Google Presenter
Google Presenter allows for collaboration in the creation and editing process of creating a PowerPoint style presentation.
My Experience
Up until this point in my teaching career I have never used Google Docs in class or in my personal experience. As I started working with Google Presenter I was very excited as I started to observe the possible applications of this technology in my classroom. For anyone who has ever used PowerPoint, Presenter is a rather easy transition. In addition to creating new documents in Presenter you can also easily upload PowerPoint presentations and then combine, edit, or change the document online. Rather than having to e-mail the presentation back and forth up to ten people can simultaneously edit and design the presentation. In addition the help section provides excellent supporting information and there is a great Common Craft show about Google Documents on this site.
Student Background Knowledge
In order for students to use this application in the classroom they need to have a basic understanding of how to upload files and a basic knowledge of PowerPoint.
Sharing
Using Presenter up to 10 people can collaborate on a single presentation at any given time. The final product may be downloaded, shared via the internet, or printed out.
Teaching Social Studies with Google Presenter
There have been many times in my own classroom that I have had students collaborate when developing a presentation for my class. Before I learned about Google Presenter students had to e-mail their project back and forth with one student acting as editor and being responsible for putting their project together. Now I can have all members of a group work in a truly collaborative fashion with all students taking responsibility for their final product.
Student Collaboration
By teaching students how to collaborate using Google Presenter they could more evenly share the responsibility for their final product and truly take ownership of their project.
Teacher Considerations
In order for students to work with Google Presenter they must be able to setup their own Google account and then give their fellow group members access to their shared document. In addition, the teacher needs to make sure that they are also added to the user list so that they can edit/change/interact with the document. While the initial setup may take a moment, the payoff is student collaboration and cooperation makes it well worth our time.
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Good tip about the Common Craft video. That could be a good way to introduce students to Google Docs/Presenter before they use it for a project.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about it taking a little time on the front end to get all the groups set up as collaborators, but after that so much time can be saved. The teacher can monitor progress along the way, offer feedback, students can work on something from school, home, library, even a phone/iPod.
Glad you are excited to use this with your students.