Wednesday 29 December 2021

Digital Storytelling


I very much enjoyed presenting "Visually teaching vocab to younger students (KS1 aged 5-8)". It's been a while since I did anything for younger years and I was very pleased by the reaction of everyone. We now have such powerful tools in our hands compared to what I had when I was teaching EAL students! I remember all that paper cutting & whiteboard writing! Nathan also does two excellent sessions to help you make stories, so well worth a watch!






 

Thursday 12 August 2021

Presenting on Zoom (2021 Summer edition)

Over this past 18 months we've learnt a lot about presenting online and with teachers changing schools, going online, having to do Hyflex learning etc I thought I'd share what I've learnt about the various ways you can present and the advantages and disadvantages of each.  I've pretty much tried them all as far as I can tell and they all come with pros and cons!

Consider Recording Your Presentations

When I first started teaching online, I found it much easier to record my presentations and share them via Youtube. There are lots of screen-recording options including Loom that is incredible and free for educators and I'd use it as a free option.  I actually use Camtasia, (10% discount link thanks to FlippedClassroom)  because I have a license and am incredibly comfortable with it.  If you have budget for it and plan to make a lot of videos this is well worth the money and is what most streamers use. Don't forget Keynote and PowerPoint enable you to record videos directly in the app. PowerPoint even has a coaching function!

Once you've recorded your video, you can then upload it to youtube and it can be watched on pretty much any device.  You can also use Edpuzzle, TED Lessons or put into a Google Form. to add formative assessment.

During the lesson you can simply ask students to watch the video and they are much more likely to be able to watch it in the quality you wanted it with the animations fully in-tact.  It also means you can answer questions in the chat as students watch. 

I do not recommend screensharing videos EVER! I have NOT once experienced a video shared on-screen that matches the quality of Youtube. Much better to give them the link & let students play or if you need to check put it into Edpuzzle with some questions.  Too many teachers think what they see on their screen is what can be seen by the student.

No Animations Required

Zoom recently introduced a presentation mode. This is great, because it appears in your camera with you conveniently placed on your slides. You don't even need a green screen for you to be cut out.


If you feel this doesn't quite do what you want and you want something a bit more advanced then mmhmm gives you a lot of flexibility and Prezi video gives you a really dynamic feeling to your presentation. Both are giving free subscriptions to educators.  They also enable you to record your presentations in advance in an attractive format.




Presenting in a window (Need animations)

If you need animations then chances are you will want to use PowerPoint of Keynote.  Both now have a present in a window option. This means you will be able to see your presentation and the students in zoom.

Keynote presentation in a window

PowerPoint presentation in a window


Peardeck (Interactive Presentations)

Our school has a license to peardeck and it has been incredibly useful to help us make our presentations fully interactive. If you are inside the European Union, please check privacy policy for your country.  NearpodQuizizz both have some similar functions if you are looking for an alternative.

Peardeck will work with PowerPoint or Google Slides. However animations are tricky, but the tradeoff is that you can create really interactive slides with questions, links and videos inside the presentation. You can also choose to make it instructor or student paced. 

The real downside with Peardeck is that it really needs to be on a laptop for students to be able to comfortably access both Zoom and peardeck at the same time. We've had numerous problems with iPads and its use as part of a live lesson. Student paced is generally fine, but if you want to present then present live and give questions in a student paced Peardeck. 

Subtitles & Closed Captions

Generally I avoid using Slides directly in Zoom, because there isn't a present in tab option and it isn't well integrated on mac unless you have 2 screens. I'd rather download and present on PowerPoint or use the Peardeck plugin.  This was because on a single screen it was difficult to follow where your tab would appear.

Go to bottom left of the screen and you will see the presenter menu with captions


However PowerPoint and Slides do enable Closed captioning, which is not only great for students in noisy environments, hard of hearing but also if their internet isn't perfect they will see the subtitle for longer and not miss words. It is important to set the language to the one you are speaking down to the dialect, so English UK works very well for me.



PowerPoint even has live translation, which is really helpful for EAL students. 

Summary Table


I hope this is a helpful guide, please share your tips in the comments. 



Friday 26 March 2021

Meditation is BORING! But a meditative video game might just do the trick.

For some adults and children, the idea of meditating is boring! And they're exactly the kind of people that would benefit from some kind of relaxation the most! Many video games are all about excitement and getting the blood pumping, but there are an increasing number of games that are about relaxing and having a wonderful time exploring.  Minecraft in creative mode is an excellent example of this and another game that people have found incredibly relaxing and intriguing at the same time is ABZÛ.  

This game is all about going underwater, but unlike the terror inducing underwater sections of Sonic this game removes the survival aspect and lets you freely explore underwater realms.  It takes you through incredible underwater seascapes and to see beautiful fish and underwater structures.

I bring this game to your attention, because right now it is completely free for Playstation with Play at Home



This game is also available to buy on Xbox, Windows and Nintendo Switch. See publisher Website.