital tools. These are live web conferences offered through the Learning Place. I was introduced to some amazing iPad apps that both teachers and students would find very powerful. All students love to create animated avatars.

Tellagami is a simple app that students could easily use to create short introductory videos, provide peer feedback in a group blog, clarify their thinking in response to stimulus questions and the list goes on. This video was created to introduce a web conference that I facilitated today.

Explain Everything is an iPad screen casting app that again is very student friendly. Slide shows, pdf documents, images are some of the file types that can be imported to create videos. This app would be very useful as a tool for students to use to take sequential photos of a group task that can then be annotated and an explanation recorded as a record of the collaborative process. This app can also be be used to annotate and record live websites. I plan on using this tool more in the future.

The multimedia principle that learning is improved through words and pictures (Cisco Systems. 2008) rather than words alone is supported by these programs and offers the opportunity for learning and teaching to be transformed.

Fadel, C. (2008). Multimodal learning through media: what the research says. Cisco Systems, USA, retrieved 31st August 2013 from http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/Multimodal-Learning-Through-Media.pdf

Images

'Visual images are becoming the predominant form of communication across a range of learning and teaching resources, delivered across a range of media and formats. The ratio of visual image to text is increasing'. Dr Anne Bamford, 2003 

This statement stresses the importance of ensuring that not only are visual texts used as a source of sharing information, but also the need to ensure that the ability to interpret, use and create visual texts is taught across all education sectors.

As it becomes easier to access, share and download all manner of images, there is increasing access to online repositories of images. Flickr makes this possible while enabling collaborative ways to share and interact with images, either with a select group or beyond our immediate circle of friends.

I am very interested in providing students with the chance to create and edit images as a form of communication. Big Huge Labs and iPiccy are 2 free websites that offer a range of editing modes to modify and create new images. The edited images can be downloaded and saved directly to a variety of devices for students to then use these images in various ways or they can be shared via social media.

The original image on the left had 2 different effects applied to it using the Big Huge Labs website. This activity could be used in art classes for students to demonstrate different artistic techniques or students could change the mood of an image to more closely reflect the mood of a narrative they have written.

Again the original image was edited on the iPiccy website to give more of a stencil impression. This website offers a greater range of editing tools, but would need more instruction to use to its full capacity. An excellent tool for older students to become familiar with.

Dr Anne Bamford. (2003). The Visual literacy white paper, Adobe Systems Pty Ltd, Australia, retrieved 12th May 2014 from http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/education/pdfs/visual-literacy-wp.pdf

BLOGS.....What are they good for?

Up until my involvement in this online course and Project 600 (an online literacy and numeracy program being offered by Education Queensland) my only experience with blogs had been to read the blog postings of dedicated craft lovers to learn new craft techniques or get ideas for craft projects. I found this source of information invaluable in my personal endeavours but didn't envisage how blogs could be used for educational purposes and to modify and transform learning tasks across all school sectors.
After spending time exploring the features of blogs and considering the affordances of these in different educational environments, it is evident that blogs (and other online spaces) provide benefits for increasing collaborative ways of working. My updated Blog Affordances Analysis Table is embedded below.

Blog affordances analysis updated from kjoyc263

The use of avatar videos to provide instructions is an engaging strategy. Tellagami is a free Apple App that was used to create this short video.

Images can also be embedded for instructional purposes, to provide additional information, as a stimulus to name a few. The use of images can also be to personalise the blog space and encourage ownership of this space.
The use of scaffolds to support individual and group responses will help to focus online responses.
An image can be embedded in a group blog or virtual classroom and the students are directed to respond using the PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) strategy as one example.

Department of Education, Training and Employment. 2013. Contemporary Teacher. Contemporary Teacher Resource, retrieved 1st May 2013 from https://learningplace.eq.edu.au/cx/resources/file/57b36828-bbdd-9c94-0b17-cabfeb278ac4/1/01-Contemporary-Teacher/cs-ct-00.html

In order to share useful or interesting websites, it is recommended to insert a link to the website.

TED Talks Education provides a playlist of 9 videos from various Ted presentations.