Cynthia Torres

Many students will associate learning new material when it is presented in a story form. It is more interesting and engaging. The added benefit of being able to embed slideshare into linkedin and facebook will make it more accessible to learners and more accepted compared to powerpoint which is often extremely boring and students become unengaged and disinterested.

Emily Lowell

I think the process of creating a presentation is usually valuable and beneficial to the student. It is the action of delivering the presentation that hinders learners. Often times students read every piece of text there is on the screen and they sound like robots. I am unsure if the students giving the presentation are actually engaged in their own presentation and I am sure that the audience is not. I think many teachers fail to teach students who to properly use Powerpoint.

Marla Dunlap CHEP

I think there could be a possible hinderence if you are unable to log into their system. My school has a lot of IT issues and we have found that saving everything to a thumb drive is a safe back up.

I think it would help in the sense of having more options for students and teachers to be interactive/creative. It will also afford the students the opportunity to go back and review if they don't understand the subject matter.

Theresa Schmitt, M.Ed.

Wendy,

I agree, many times all of the bells and whistles get in the way and actually distract from the message. The Microsoft videos on practicing restraint with PowerPoint mentioned in this course are a great resource for students and educators alike when developing presentations. I suggest sharing the link with students, this may help with transition overkill.

Here is link to the Microsoft website, providing a basic overview of how to create a PowerPoint presentation- it is great for beginners:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint-help/create-your-first-presentation-RZ001129842.aspx

Wishing you continued success in the classroom.

Theresa Schmitt

Wendy Webster

I think using SlideShare can be beneficial, but I think it is important to remember the PowerPoint videos. Even the greatest technology can be ruined by not paying attention to basic concepts of presentation. I have a lot of trouble trying to convince students that technology (PowerPoint, SlideShare, or whatever) should enhance the presentation, not be the presentation.

Theresa Schmitt, M.Ed.

Anthony,

You bring up a good point. A student may lack the confidence to create a visual presentation and share it with a group, especially if their computer skills are weak. PowerPoints are a great tool for showcasing material and organizing thoughts when sharing information, but yes, there are inevitably a few who prefer to submit a written paper.

Theresa Schmitt

Anthony Ramos CHEP

In some of our culinary classes, for example, sanitation, we have asked students o do a PowerPoint presentation on a foodborne outbreak and illness. Those who are comfortable and computer literate usually embrace this. However, those who have never used this tool are very reluctant or just don't do the assignment. Even after giving them some tips and tutoring these individuals just don't follow through because they feel like what they'll produce would be inadequate. Just saying.

Bryce Dodd CHEP

I really think its a huge improvement over the latter which is th old overhead projector! I'm so glad that we are not using such ancient equipment at our learning institution.

Dennis Wasko

I think anything that can be done to make a visual presentation more interesting is very valuable. I use Powerpoint almost everyday, and sometimes it can get a bit boring.

Patricia Penrose

I personally feel that by incorporating SlideShare would make the presentation more interesting. So many Power Point Presentations are too boring but adding video and audio to these presentations make it so much more interesting and easier to get the objectives desired in the class.

Theresa Schmitt, M.Ed.

Michael,

I completely agree. Although a learning curve is expected, you do want the benefits to outweigh the investment in time and resources. If you are adopting a technology that will be of great use to you for years to come, it is a wise investment, but when it affects the class negatively and students are drawn away from the topic at hand because they are struggling with the technology, it's use must be reassessed.

Wishing you continued success in the classroom.

Theresa Schmitt

Scot Rice CHEP

I completely agree, I recently was taking some classes at the local university. I was shocked when the professor not only did not allow laptops in the classroom but wanted us to take notes as she lectured from power point slides. That she would only upload after she had finished the lecture. Her reasoning was, that if she gave us the power points no one would pay attention during her lectures. I do my best to have all the power points I am going to use up on the portal and available to the students and the begging of each term. I find for myself that I get so much more out of a lecture when I am able to add to an outline rather than madly trying to copy down the outline and missing what is actually being taught in the lecture.

Michael Donodeo

Presentation-sharing apps can be very effective, but as an instructor you must make sure that the complexity of the application does not hinder the actual learning experience.

Theresa Schmitt, M.Ed.

Keegan,

SlideShare is a good place to store materials, but it an even better place to share materials with others. I would suggest using Google Docs or Drop Box for storing course materials rather than SlideShare, it would be more convenient for you because you would not be limited to uploading only PowerPoints and PDF presentations.

Wishing you continued success in the classroom.

Theresa Schmitt

Keegan Hitchcock

Slide Share seems like a great application for doing presentations both for students and teachers. Having something like that makes it easy to have all class materials in one place rather than having to have a lot of different files that may be in different folders on the computer and or used by other instructors who may rename or edit or otherwise make them hard to locate & use.

Theresa Schmitt, M.Ed.

Elizabeth,

Thank you for your contributions to the discussion, you have shared some excellent observations. SlideShare only required payment if advanced options are use, but it is a great free resources when collecting and aggregating information posted by others, though of course content should always be validated for accuracy. Death by PowerPoint is a common problem across education, and I agree, students often zone out of it is not utilized properly. Breaking up presentations into chunks, incorporating short videos, and stopping to promote discussion with the group are just a few ways to avoid students tuning out.

You have also mentioned grades improving after you stopped handing out the slides- thank you for sharing this with the group. Do you also find students are more engaged and ask more questions when they are responsible for taking their own notes on presentations?

Wishing you continued success in the classroom.

Theresa Schmitt

Becki Simons

During the learning process, I have opened up all the links that have been provided and am really excited to begin utilizing some of them. I feel that these will help my courses become more dynamic and the younger students will feel more connected, I strongly feel that as our world becomes more and more technology driven that we as instructors need to be prepared and need to help our students be ready for the real world.

Theresa Schmitt, M.Ed.

Tonia,

You bring up a fantastic point- maintaining motivation in the classroom. What better way to motivate than to have others praise your work and share it with others, as is done on SlideShare. Is this a resource you see yourself incorporating into your curriculum moving forward?

Wishing you continued success in the classroom.

Theresa Schmitt

Elizabeth Grant

I have found some students get bored easily with powerpoints. I have never used SlideShare (in the article you mention there is a cost attached to it and a person is unable to create in "free", I can make my own powerpoints easily and free).
I have found printing them out for the students to be a double edged sword. Similar to those who audio record lectures and then tune out, I have found some students who think the powerpoint handout is sufficient and then stop paying attention. Many of my test questions are addressed in powerpoint, but in content only. They have to read the text to be able to answer effectively, and I have found students who only study the slides. When I stopped handing them out and had them take notes along with the slides, the grades improved.

Elizabeth Grant

HB I agree with you, and I have known students drop out because they were uncomfortable with making presentations or using advanced technology. It may benefit some of the students, but it really depends on the career they have chosen. Since this is a career college and my students are nurses, I know they will probably never in their career make a multimedia presentation. Most of the computer usage will be flowsheet (point and click) almost identical to paper flow sheets. If you are instructing students who have little to no need to ever make or use powerpoint (mechanic, dental hygienist, hair stylist), is there as much value in teaching them to use the method? I think using powerpoint is fine in class, but having them utilize it may be off point.