Week 5 : Digital Technologies 3 and 4

In Week 5 we analysed the use of Group 3 Digital Tools consisting of PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster and these are interactive presentation tools that can be used by students for learning and teachers for presenting content. This reflection will mainly focus on the use of PowerPoint in classroom environments.
Below is the link to my PowerPoint presentation on a science topic.

 "PowerPoint Presentation"

In this PowerPoint presentation, I inserted images and an audio clip. I also utilised animations and sounds for the presentation. The transition between words and paragraphs utilises timings or mouse click while transition between slides utilises mouse clicks.

PowerPoint is an easy multimedia authoring tool. Most people and students with computers can use PowerPoint without even training. In my Science classes I would use PowerPoint to deliver lesson content to students and at the same time I will assign students to different groups so that they can work on a project and at the end present their findings using PowerPoint. In science I can teach on environmental pollution. This will encompass identifying the sources of pollution.  I will use the mock company approach where I assign the students to different groups (four to five students per group) and indicate to them that each group represents a company. One group can be a biscuit or cookie making company. As a group they delegate authorities. The group will take responsibility for the development of environmentally friendly commodities and advertise for instance biscuits. Each member then researches information about their specific roles as bakers, packagers or marketers and then develop the key tasks to be completed. The students will identify waste generation streams from the time the flour and other ingredients are mixed into the kitchen, the use of packaging material, the waste generated during marketing (for instance they may use different media such as newspapers) and transportation until delivery to the shop. The students will then use PowerPoint to present about their mock company. As the teacher I will use modelling and scaffolding to guide students as they participate in an integrated inquiry. I will guide the students on the information that must be contained in their presentation. For instance one of my slides will indicate that students must identify the type of mock company, the processes involved in the manufacture of the products, the waste generated in the different stages of manufacturing until the product is sent to the consumers. Students will learn the key task lists, critical path and the students will become problem solvers.

This activity creates high order thinking together with the use of PowerPoint for presentation. As a teacher my slides will only offer the main contours of the lesson and this will only assist students with the organisation of material both in real lesson time and after the lesson is complete. The lesson notes will not give away an important conceptual solutions, development or surprises that might be employed to keep the lesson interesting. I will encourage the students to use images, process diagrams, mini movies and any other material deemed necessary in their final PowerPoint presentation of the mock company.

 

Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
PowerPoints can be captured to video or DVD. After making a presentation using PowerPoint, students can ‘burn’ or convert copies of their presentations to DVDs	Some students may not have DVD players at home or computers that are readily accessible at home. It also needs skills and techniques to be able to convert the presentations into DVDs	By using PowerPoint and DVDs you can easily convey your message to the students and students will be in a position to watch the DVD from the comfort of their homes.  It also enhances face to face and off school teaching and learning	There is need to monitor the students watching the DVDs at home as they may swap the DVDs for other DVDs that they are not allowed to watch or that may contain illegal material.
A topic can be summarised using PowerPoint presentation and only the important points can be noted and these can be further elaborated as the lesson progresses	Some teachers and students can have excessive number of slides and too much information for one slide	If the PowerPoint presentation is orderly and neatly presented some students will easily remember the important points about a particular topic especially when they are revising for their examinations.	Some students may lose concentration and focus if too much information is presented at once
PowerPoint is a very versatile program. Students can create electronic portfolios, jeopardy movements and cartoons	Adding various things such as cartoons to PowerPoint presentations may be time consuming in terms of searching  for the  relevant cartoon for that particular topic	Students like being bombarded with imagery as a result this can improve the learning outcomes of students.	If cartoons are downloaded from the web they may be breach of copyright issues hence the need for crediting the sources.
PowerPoint welcomes interact activity. If the student does not understand a point, a change is just one click away.	PowerPoint promotes inactivity. Slide after slide reveals data that the students may have little to no part creating	.	High order thinking may sometimes be difficult to achieve in students when using PowerPoint.
	PowerPoint removes responsibility. It assumes that the student is a clean state and has nothing to contribute that can’t be covered with just a bullet point or mini-movie. Even if the slide asks questions students generally has little responsibility in its inception.
		Teachers can keep and update their slides for use with other students in the following years
The use of smart podium in PowerPoint allows the teacher or students to handwrite over any material on a computer screen.		Students develop other skills such as confidence in public speaking as they do PowerPoint presentations.

 

Uses of PowerPoint at each stage of the SAMR model

Substitution	Augmentation	Modification	Redefinition
Instead of using textbooks and workbooks the teacher can use PowerPoint to introduce the students to a particular topic in science. The teacher can only offer the main contours of the lesson and the students can organise and think more about the solutions and other developments related to that particular topic.	As a teacher I will be able to prepare PowerPoint presentations for my students and to cater for students will different learning needs I can convert copies of the presentations into DVDs or a movie so that the students can be able to watch the DVDs after school.	Students can work in small groups and they discuss about a particular project. They will come out with a PowerPoint presentation that will involve the use of images, video clips, graphs. They can also use smart podium to edit and input on their peers work.	Students can interact or collaborate on collaborative issues. Projects can be cross curricular and multidisciplinary by utilising the strengths of the students in different classes.  Also with the example of a mock company explained above students can get information from their parents who work in different manufacturing and processing industry. For instance if a student’s parent works in a biscuit manufacturing industry the students may ask the parent to take photos of the ingredient mixing process. The parent will ask permission from the responsible personnel to capture the images for their child. When the students get the photos they can then include them in the PowerPoint mock company presentation.

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7rg5rcRHiY

http://internet4classrooms.com/ideas_pp.htm