Live Chat Sessions: PowerPoint Presentations
Since I teach several of the same courses over and over, I always reuse my presentations. Usually I will modify or add more to it depending on what needs to be changed.
Something else I do is allowing students to download the presentation for them to keep. Although they are able to attend live sessions and view the presentation, they are unable to download it while in live chat. There is a location I submit each and every presentation from the lectures I have given. The location is very familiar to the students; I also remind them by email and announcement boards to check the Instructor Files often. Does anyone else do this as well?
Thanks,
Anna
You are correct Shelly. Mixing up your teaching formats works well for students of all ages. Keep your communication style fresh each day and your students will come to your class excited and motivated to learn more.
I do the same thing for my classes, but what I have actually decided recently is that while my PP's still work for the class that I would really like to change things up a bit. I have gotten some great ideas from another class through MaxKnowledge that I want to incorporate. I also like the idea of using more games and interactive activities during the chat. I think mixing it up and changing it a bit is just as much for me as it is for the student. Think about K-12 teachers who teach the same subject for years. They start to get bored and boring. Mixing it up and changing the way you present the same material helps keep you fresh and engaging. What do you think?
This is a good question and I can see it both ways. I do tend to agree if it is posted too far in advance that students will not attend the chat because they already got the information. I like the idea of a happy medium though...and, I do think it would be nice for them to have the PP to follow along with.
I love turning course material into games and real world scenarios. My students react in the same way. My adult learners love this teaching style, but I've found it also works well for students of all ages. People just love to interact with the material and with each other.
We have turned one of the more dry, time consuming and complicated projects in my class to a real-world scenario game. It really gets the various types of adult learners a lot more fired up about the content. It saves time on the grading because they are involved in assesing their own performance based on a very tranparent rubric.
This is a great idea Elizabeth and indeed a happy medium. Thanks for sharing.
There is a happy medium - you can post your presentation to the instructor files 1 hour prior to chat. This way students can still access it to take notes but not so early that they won't attend chat. I find this works well for my courses.
I like your idea of incorporating games into your assignments Chrystalyn. This can make course work engaging for the students and can help them more easily retain course material. APA trivia is a great idea!
Hi Matt,
I also hold my PowerPoints until after the chat. I was actually advised to do this by an administrator. The reason is that some students are more likely to attend the chats for explanation of the information. Whereas if they can just download the presentations at the beginning of the week, many are less likely to attend the chat or will log in but may not actually follow along.
I use my PowerPoints as a guide. So, there is bulleted information which guide my lecture/chat. Although just downloading the presentations are helpful, it is definitely more beneficial to attend the chat or review the archive.
I have seen others do the same thing so I am curious ...
Why do you hold the presentation until after the chat? Why not let them have it real time so they can use it as they wish (like take notes)??
-- matt
I pretty much do the same things you all do. After so many chats I will modify the activities I have planned to make them more engaging. The student seems to really enjoy the hands on activities during the live chats. I have created games such as APA trivia or discussion that will help build their critical thinking skills. I do make sure that the dates for the assignments are updated on the slides. I go over every single assignment in detail and provide specific instructions of what I will be looking for specifically in the assignment.
This sounds exactly like what I do with my Powerpoints. The only difference is that I have 2 copies of the same Powerpoint - a copy for downloading and one for the Live Chat. The copy for downloading is missing what I call the "Announcements" page. This is the only page that gets altered for the Live Chats each session and contains specific information for the week, updates, or changes. This way, I can post the general Powerpoint presentation early on in the week and the students can review it before the Live Chat.
Any of the important "Announcements" page information gets listed on the Course Home Page under Announcements.
