Group 3 Technologies – Power Points, Prezi and Glogster
PowerPoint
Well
I may have stepped away from the brief on this one but this is for my own
purposes and will assist in the Blog.
Those of you that have followed my blog
are aware from Week 2 that I presented at the Schools Constitutional Convention
and provided the negative on the question of whether constitutional amendment
will create greater equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Due to my lack of knowledge on how to do these things I was unable to upload it
to my blog but hopefully by working using it in these engagements this problem
will be able to be resolved.
SO here is the PowerPoint itself – WillConstitutional Recognition Help Create an Equal Australia
PowerPoint is an extremely useful tool which when combined
with speeches assists in providing a visual link to verbal information that is
provided in. PowerPoint was originally designed as a business presentation tool, used primarily because of its relatively easy navigation features (Jones, 2003). Since that time it has also become incorporated in the educational sphere without perhaps the recognition that by virtue of its design it reduces information into a small grab for the learner (Jones, 2003). Most of us who have attended various symposiums and learning seminars recognize that a PowerPoint usually needs to be combined with a lengthy paper on a subject that elaborates on detail in a manner that you would not be able to in a PowerPoint.
From the perspective of Learning Design as discussed in my blog at week 2, this type of PowerPoint was useful to make rather complex information more accessible to students when combined with verbal communication.
From the perspective of Learning Design as discussed in my blog at week 2, this type of PowerPoint was useful to make rather complex information more accessible to students when combined with verbal communication.
As stated
in in The Global Imperative Report, 2005.
“Students come to school equipped to learn on many levels, using multiple pathways and drawing on multiple intelligences, but today’s curricula do not meet their needs, and too often school is the least engaging part of a student’s day. Schools do their students a disservice when they fail to teach literacy in the expressive new language that their students have already begun to use before they even arrive (Prensky, 2005).”
Even though in the context that it was used it would appear
more Cognitivist in the learning design, than Constructivist as up to that point the students were talked to rather than evaluating and reaching conclusions on the information. As detailed in Isseks, 2011 the problem with PowerPoint from a learning design level is that by virtue of a presentation system, the audience absorbs. It is One-sided.
Therefore to be an effective teaching tool you, as a learning designer, must include more. It is worth recognizing that this element of the learning for the students at the Constitutional Convention, was essentially only the opening ‘stanza’ of the learning for the day. By using this element I was simply extending upon the type of technology that students are already familiar with and incorporating it to use it as a tool to assist in informing them on a subject that was both complex and controversial.
Therefore to be an effective teaching tool you, as a learning designer, must include more. It is worth recognizing that this element of the learning for the students at the Constitutional Convention, was essentially only the opening ‘stanza’ of the learning for the day. By using this element I was simply extending upon the type of technology that students are already familiar with and incorporating it to use it as a tool to assist in informing them on a subject that was both complex and controversial.
As expressed by Prensky, 2005, these digital native technologies deal with technology on
such a regular basis that this simply gave me the ability to be more structured in
teaching the position that I was taking and allowing them to incorporate it
into their thinking.
After examining some of the options for including pictures into the PowerPoint, I was able to include them into the original.
After examining some of the options for including pictures into the PowerPoint, I was able to include them into the original.
There were no
pictures in my original PowerPoint.
Naturally this PowerPoint was created from scratch by me but
some of the tools that exist that I was unaware of would have been useful.
As
discussed in my previous Week 2 post, I spent many hours creating this
PowerPoint as I recognized the deficiencies in the teaching model that I had
proposed to use. This prompted my adjustment from a purely verbal format to a
mixed visual/verbal format to be more inclusive to learners that may struggle
with that position.
I did find some complications in the creation of this
material which if I had been aware of the ability to use outline may have
assisted. I had partially created my speech when I became aware of the
deficiencies in my material so I changed my format. I used some documentation
of Constitutional change for the purpose of the Storyboard Outline.
Here is my
Storyboard courtesy of the Snipping Tool in Microsoft (my new best friend):
As indicated in the tutorials, I could have used Outline to
then upload a PowerPoint. I was successfully able to Outline a Storyboard,
with the material being incorporated into a PowerPoint. But unfortunately I
seemed to have trouble trying to get it to upload.
This is the error message
that I got:-
I thought perhaps that the information that I was trying to
incorporate was too complex for that format so I simplified it to this:
Constitutional Form and Values
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CONSTITUTION AND THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT?
WHAT IS IN THE PREAMBLE NOW?
WHAT IS IN THE COVERING CLAUSES?
Covering Clause 1
Covering Clause 2
Covering Clause 3
Covering Clause 4
Covering Clause 5
Covering Clause 6
Covering Clause 7
Covering Clause 8
CAN THE PREAMBLE AND THE COVERING CLAUSES BE CHANGED?
SUMMARY
Unfortunately I received the same error message again so
could not proceed further. I can however recognize the usefulness of this
concept and will continue to play with it until I work it out.
Prezi
I also played with Prezi which may be useful in some
respects but I would be cautious about overusing it as too much movement on the
screen started to make me feel almost seasick. The same issues that exist in PowerPoint do however exist in this
technology and it is always necessary to take it further to include
something into the instructional design that furthers the knowledge.
There is also the risk that this would 'dumb' down ideas even further than they already are in a PowerPoint and discourage investigation, inquiry or engagement by students in critical thinking ( Isseks, 2011). Vreeman and Carroll, 2007 are referred to in Isseks, 2011 with the point about potential eye problems from screen overuse/misuse. What perhaps would they think of the incorporation of a further straining element into that equation? It is also worth noting that studies have indicated that with greater the interaction in the PowerPoint Presentation in the forms of pictures, sounds and moving text, there was actually a reduction in performance in quizzes (Levasseur & Sawyer, 2006)
Here is my Prezi:-
There is also the risk that this would 'dumb' down ideas even further than they already are in a PowerPoint and discourage investigation, inquiry or engagement by students in critical thinking ( Isseks, 2011). Vreeman and Carroll, 2007 are referred to in Isseks, 2011 with the point about potential eye problems from screen overuse/misuse. What perhaps would they think of the incorporation of a further straining element into that equation? It is also worth noting that studies have indicated that with greater the interaction in the PowerPoint Presentation in the forms of pictures, sounds and moving text, there was actually a reduction in performance in quizzes (Levasseur & Sawyer, 2006)
Here is my Prezi:-
Glogster
The
next Digital tool was to use Glogster. This program is definitely user friendly
but powerful. I used it to recreate what my 11 year old son was asked to create
for Year 7, Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE), Terracotta
Warriors. Sorry the snip could not be clearer.
This was just an example but instead of him trying to put this
into a handwritten poster this perhaps would have been more useful, interesting
and informative. The additional benefit would be gaining additional
technological tools for the student to create something in a manner they would
not have previously considered.
It
would seem that all these tools have value but that value would depend upon
what application they were being used by. Obviously PowerPoint is a multifunction, multi-use presentation tool that us capable of being used
effectively by students from middle primary school up to professional
presentations in the workplace. Prezi would be useful in professional
presentations but perhaps the consideration could be made that the zoom in/out
ability would perhaps be too interactive and thus distracting to younger
viewers. There is also the question that has been posed by some commentators
that overuse of PowerPoint’s can give students PowerPoint jetlag.
As a Digital Life learner a student would find the use of the PowerPoint an extremely useful and powerful tool. The variation of this may be with younger e-learners might be to use a program like Glogster to show the students awareness of the content but in a format that would not perhaps be as potentially overwhelming as PowerPoint can be. When younger students are asked to research a subject there is always the danger that they are overwhelmed by the content that is then available to them. Allowing them to use a simple program like Glogster may be of assistance in letting them use that information without getting overwhelmed in design aspects of completing a PowerPoint.
The same problems I have referred to in my references on PowerPoint and Prezi would also apply here but perhaps the 'dumb' down aspect would be even more relevant.
Like with all Learning Tools whether or not online caution should be exercising them to ensure that we are not only creating digital life long learners but also, critical and creative thinkers.
As a Digital Life learner a student would find the use of the PowerPoint an extremely useful and powerful tool. The variation of this may be with younger e-learners might be to use a program like Glogster to show the students awareness of the content but in a format that would not perhaps be as potentially overwhelming as PowerPoint can be. When younger students are asked to research a subject there is always the danger that they are overwhelmed by the content that is then available to them. Allowing them to use a simple program like Glogster may be of assistance in letting them use that information without getting overwhelmed in design aspects of completing a PowerPoint.
The same problems I have referred to in my references on PowerPoint and Prezi would also apply here but perhaps the 'dumb' down aspect would be even more relevant.
Like with all Learning Tools whether or not online caution should be exercising them to ensure that we are not only creating digital life long learners but also, critical and creative thinkers.
Bibliography:
On-line
Resources:
Farquhar ME, Will Constitutional Recognition Help Create an Equal Australia, 2013; https://drive.google.com/?tab=wo&authuser=0#my-drive
Farquhar ME,Terracotta Warriors, 2013;http://meredithf13.edu.glogster.com/terracotta-warriors
Farquhar ME,Terracotta Warriors, 2013;http://meredithf13.edu.glogster.com/terracotta-warriors
Jones, AM: The use and Abuse of PowerPoint in Teaching and Learning in the Life Sciences: A Personal View, 2003: http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/presentation/powerpoint/powerpoint_use_abuse.pdf
Isseks, M: How PowerPoint is Killing Education, 2011: http://pdmchsstaff.wikispaces.com/file/view/howPPiskillingeducation.pdf
Isseks, M: How PowerPoint is Killing Education, 2011: http://pdmchsstaff.wikispaces.com/file/view/howPPiskillingeducation.pdf
Levasseur, DG &
Sawyer, JK, Pedagogy Meets PowerPoint: A Research of the Effects of
Computer-Generated Slides in the Classroom: 2006; The Review of Communication,
Vol 6, No 1, p114
Prensky as quoted in: A Global Imperative - The Report of the 21st Century Literacy Summit, 2005: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Global_Imperative.pdf Prensky M, Engage Me or Enrage Me" What Today's Learners Demand, 2005: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf 
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