Analysis of Google Presenter

Overview:
For this project, I explored the Google Presenter application. In the fall, I will be teaching a few professional development classes on setting up a SchoolWires page for our district website. So, I thought I would explore this tool as if I were creating a presentation for these classes.

Advantages of Using the Application:
Google Presenter is set up very similar to Microsoft Powerpoint, where you can choose from new slides with different layouts, add text, and import media onto the slides. This application also allowed me to import slides from Powerpoint presentations saved on my computer. This could allow me to either import a few slides as need be, or even to create all of my slides in Powerpoint, taking advantage of more advanced features like slide design, and then import my slides into a collaborative project on Google Presenter.

Downsides to Using Google Presenter:
To begin with, this application is very basic. Sometimes people overdo it with the transitions, animations, colored designs, etc. that Powerpoint offers. However, it is nice to have that option and to use those tools effectively, whereas Google Presenter is not sophisticated enough for you to do so. Another downside has to do with the screen view itself. This is going to sound crazy, but using this application made me nauseous! For whatever reason, every time you pause when typing, the text box somehow slightly re-adjusts. It’s a slight movement to the text, not very noticeable, but when you keep watching it over and over, it can definitely produce a headache.

While you can import media into the presentation, the video feature only allowed me to insert Google videos, and it wouldn’t even let me search. It used the title of my presentation as the search words, which was “Customizing your SchoolWires Webpage.” Unfortunately, the only videos that came up were for customizing your car. Overall, this application serves its purpose and could work great for collaborative projects. However, it has far less potential for creating polished, interesting presentations as opposed to Powerpoint.

Student Knowledge/Skills Required:
In order to use this application in the classroom, students need to have practice creating basic presentations. Anyone who has used Powerpoint (which most students have learned by 5th grade) is more than capable of easily and quickly learning this tool. Another skill that would be helpful is teaching students how to import materials from their current documents into a new presentation. This is a skill students struggle a bit more with, and importing slides from Powerpoint into Google Presenter could be a great opportunity to teach them how to browse and locate their files. The only other knowledge required is really general Web application background: digital citizenship, collaborative working skills, and responsible behavior.

Sharing Products:
When you are finished with your presentation, you can watch it in slideshow mode and present to an audience. There is also an option to share your finished presentation from your Google account.

Teaching Subject Matter:
I think you could use this application in any classroom for any content material that you want students to present. Creating the presentation allows students to practice group-working skills, develop knowledge and use of a new Web 2.0 tool, share their work electronically, demonstrate understanding of content material, and creatively organize and present this material. I think this application also could work well as a scaffolding tool. Instead of collaboration between students, there could also be collaboration between the students and the teacher. The teach could begin a presentation, share it with the class, and then they could finish the presentation. The collaboration could be organized to help students become comfortable with using the new tool (so the information already in the presentation could guide students through the steps of using the tool). Or, the collaboration could exist where the teacher has shared ideas within the presentation and the students have to revise, respond to, or extend upon the argument she has already started.

Collaboration with Google Presenter:
This tool works very well for collaboration, but the teacher will definitely want to model and teach students how they should collaborate. General group-work skills in general, from compromising, delegating, and sharing ideas should be modeled and taught. Other issues to take into consideration include whether students can be modifying the presentation at the same time from different locations, the need to set and follow deadlines when communication is taking place over the internet (as opposed to face to face), and the ability to incorporate everyone’s individual ideas and pieces into one unified presentation at the end.

Organization and Managerial Issues:
Students will need Google Accounts to use this application, however, they can continue to re-use their login information for the rest of the Google applications. It is always a good idea for the teacher to create a list of this information because students will forget. The teacher should also be sure to discuss the acceptable use policy and issues of digital citizenship before beginning work with this tool. In addition, the teacher will probably want to walk students through getting started with the tool as a class. Additional alternatives could be creating a StAIR that allows students to practice using the application, or creating tutorials (screencasts) that students can watch and follow along with. A final idea that I have found success with is teaching a few students with high technology competency how to use the new tool ahead of time, and then asking these students to float and help other students as we all learn it together. This allows the myriad of problems and questions to be answered much more quickly, as implementation is always a slow process. Once students get started, the teacher really takes on the role of “guide on the side,” with the advantage that at the end of the day, she can always chart the progress of group work and see which groups need more support the following day.