Week 5

Introduction: A reflection of Whilst Nature Education: Audience & Purpose

The key message I took from the article, Whilst Nature Education: Audience & Purpose is that your purpose in communication is “not what you want to do; instead, it is what you want your audience to do” (Nature Education, 2014) in response to your communicative presentation. To deliver a presentation effectively, one must implicitly know and be able to adapt to their audience and know what you would like them to take from the presentation (Nature Education, 2014). Audiences may vary, according to their size (small or large) and prior knowledge on or interest in a particular topic (Nature Education, 2014).

In a classroom context, particularly in my discipline areas of accounting and english; this is fundamentally important. In order to deliver a successful learning experience to students, teachers must know their students and be able to adapt the lesson to cater for their degree of prior knowledge or interests. You wouldn’t give a Year 11 accounting lesson to a class of Year 9 students, would you? To assist teachers to communicate effectively and implement successful learning experiences to students, they use a range of presentation tools and technologies to display and present information to students that is both relevant and appropriate to their audience-type and intended purpose or learning outcomes.

The presentation tool chosen for further investigation are PowerPoints.

Technical Aspects: An Overview of PowerPoints

PowerPoints are a powerful technological tool to present and display information to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes. PowerPoints can be created using a range of purchasable or open-source software readily available either in-store or over the Internet, including Microsoft Office PowerPoint, Google Drive Presentation, SlideRocket or 280 Slides The creation and manipulation of a PowerPoint, particularly with the aid of these programs, is a relatively easy and simple process, with no extensive prior experience needed to either use or operate it successfully. The ability to share PowerPoint files readily and easily allows the possibility for both single and multi-authorship amongst several users. However, this process is hindered by compatibility across different platforms and different age-versions of the same platform. Privacy can be easily maintained for by limiting where the file is located in a system and who has access to it as well as who is distributed to. However, if the video is uploaded to a website, such as Slideshare, SlideBoom or Authorstream, privacy will be counter-dependant on the related website’s privacy settings. PowerPoints generally allow users a wide range of customisation options, depending on the software used for their creation. A popular platform, Microsoft Office PowerPoint allows users to customise the background colour and style of slides, type and size of font, transition sounds, speeds and animations.

Application of PowerPoints in a Classroom Context

What learning outcomes can PowerPoints support in a classroom?

PowerPoints can be utilised as both a powerful presentation and learning tool within a classroom. They can support a variety of learning outcomes, including:

•  Improving students’ ICT and digital literacy skills
• Developing students’ ability to comprehend, analyse and evaluate information more readily and easily when it used as a supportive presentation tool in a classroom context
• Developing students’ ability to locate, arrange and organise information and foster their creative skills when it is used as a learning tool in a classroom context
• Developing students’ ability to engage in reflective thinking when it is used as a learning tool in a classroom context
• Improving students ability to learn in a range of ways; either independently or as part of a collaborative team

What sorts of materials/activities can PowerPoints support?

A range of materials and resources can be embedded into a PowerPoint, including:

• Text – Passages from the set textbook or in-class readings or handouts, important terms and definitions to support explanation of key terms and concepts
• Audio – To quote relevant information and/or accompany the text to support explanation of concepts
• Images – Photographs or diagrams – flow charts, concept maps
• Video – To introduce content or support arguments and explanation of concepts
• Links – To embed other important and related content

PowerPoints can also help teachers and students in a classroom, providing a variety of benefits and supporting a range of activities, including:

• The ease of upload-ability and file distribution to be shared both online and across a variety of users unlike other platforms such as Prezi, which are generally only available online
• It is a powerful platform to display and present information, both traditional materials such as textbook passages and reading and additional resources such as audio and video to help support student learning outcomes
• Can increase student engagement and motivation in the classroom
• Can assist students to analyse and evaluate information to complete in-class activities or to reflect upon their learning
• Can assist students to present, arrange and organise information as a platform to complete class discussion or reflection questions or to help complete assessment tasks

How can PowerPoints be applied to my pedagogy and used within a classroom?

In a classroom environment, PowerPoints can be utilised as both a powerful learning and presentation tool. They have the power to completely transform my pedagogy and enhance both teaching processes for teachers and learning experiences for students. The SAMR model below gives an indication of the ways in which PowerPoints can be used within a classroom.

The SAMR Model:

Substitution	PowerPoints are used purely as a substitute for traditional teaching methods to display content that is already readily available in hard-copy format. For example: In an accounting classroom context, this may include creating a PowerPoint to display textbook accounting terms and definitions to aid student learning of key terms and concepts.
Augmentation	PowerPoints are used to support students’ learning where teachers can share and students can access additional resources relevant to the teaching content such as videos, images, links, which were previously not accessible or available without the implementation of ICT. For example: In an english classroom context, this would allow teachers to support students’ learning through providing additional resources to enhance student understanding of a particular topic, such as videos, images or links related to short stories, Shakespeare or poetry.
Modification	PowerPoints are used to enhance students’ learning as a platform which allows teachers to redesign learning experiences and assign tasks to students. For example: In an accounting classroom context, this would allow teachers to assign tasks to students which require them to reflect on their learning through the creation of a PowerPoint on a particular learned topic or concept, such as “What is Internal Control?”
Redefinition	PowerPoints are used to transform students’ learning as a platform which allows teachers to create new tasks for students that would have not been possible without the invention of PowerPoint technology. For example: In an english classroom context, this would allow teachers to use PowerPoints as the basis for assessment tasks, where students are facilitated to create PowerPoint responses on a particular topic such as “Themes in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice” or “Shakespeare’s Legacy to the English Language.”

Evidence of Technical Proficiency: Model of a PowerPoint

This is a model of a PowerPoint, created using Microsoft Office PowerPoint software. It is an example of the types of presentations teachers can create to aid the delivery of information and content in a classroom to support student learning and academic outcomes. It would be best used in an english classroom, supporting the concept; non-verbal communication.

References

Nature Education, (2014), Audience and Purpose, viewed 10 April 2015, Retrieved from: http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/audience-and-purpose-13952663