What about DocStoc to share a Plex version of the same presentation? Download the document and see if you can zoom in (like Prezi) on this PowerPoint presentation with the free add-in, pptPlex. As I've installed the add-in on my PC, I know I can zoom, but I'm not sure if you can do the same from this downloaded document without installing the add-in on your PC. Perhaps you could let me know? Oh, and then get the add-in! Why wouldn't you? It's great and it's free :o) See below.
Zoomable version of PMI -
PowerPoint (ppt) has been around for over 20 years. It must be doing something right. As an advance on OHP sheets alone, its creation has saved countless hours drafting, as well as photocopying OHP sheets as ‘hand-outs’. From being rather linear and unexciting in its early days, ppt has gone multimedia. Much more than the over-used, annoying animation options introduced in the late 90s, images, sound bites, videos and other gadgets can now be easily incorporated. Fortunately, the annoying paperclip pop-up assistant has not made it to the 2007 version.
Speaking of annoying PowerPoint...
view video:-
view video:-
PowerPoint Features
ppt does save lots of preparation time. Word documents and Excel charts and graphs can easily be inserted into ppt. Text and background colours and font styles and sizes can quickly be altered to focus pupils’ attention on relevant sections. However, due to the very nature of presentations, succinct, bullet points do not necessarily give the whole picture. Care must be given to ensuring that in an effort not to overwhelm students with lots of text on one slide, information is not summarised to the point of non-comprehension. It should be remembered that not only is ppt only a presentation tool, but the content on that tool is still only a tool for the presentation. The presenter is you, the teacher. The focus of the class should be on the teacher – ppt should not detract from what the teacher is saying, but highlight what you are saying.
“The important part to remember here is that it should be an aid, not the entertainment. No matter what your presentation is about, if your [class] leaves the room talking about all the cool stuff you did with PowerPoint, then you failed. They should leave discussing all of the wonderful points you made about your topic. PowerPoint should help you sell your point, not eclipse it”.
The ability to print off, email or post ppt presentations to wikis are major advantages (over Glogster, and Prezi, for example), as are the speakers’ notes pages. Talking around the bullets points on screen and ensuring that pupils make appropriate extra notes and explanations not only ensures their attention in class (though there is a school of thought that handouts should be given out after the class, so as not to distract the pupils when they should be listening to you), but adds value for revision at a later date.
Videos can be embedded so pupils can see where the presentation is going, rather than getting lost as the teacher clicks between different windows. But ppt also has an advantage over videos. Except those videos with transcripts (interactive or otherwise), ppt has the advantage that the teacher can see the spelling and punctuation of a pupil’s work, that might have been voice- or video-recorded into ppt. These equivalents to “transcripts of videos: can assist pupils with the collation of information on subjects, which can be copied amended and pasted into project work. Alternatively, the early written work of a project can be used (and exhibited) in a final multimedia ppt presentation of a pupil’s work, “showing the workings”, i.e. the learning process, and facilitating teacher assessment and marking accordingly.
With the addition of digital devices for pupils, ppt transforms the learning environment. Having a mouse (see Mouse Mischief video) on each pupil’s desk enables them to practically engage in the lesson, turning any projector screen into an interactive whiteboard. Children can engage in quizzes and polls, voting with their mouse (click here for more information on voting hardware and options), with the teacher having instant access to the results of the quiz, thus being able to immediately assess which, if any, pupils are struggling with any concepts. The teacher can then focus attention on a particular area of poor understanding, or on a particular student whilst the rest of the class practice exercises.
Another engaging, interactive feature is the ability to “Click and Drag”. Check out my Facial Expressions ppt, so young pupils can soon learn when their teacher is no happy! You must download the document before being able to click and drag the images to match their description.
The likes of Prezi have kept Microsoft on their toes. Microsoft Labs have created a free add-on called pptPlex.
Rather than merely inserting an icon or hyperlink to a different document type, e.g. Word or Excel, pptPlex embeds the actual document in the ppt slide, enabling you to use and even amend it on screen. What a great feature to be able to illustrate to pupils how to change data selection of chart type on Excel, for example, to illustrate how best a set of data may be presented.
 |
| http://newtech.aurum3.com/ |
This small disadvantage is more than made up for by pptPlex’s ability to organise chapters and sections, allowing non-linear learning in the classroom (and avoiding the annoying, distracting and disorientating speed click back through slides to an earlier point). Better still, pptPlex lets you to zoom in (just like Prezi), to focus on small text (or just expand it for those at the back of the class) without detracting from the main points. But in terms of art appreciation Plex really comes into its own. Talk about transforming learning – imagine being able to fly your class to the Louvre in Paris, push past security guards, disable alarms and enable your pupils to press their noses up against the Mona Lisa’s! Inserting a high resolution image in Plex enables you to do that.
Examples of PowerPoint uses
• Once you’ve drafted a ppt presentation, it can be kept and used again, or updated or amended with little effort. It can be posted onto the Class Wiki for pupils (or their parents) to use during homework exercises.
• ppt slides explaining, for example, Legal, Ethical and Safe ICT Practices or classroom policies, etc, could be created for parents (by the teacher, or collaboratively with the class) and posted on the Class Wiki.
• A slideshow of children’s artwork could be created and posted on the Wiki so children can show off their work to their parents, and they can compare their child’s work to other pupils, perhaps engaging their child in a comparison discussion of the merits of their peers’ work.
• Slides of a field trip could be published so parents can see what their child did, encouraging them to expand on the images they see.
• Record children reading out their written work or poems, with matching images and the written work displayed to check spelling, punctuation, etc.
• Create a portfolio of student work to be presented to parents at the end of term.
• Use the linear progression of ppt to illustrate science experiments.
• Create, or have children create, a Flash Card presentation on all sorts of subjects, from spelling and punctuation to maths concepts, to the periodic table.
PowerPoint Do’s and Don’t’s
Whilst Don McMillan’s video above humorously covers some points, more tips can be found here.
But I leave the last word to Microsoft, unusually entertaining and hip. Maybe this guy used to work for Apple?
No comments:
Post a Comment