The Journey Continues

My goal to use technology in the classroom to increase engagement has led my explore my use of powerpoint, or google slides, presentations. I usually begin new units with presentations for the purpose of introducing new terms and formulas that will drive our learning for the unit. I noticed that an increasing number of my students (high school students in physics and AP physics) started taking pictures of the slides in the presentations. I inquired into why some students did this and they told me they just wanted the pictures to review later. Most were also writing down the information while also taking the pictures. However, an increasing number of students are only taking pictures and not writing anything down. They said they would review them later, before the test. A few students admitted that most times they would fail to review the notes at a later time. This got me to start thinking about changing the way I present material to students.

I found 2 products, Peardeck and Nearpod, that make presentations more engaging by letting students interact with the material on their screens by answering questions, drawing, etc. I settled on using Peardeck. After struggling with the normal learning curve of using Peardeck I was ready to use it with students for the first time this week. When I put the login screen up on the projector some students said "Cool, I really like this," as some teachers in the building have been using Peardeck for a while. I used it for one class and realized I needed to fix a few things as I had used text boxes instead of drawing boxes, easily fixable things I can do. The second class dove in with an equal enthusiasm. Near the end of the presentation, when the students had drawing boxes to use, I decided to use the "Show Answers" feature. As I scrolled through the answers I came across a very inappropriate response from a student. Yes the answer was on the projector for the entire class to see. Ahhhhhhh!!!! I realized that I now have to freeze the screen before I search through the answers to present to the class. (Yes I found the student and handled the disciplinary situation appropriately.)

I am not going to let one bad apple spoil my use of interactive presentations. Students like them and I find that students are more engaged than a "regular" presentation. I will reflect back later to see if the newness wears off and students will sour on the interactive presentations like they did with my "plain" presentations.