This month we had the opportunity to spend some time with some North West Region e-leaders to explore a number of simple techniques to use Powerpoint in the classroom as an interactive teaching tool.
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We were inspired by Rob Lewis from the British Council (previously blogged here) to have a go, and to work out what techniques he was using to speed up the production process so that we (humble educators) can, with little effort, become producers of e-learning resources.
Ha! Is it really that simple?
Let’s review some of those techniques here so that you can mentally tick off what is practical and worth trying out – remembering that each time you make a Powerpoint presie, you’ll get quicker and acquire new skills, be they keyboard shortcuts to speed the production process or clever ways to incorporate the presie into your teaching practice and/ or enabling students’ access to that presie independently beyond the classroom.
Example 1: Vanishing Dialogue
Here is a Vanishing Dialogue Presentation suitable for the language classroom.
[Clicking the link will take you to Google Docs to view it. You’ll need to select File > Download to save it locally for you own use and editing.]
Note: The last slide includes some Tips for making the production more effective. Here they are again:
- Select Duplicate Slide for the next slide (instead of New Slide)
- Select white (on white) Font Format to go invisible
- Double click Format Painter to do multiple pastes (copies)
- Use F4 keyboard shortcut for repeating an action (on a windows PC)
Using the above techniques will ensure that the actual production of the presentation will be quick and easy.
Example 2: Quick Vocab Quiz
Here is our Quick Vocab Quiz, again mimicking the techniques discussed by Rob Lewis. This is really simple to reproduce – I didn’t bother with animated fly-in answers but, instead, created a duplicate slide with the answer.
I trialled this one with my ESL3 students (all the items were chosen for their revision). They loved it and considered it a game – maybe that was also because I handed the cordless keyboard around the room for students to press Enter to Advance to the next slide.
A resource like this one (which has a review/ revision function) could be stored on your server (on the Students’ Drive) or on an internet hub designed for students’ access, like a wiki, so that students can play the presentation ‘on demand’.
Example 3: Quick Vocab Quiz with fly-in animation answers
Here is Adjectives for People produced by Jane Lucas at CNLC: the ‘Rolls Royce’ version of the above quiz because she has had a go at pre-programming some fly-in animations. Again, the crucial time saving consideration is that once you have programmed one animation, you can copy this process for all the remaining ones.
(Note: to fully appreciate the fly-in animations, you’ll have to go through that Download process described for Example 1 above.)
Jane writes:
One way to revise and recharge basic grammar and vocabulary is to use simple power points. They’re attractive, fun and engaging for learners. The immediate visual impact appeals to a range of learning styles. Using special visual and aural effects can turn the usual slides into a fun challenge.
This Adjectives for People Presentation uses bold pictures and questions with delayed, fly-in answers when the Enter key is pressed. It created lots of loud, often off-beat guessing, competition and laughter in my post-beginner ESL class.
Just Press Blend….?