Pecha Kucha & Ignite Presentation Styles

Today's assignment involved creating a slide-show presentation, related to our content areas, in the Ignite format. The reader's digest version (as presented on the course activities site) is "20 slides, advanced automatically after 15 seconds," for a total presentation time of five minutes. My presentation consists of 22 slides, but the 21st is just a closing thought (or opportunity for transition to a follow-up activity) and the 22nd simply cites nongraphic-content references used. Although loosly based on content material used for a previous presentation, the task was actually a bit tougher than I expected it to be. The course instructor suggested after the last presentation-based assignment that they should focus on short, direct points and question, utilize high quality graphics, and avoid large chunks of text. I worked very hard to meet all of these goals with this presentation, and incorporate material which might readily engage students as well. -Doing so was a bit difficult, but I believe the final product is both accessible to students and something that can be easily modified for classroom use. Look below, or click here, to access my Hero Archetype presentation, and as always, feel free to leave feedback.

Hero Archetype

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For this activity, I located and selected my presentation graphics with use of Google Images, and by using the Print Screen utility in some cases; then edited (mostly cropping) the images in MS Paint, before adding them to my text in MS PowerPoint. In this process I tried to maintain font size at of above 30 pt. Upon completing the presentation, I uploaded it to an account I created at Slideshare.net, and embedded the Html code for finished product in this post. Ultimately, I think this is another great tool for facilitating classroom instruction, but while the visual appeal for this format may be grater than that related to more traditional methods, great emphasis will be placed on discussion, provision or development of lecture notes (for the students), and student interaction for Q&A (which will likely push the time over five minutes).

While practical educator uses for classroom instruction are limited by this format however, it has promise for use in group presentations, because it would likily allow every group in a large class the opportunity to present. Aside from this factor, the technological aspects of the assignment (both presentation style and accessability) are worth investing time in, and have a broad base of uses for classroom facilitation.

TPACK
As mentioned in a prior blog post, a teacher might use a Power Point presentation for several reasons over the course of instruction (CK). The tool could be used to outline assignment specifications, give an overview of the day's lesson, or if the teacher is lecturing, he or she might use presentations to illustrate the main points of that lecture. An additional significant facet for using PowerPoint to facilitate classroom instruction involves having students work on presentations of their own (P), either individually or collaboratively, fostering direct learning and presentation skills, and encouraging creativity. Of course, this process also teaches, facilitates, maintains, and showcases technological literacy (T), responsibility, effectiveness, and utility for teachers and students alike.

Relation to standards
The development and use of internet-accessible content material relates to several ISTE NETS standards, primarily #1 Facilitate and inspire student creativity and innovation by promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding, thinking, planning, and creative processes; #2: Design and develop digital age learning experiences by customizing and personalizing learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities; #3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning by communicating relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats; and #4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, by advocating, modeling, and teaching safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

Integration
As an English Teacher, I will be required to teach English language and literature. The quality of my classroom facilitation and inherent presentations may be improved with the use of slide show presentations, and by the systematic collection, development, archiving, and retrieving of electronic resources including Pecha Kucha & Ignite Presentation Styles.