Online Presentations

There are two things that I would like to discuss in regards to online presentations. The first is Google Docs. Google Docs is a great program that I believe is under-utilized in the classroom. The convenience of collaboration in the same document is something that I have found extremely helpful as a student and is a tool that has helped streamline many of my group projects. Students can access this file wherever they are so you never have to worry about one group mate forgetting their section at home leaving the rest of the students high and dry. You can see who contributed what and when, so as a teacher accessing the file you have a better idea of what occurred during the creation process of the assignment. As a free program that only requires a username and password, I wish more teachers incorporated Google Docs into their classrooms.

The second concept that I would like to mention is the flipped classroom. This is a concept that I had honestly never heard about before, but after having read a bit about it it makes total sense to me. The concept is basically that teachers provide the students with a video lecture that they can view while at home so that by the time they come in the classroom they are ready to tackle what would normally have been 'home' work. I don't think this concept is flawless as it takes away the adjusted teaching techniques that naturally arise in a classroom but there are certainly some advantages. Students who struggle focusing in class can watch the videos whenever they want, going back and repeating the lecture as many times as they need to in order to grasp the concept. The lecture is an attainable goal that students can complete--they are no longer overwhelmed by what often feels like 'endless' homework. Once in the classroom, the teacher is free to help students with their work and ensure that everyone is ready to head on to the next lesson. I'm really intrigued by this concept and hope to utilize it, at least to some extent, in my future classroom. For an interesting infographic on the flipped classroom, click here. Or, to find out more about it by the guys who started it all, you can click here.