How Online Presentations Help Students in Studies?

Technology has touched almost all the spheres of human life and will continue to do so in the years to come. One major area which has been positively influenced by the advancements in technology is pedagogy and teaching. Nowadays, teachers use several different kinds of tech to initiate interest and make their classes more interesting. One age-old method which has gotten a revamp thanks to advancements in technology is the art of presentations. We have all throughout our time in school given at least one student presentation. Some of us loved it because it gave us some time to speak aloud in class, while others hated it. Thanks to technology, students of today get to give online presentations, with a larger reach and impact. How so? Well, here’s a look at how online presentations are helping students study.

Why We Need Changes?

It is safe to say that the learning environment of today is extremely different from the one present maybe two decades ago. As the years pass by, teachers are noting a steady decline in the attention span of students. This has been credited to various causes such as excessive use of mobile devices, and an overall lack of interest in learning due to better standards of learning. However, time and again, studies have shown that when students are active within their learning environment, their interest and rate of comprehension increases. So, what is the best way to get students interested and involved? Get them to present parts of the portion themselves so that they read up on the topic and learn to analyze it for themselves. Furthermore, teachers themselves can make use of online presentations to get their point across and make their classes more interactive. For instance, rather than just reading out paragraphs from their textbook, teachers can make use of Microsoft Power-Point to produce professional-looking online presentations in classroom environments.

This can help students because as per a study by Ozaslan and Maden, students tend to understand better when they are taught with the help of visual tools. Furthermore, teachers too agreed that online presentations help in making the content more appealing and interactive. By embedding videos and images within the presentation, teachers have an option to break the monotony of the lesson, helping to refresh the minds of the students and drive home several points. A study by Corbeil showed that students preferred online presentations over textbook presentations; as they were attracted by the visual aspects of such presentations.

Why Make Students Do Online Presentations

1. Students get an opportunity to speak in front of a gathering or group, which prepares them for public speaking later on in life.
2. It helps students understand whether they have a flair for debating, extempore or other forms of public speaking.
3. Being able to speak in front of a gathering is a professional skill they will need to rely on in later stages of their life.
4. With the right help, students who have stage fear and other such issues can get over their problems.
5. They get an opportunity to prepare material for online presentations and organize them into little packets of information.
6. Results in a marked improvement in their speaking skills
7. Peer evaluations of the online presentation help to get the entire class involved in the activity and ensures that everyone listens.
8. Small-group presentations may have a smaller impact, and hence online presentations help in getting across those hurdles.
9. Students get to use a variety of tools to make their online presentations more effective.
10. It promotes critical thinking as it makes students combine the concepts learned in class with the information gathered through research.
11. It allows students to communicate more effectively and fosters an environment that encourages discussion and interaction.

Online Tools Which Help with Online Presentations

• Teachers can include discussion forums in their presentations to ensure that the discussion regarding the topic stays active and ongoing.
• Embedding videos into the presentation can be very useful when presenting science topics as it will help students understand concepts more effectively.
• Try using time-stamped commenting tools to talk along with the video without distracting your students.
• Make use of applications such as VoiceThread which supports interactive learning by allowing users to add multimedia, slide-by-slide narration and the addition of comments. The built-in doodling tool also helps in engaging the audience. As the narration is recorded slide by slide, modifications can be made quite easily, without having to revamp the entire presentation.
• Nearpod is another slideshow tool that promotes remote collaboration, helping students make great online presentations.
• Screencast-O-Matic helps students create and share screencasts effectively.