Reflective Synopsis

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.

                            Plato (Glogster, 2010)

The idea written above by Plato is very powerful. When students are taught in a way in which they are amused, or engaged, they will be more likely to remember the information and experience and use it in their own individual ways. How then, do we teach to engage? One effective way is to meet the students where they are at; talk a language they understand. Studies by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 72% of households have access to the internet and computers (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). With this in mind it can be seen that learning managers should use this valuable resource to help cater for the learning needs and preferences of the students. ICTs for learning can be used and embedded throughout many different learning experiences and can be used for instruction, elaboration, research, direct feedback and assessment for and of learning. The ICT resources I have reflected on could be used in many different ways including those outlined above to facilitate and monitor the students learning throughout a unit of work. The technologies I have been exploring for the past 8 weeks have impressed and inspired me to be more creative in planning learning experiences that will engage my learners. 

Although it is not possible to talk about all the ICTs that I have been researching and experimenting with, there are a large number that I would like to use in my lesson plans. I'm sure this list will continue to grow as our world is forever changing and moving toward an unknown and exciting future filled with ICTs. I never would have thought or imagined in primary school that one day I could have a touch screen mobile phone (iPhone) that works like a phone, computer with internet access, word processing tool, and music playing device all in one! What a wonderful and convenient communication, research and leisure tool. I can only imagine what the primary learners of today will be seeing in their futures. 

Even though learning can be enabled in many other ways, ICTs create an engaging platform for the learning to occur. In their Learning Engagement Theory, Kearsley and Schneiderman (1998) state, “While in principle, such engagement could occur without the use of technology, we believe that technology can facilitate engagement in ways which are difficult to achieve otherwise”. The following report will identify some of the ICT learning tools I have explored throughout the course that I think could be used very effectively to engage and facilitate learning in my present and future classrooms.

e.Portfolios (Mahara)

The first ICT tool is the e.Portfolio. e.Portfolios are a great way for primary students to demonstrate, reflect on and present work and achievements in ways that cater for each individual’s needs. In my blog post http://tonijordan.blogspot.com/2010/03/hi-everyone-i-have-been-thinking-bit.html I have explained the ICT in more detail.

This ICT is a great way of organizing and presenting students' work rather than storing it in physical folders in the classroom. Mahara and other E.portfolio sites allow students and teachers to upload their files into an online storage device and create ‘views’ displaying work, links, information etc. with individual privacy settings. This learning tool makes it is possible to study the improvements made by students in their work, encourage students by leaving learner-specific feedback, in the form of comments or private messages, encourage students to work together, by leaving each other messages or comments providing points of view or information peers might have missed out (ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000), create blogs (weblogs), lessons, appropriate research link pages, create documents for projects and embed other material from the internet into the ‘views’. This learning tool could be used effectively to monitor and direct student progress through the learning sequence.

(Flickr - using Mahara e.Portfolio to create a View)

Interactive Whiteboards

Another valuable ICT learning tool is the Interactive Whiteboard. IWBs are touch screen whiteboards used via computer and projector connections. They are practical, physical and actively engage students in their learning which is essential for effective learning (ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). They allow teachers to scaffold information sourced from simple Internet searches or specific IWB programs which incorporate the purposeful and relevant resources required for effective and efficient student learning according to the Learning Pyramid (ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). As the students are able to physically engage with the IWB, the kinesthetic learning styles are catered for (LdPride.net, n.d.). Students are able to see the consequences of actions on the board immediately and the feedback is direct, purposeful and relevant to their learning experience (ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). Many programs on the IWB encourage problem-solving and higher order thinking which help students build thorough understandings of the knowledge and skills they are learning (Oliver, 1999). 

(Flickr - Learning with IWBs)

YouTube, TeacherTube and SchoolTube.

The last learning tools focused on are the YouTube, TeacherTube and SchoolTube websites. Finding relevant and engaging videos is a lot easier to do using these sites. With new videos being uploaded to the sites daily, it’s not hard to find a video relating to any subject area. Students are engaged through both visual and verbal resources that help to cater for the visual and auditory learning styles of the students (LdPride.net, n.d.). According to Active Learning Theory, the more active the students are in the learning, the more relevant information they will retain and use in their own lives (ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). Videos are also great learning tools as they can be paused to check student understanding and allow the students to ask questions or try out the tasks identified in the video. It is important for students to feel as though their work relates to real world, authentic situations (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). If the videos the students view are based on real world situations the students may be able to connect more easily with the learning. Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) suggest that students engaging with others, in a collaborative setting on a project based task with an authentic focus are more likely to learn effectively. This tool could be used as a part of the donate phase of a task where students could create a video and upload it to share with others around the world.

Glogs

Glogs were an ICT learning tool that I had not yet encountered in the study of the coursework. However I came across them while observing and commenting on a peer’s blog and found them interesting. After exploring the tool, I found that it could be used as a substitute for cardboard posters. As well as information and picture texts, Glogs can include videos, website links and audio files to showcase student learning or be used as a basis to implement learning experiences which encompass a wide variety of activities, information and resources. 

As students are able to search for and use the same programs for IWBs, Glogs, e.Portfolios and YouTube, TeacherTube and SchoolTube on the Internet outside of school, these resources may be used outside of classrooms, which could be used to bridge the school and home learning gap.

These ICT tools along with countless others could be used to create and implement effective, engaging learning experiences. By using these technologies, students have more opportunities to explore topics through different mediums. As Learning Engagement Theory suggests, students learn best through opportunities to work as small groups on authentic real world tasks using a range of tools and activities that cater for their individual needs (Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman B, 1998). As a future learning manager I plan to embed many different ICT learning tools in my unit planning to engage and teach my future students. I think ICTs are an important and valuable learning resource, which should be explored and included in all key learning areas, where possible, to ensure the students learn effectively and are engaged in learning through the use of authentic learning tasks.  

Reference List:

Aldred, S. (2008). Learning Design. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/Scot.Aldred/learning-design-1103898

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009, December 16). Household use of Information Technology Australia 2008-2009. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8146.0/

Glogster. (2010). Glogster. Retrieved 2010, from Poster Yourself: http://edu.glogster.com/

Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman B. (1998). Engagement theory: a framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved 29 April, 2010, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Oliver, R. (1999). The learning design construct. Retrieved 29 April, 2010, from http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

The Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence. (2000). How does active learning work? Retrieved 29 April, 2010, from http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/howdoes.htm

Here is a list of blogs that I have commented on:

http://learningjourneycaro.blogspot.com/2010/04/music-in-education.html

http://learningjourneycaro.blogspot.com/2010/04/theres-glog-in-my-blog.html

http://learningjourneycaro.blogspot.com/2010/04/using-google-earth-for-educational.html

http://nataliearthurgdlt.blogspot.com/2010/04/cant-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-one-of.html

http://nataliearthurgdlt.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-let-our-students-blog.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/iwb-blackboard-of-21st-century.html

http://mrozmansthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/03/started-my-new-wiki.html

http://talkintoleesha.blogspot.com/2010/04/im-lovin-it.html

http://courtneyrice-courtney.blogspot.com/2010/04/icts-in-my-pre-service-teaching-school.html#comments

http://courtneyrice-courtney.blogspot.com/2010/04/martha-graham-view-more-presentations.html

http://rlball.blogspot.com/2010/04/youtube.html

Computer Rooms in Schools

I had my second day of Embedded Professional Learning today (Prac Teaching) in a primary school here in Bundaberg. I am excited to say the school is quite up to date with their technologies and I have already seen one class use the Interactive White Board in Maths!

One issue is that the school does not yet have an IWB in the learning support room. I believe this is one place where students would really feel comfortable using such an interesting tool and learning support teachers would benefit greatly by having the added excitement in their lessons. As I am spending a lot of time with a mentor teacher in the learning support room at the school, I understand that there are a range of students who use the facilities there. Students with Vision Impairment, Physical Impairment, Behaviour Management Issues and students requiring simple learning support all use these facilities. As almost every other classroom has an IWB I'm not sure why one hasn't been installed in the learning support room yet... I brought forward the argument to the learning support teacher who is actually going to look into that for me! Sometimes, half the battle with some of the children using this facility is poor engagement and inability to interest the child. IWBs certainly help these issues.

Another really exciting thing in my school is that in the computer rooms, there is a program installed on the teacher's computer that allows the teacher to access every computer in the room. From the teacher computer, the teacher is able to see the active screen of every student, what programs they have open and they are even able to lock all student computers so that the students have no choice but to avert their attention back to the teacher. The screens at the school I'm at read 'ATTENTION PLEASE' when this happens. I love this. This means that the students are always safe, respected but also observed incase they are straying off topic or behaving badly.

Just a few exciting things about my EPL school for you.

Toni

Royalty Free Music

Music covered by the Creative Commons licence is great for use in 

• Slideshows
• Videos
• Use on blogs
• Background music for classes
• For student use in their own projects.
• For dancing

Marzano and Pickering (p.23.1997) suggest frequent and systematic use of activities that involve physical movement. This allows students to release tension built up from remaining in one position for a long time, which is common in classrooms today. When students are comfortable they are able to learn more efficiently.

There are many different uses for music in the classroom and using music that requires only crediting back to the composer is a very simple way of accessing this tool. I have bookmarked this site!

Regards, 

Toni 

Reference:

Marzano, R. J., & Pickering, D. J. (with Arrendondo, D. E., Paynter, D. E., Blackburn, G. J., Brandt, R. S., … Whistler, J. S.). (1997). Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Alexandra, VA: ASCD

Using Slideshare to Share Slide Presentations

Warming up our voices presentation

Warming up our voices presentation

View more presentations from Toni Jordan.

I have now embedded an audio mp3 file into the slide.

Warming Up Our Voices Presentation (With Audio)

View more presentations from Toni Jordan.

It is actually quite an easy task to record audio into slide presentations and organise where each slide will fit into the audio timing. This website will be very useful for sharing and distributing slide presentations with classes, on the internet or even just for use in class.

It is very much a 'hands on' activity and students would be able to use this to ad audio to their own powerpoint presentations. It reinforces my point about engaging the learner through their senses in my previous post about YouTube.

Regards,
Toni

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free, online encyclopedia built collaboratively with users all around the world.

When searching in Wikipedia for Music, I am bombarded by many different resources. To say the least, there is a mass of information on my subject area. Naming many different topics within the music subject within the search is easy. On the first page of 20 results out of 365,874, Rock Music, Popular Music, Country Music, Composer, Electronic Music, Classical Music, Folk Music, Singing, Dance Music, Hip Hop, Alternative Rock, Contemporary Christian and Record Producer are available!

This would definitely be a resource I would encourage students to make use of. Many arguments have been made for using Wikipedia as a valued source of information as anybody is allowed to give their input to pages, however the guidelines for doing so are quite strict.

Allowing students to find their own information can sometimes be a scary task. Teachers are never really safe in knowing where the learners are looking for their information and whether the sites are safe and reliable.  I believe if Wikipedia was available to students, the information found can almost certainly be both safe and reliable, as the information is presented in a professional and organised way.

As the website is available on the internet, open to the general public, the students are able to use this site in schools, libraries, at home on computers as long as they are connected to the internet. Students in lower primary would probably have some difficulty in searching for relevant information, but upper primary students would find this resource very useful for class projects etc.

The teacher could plan activities using the program. They could also preview the information that students are required to search for to ensure it is relevant, safe and appropriately worded. In doing this, the teacher knows exactly what the students will be looking at, and how the students will be able to use the information in projects and class tasks.

When used responsibly I think Wikipedia can be a fantastic ICT tool.

Regards,
Toni

Google Earth

Google Earth is a program which lets you see anywhere in the world, quite clearly. I played around with it tonight and literally saw my country, state, town, street and house. Very impressive.
Using Google Earth is something I have never really considered, as I hadn't used it before now. I can see many different uses for this program in classes.

• Confirming geographical ideas and seeing where countries are in relation to Australia.
• Allowing students to display where they have travelled, and where they would like to travel.
• Tracking places in stories where characters have been, or creating a scenario or story together with pictures or a tour to support it.
• Studying history and typical features about countries.
• Measuring the distance between places or objects.
• Finding new areas and land to build cities.
• Conducting research about a particular place, or places by adding layers.
• Look up places mentioned in movies, news or video clips.
• Learn map reading and navigation.

This is a list from Google of how to use Google Earth in the classroom:

• Biology: Track routes of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Forest. See the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee blog here.
• Ecology: Create a short quiz like this one.
• Environmental Science: Have students check Alaska's global warming problems. See how the Sierra Club used Google Earth to depict this problem here.
• Geology: Find images, links, and descriptions, with information about thousands of volcanoes around the globe, thanks to organizations like the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.
• Global Awareness: Study the Crisis in Darfur with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's unprecedented project.
• History: Explore Tutankhamun's Tomb.
• Humanities: Have your students scout film shoot locations like this teacher did with The Golden Compass.
• Literature: Bring class or contemporary tales to life with Google LitTrips.
• Math: Explore distance, velocity, and wave properties of tsunamis. 

Google Earth could be used in many different ways to engage classes.

Regards,
Toni

YouTube, SchoolTube & TeacherTube

There are many different uses for videos in the classroom. Students love watching familiar clips, videos that relate to what they are learning or clips that actually teach the students information. The following video is an example from YouTube which shows 10 reasons why teachers should use YouTube in the classroom. 



YouTube is a great resource for the classroom. You can search for so many different topics. SchoolTube is a great site, which has similar ideals but also focusses specifically on students and teachers. Another similar resource is TeacherTube. With the same idea as YouTube, the site provides many different search results for school topics - but this time they are specifically built for use by teachers and students. The site also includes Docs, Audio, Photos, Blogs etc and is a wonderful resource for teachers to keep in mind when planning lessons and searching for content to fill their lessons and teach the learners in an engaging way. 

At the moment my Mentor Teacher is taking some upper primary students through Microsoft Publisher. This is a great tool used to create many different documents including resumes, certificates and cards. The class is using Publisher to create a brochure and this is why I chose the second YouTube video which introduces the program and shows how to complete some functions when 
creating a brochure.


I would use this video to guide students through the introductory phase of Publisher. Students would be able to be guided both visually and verbally by this video and as the video can be paused, I would be able to stop the video to check student understanding and allow the students to ask questions and try out the tasks demonstrated in the video. 




These are some reasons why I would use YouTube, SchoolTube and TeacherTube clips in my teaching.

With so many different topics and points of view projected in the videos it is possible to find almost anything using these sites. It is important for students to feel as though their work relates to real world, authentic situations (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). If the videos they watch are created by someone else, about the very same topic, they may be able to make more of a connection by watching the video. 


"Studies show that the more senses we can involve in the learning process the better we can get learning to 'stick' and by bringing in video we add visuals and music and sound effects along with the information and its better for the learning" (Mrs Schurg, 2009). 


Sensory Stimulation Theory is based on the premise that effective learning happens when senses are stimulated. Our five senses are Sight, Hearing, Touch, Smell and Taste. With video broadcasting using audio and visual stimulants, the sight and hearing senses are stimulated. 


It is important to teach the students what they need to know in a way that they will remember, understand and apply the information. Learners in our classrooms are being exposed to these types of technologies every day from elsewhere, and loving it. Why not use this to our advantage? It is necessary to engage the learners, and if they are already engaging in this technology why not use it in the classroom?
Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) suggest that students engaging with others, in a collaborative setting on a project based task with an authentic focus are more likely to learn effectively. So according to these authors, if using a tool which so many people use to complete a task or problem that is publicly available on the site the students might be able to learn effectively. The students may not even realise they are learning...which is even better!




YouTube, SchoolTube and TeacherTube are great for classroom teachers and students.
Regards, 
Toni




References:

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory. Retrieved from A framework for technology-based teaching and learning: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Schurg, M. (2008). 10 Reasons for Using YouTube Videos in Your Classroom. Retrieved April 28, 2010, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r1SRJCViUY

Using Picnik

Picnik is a an online application much like the computer programs Adobe Photoshop, FireWorks, PaintShop Pro and Corel Paint. Picnik however is a free tool that does not even require a registration to the site, although registration is free and easy! Although the abilities of the program are fewer in Picnik, the capability of the program is fast, easy and accessible from any computer connected to the internet!

Although I do already own Photoshop, I have begun to play around with Picnik. The site is easy to navigate and very simple compared to other photo editing software. After taking 30 seconds to create my account, I uploaded a photo to explore the capabilities of the site. I am impressed. I am even able to 'Gooify' my pictures. This is one thing I did to the second one - note the eyes. :D

Before

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

After

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

Picnik doesn't store the files for you but it is possible to save them to a computer or upload them from the site straight to a Flickr account (see previous post). After resizing and cropping a photo (so easily) I click on the Save and Share tab. I can either save the file straight onto my computer of upload it onto my Flickr. The file I was playing with can be seen here. It used to be a full screen High definition photo. Now it is much smaller. :D

Using Picnik in the Classroom
Using Picnik to manipulate images (changing colours, sizes and effects of existing photos and pictures) is a powerful way to empower students. An idea that I would like to test out is this: Give students a picture/photo to upload into Picnik and allow them to manipulate it in order to highlight a certain point of view. For example, providing a photo of a city and asking students to manipulate it to show what they think about cities. They may enlarge the photo to show cities are big, brighten the photo with crazy colours or neon lights to show that cities are buzzing with excitement or they may take all the colour out of the photo to show that cities are polluted. There are many different points of view and all students should be able to highlight an aspect to suit their own perspective. Even students at a young age could use simple elements of this site.


Engaging Learners
Learning Engagement Theory (Keirsley and Schneiderman) identifies the need for students to engage with relevant learning materials and projects, developing student choice. When students are able to decide on a particular direction for their learning, they are able to make connections between the content and the relevance to their life. This tool is engaging and also encourages the use of complex thinking in order to express a particular meaning through a picture.


Happy editing!

Using Flikr

These are a few of my wedding photos taken by James Day at 3words.com.au. I have uploaded them into Flickr, a free photo uploader and online organiser. Flickr then easily allows me to embed those picture files into my blog. Ta da!

(Photos Courtesy of Flickr)

Flickr and other photo uploaders, such as Photobucket, make it possible to share photos online with other users. After easily and quickly creating a free account with Flickr I have searched in the easy access toolbar for 'students using Flickr'. I found this photo named 'Even Students Love Flickr' which suits my next point.

Students who are writing an educational webpage are using flickr to store photos they've taken. 

(Photo Courtesy of Flickr) 

Students and Teachers can use technologies like Flickr to find photos (without restricting copyright) to use in lessons, projects, assignments, blogs, webquests, wikis and more! As so many people around the world are uploading photos, it is possible to get a whole range of views, through photos, on the one topic.

For example, a primary school teacher is planning a lesson on whales. When searching for photos, she finds that the copyright of most photos restricts her from copying and uploading the photo into her teaching blog and wiki. Searching for 'whales' on Flickr brings up 553,367 results at the present moment. Although many are not exactly what the teacher is looking for, there are definitely some useful pictures in the search.

(Photo Courtesy of Flickr)

Students are able to search for photos to use within presentations, assignments, blogs, stories etc. The picture above mentions that students creating websites can use Flickr to store the photos they have taken themselves. Students are able to upload their own individual photos of themselves, class work and classroom topics to use in later projects. This allows students to use a very 'hands on' approach to their learning and content. This method encourages creativity and allows students to understand that they have input to their work. These are useful elements for student engagement, according to Greg Kearsley & Ben Shneiderman, creators of the Learning Engagement Theory. This technology can provide useful ways of adding flavour to school projects, presentations, blogs, creative writing stories etc. 

An example of this can be found from Reversing The Norm, a blog created by a pre-service teacher. Here the author explains a use for using Flickr:

'It could easily be used to upload important images taken of the students work during the span of a unit to be used in a final assessment piece. This kind of use could be especially useful for science based units of work which involve collecting pictorial data over a period of time, for seed germinating etc.'

The following quote is from my course ICT's for Learning Design notes compiled by Scot Aldred. 

Smith & Lynch describe Learning Management as: 

"the capacity to design pedagogic strategies that achieve learning outcomes in students".

When using Flickr to upload or find photos, enhancing learning management and learning experience planning, it is important to remember that the techniques used should allow learning outcomes to be achieved by students. If the reason for using the technologies are not important and students find no connection of using Flickr and their lesson they will not be engaged and will not be inclined to participate in the lesson.

This site also provides some effective uses of Flickr in the classroom.

As this website (teacherworld.com) so beautifully shows, Edgar Dale's Cone provides a reference for what our learning experiences should include and the general percentage of what people remember from each experience. 

Dale's Cone orders from the lowest and least effective teaching method to the  highest and most appropriate level for teaching and learning at the bottom of the cone; planning and implementing Direct, Purposeful Experiences. According to teacherworld.com, people remember 90% of what they do compared to 10% of what they read, and 20% of what they hear. Allowing students to take their own photos, analyse and justify their photo choices and evaluate the best positioning and location for those photos allows students to be a part of a direct purposeful experience.

Regards, 

Toni Jordan

Interactive Whiteboards

I can't wait to use one!!!

As I have not been placed in a school just yet, I am unsure whether I will have access to an Interactive Whiteboard. From what I have researched, these whiteboards are very useful for engaging learners and allowing them to interact with technology to learn. In a time where technology is booming and students are able to find information from many different sources, the interactive whiteboards allow teachers to scaffold the information sourced.

An interactive whiteboard is a whiteboard used via computer and projector connections. The touch screen allows teachers and students to engage directly with the technology effectively and efficiently. Learning the technology may take some time but engaging students in the way they prefer to learn is invaluable. Many reviews of the technology describe the students as eager to get their hands dirty using the whiteboards themselves. It is important that students feel ownership of their learning.

This video shows one example of how to use an interactive whiteboard.



This video shows some of the features of the whiteboards.



As I said... I cant wait to use one!

Power Point for Teachers

I have just created a simple Power Point presentation. The primary focus is on educating upper primary students in one simple way of taking care of their voice: Warming up. I really want learners to understand that warming up the voice is important, why its important and that not only singers do it! This slide presentation could be used in a music, choir or HPE context, focussing on good vocal practices. I have included questions in the Power Point, which allows students to contemplate answers in their own time before responding.

Warming Up Our Voices Presentation

I uploaded my Power Point presentation into my Blog with Slideboom.com.  I tried using another program called Slideshare.net but the extra animations, effects and sounds were disabled. There has also been an uploading issue where the slide containing point 4 has a box above it. This text box is supposed to be under the text. Pausing will allow you to read the text. 

Power Point & Teachers
Power Point can be used by Teachers to scaffold the learning of all students especially those with a preference for visual teaching styles. It can be used as a teaching tool, a note providing tool, an assessment tool etc.  Students can also use the program to create their own slideshows. It can be a very rewarding assessment if students feel that they have purpose and creative input into a task. This can be a great way to engage learners!

We know that in order for the presentation to be engaging, the content has to have the three components of Greg Kearsley & Ben Shneiderman's Learning Engagement Theory.  Using the three components 'Relate, Create and Donate' provides a great way of organising the content into experiences that are exciting, relevant and authentic to real life situations. The learning has to have purpose. There is no point making a Power Point presentation that has no relevance to students and nothing worth learning in it!

If the content is meaningful, there are so many ways of making the slides more interesting than just simple words on a page.  Embedding videos, animation, pictures, songs and sounds in colourful and creative slides creates an engaging platform for students to take in and devour desirable information. The possibilities are endless for teachers using this program in the classroom.

The use of slide presentations through Power Point can be adapted to any learning situation. It can be a solo effort by a teacher or student,  can be easily incorporated into a small group situation or even a large group effort. Working alone or together, each with different or similar tasks (such as researching and organising information) to find a solution to an authentic problem with purposeful direction will allow students to create, relate and retain meaningful information.

The Power Point program makes it possible to deliver selected information in an engaging way that suits the context of the learning developing and encouraging meaningful learning, whether by the teacher, student or whole class.