Blog Post #7 - Multimedia Presentations, Assignments, Assessments & More!

 

Resource: https://www.huner.co.in/multimedia-presentation.html

    Multimedia presentations are a fun way to get students engaged in their learning! When I used to be a classroom teacher, I used multimedia presentations to help students learn all the time across a variety of content areas. It was a way to help my students view the world without ever leaving my classroom. For example, one of my favorite science units was for my 5th-grade students learning about the Moon, Earth, and Sun. Using a WebQuest (generated by the district so unable to directly link, I'm sorry!), students were engaged in a multimedia task that included videos, photos, audio and video clips, and much more to learn major concepts and ideas of the science standards. If you're unfamiliar with what a WebQuest is, click here to learn more and see how you can use them with your students this school year for assignments and even assessments! 

    In recent years, I use multimedia presentations in different ways. This is especially due to Covid changing a lot of learning to be digital-based. Since I focus primarily on reading intervention, I often will show videos, audio clips, and visual images to support learning. This is mainly done using YouTube, Canva, Loom, or Google Slides. For example, after my Orton-Gillingham training, I began incorporating digital blending boards with my students using Google Slides. My students love when I change the background to match a theme of the month! On my smartboard, I use the presentation to support the blending drill. Here are a few examples and a video on how to use them:

 

    During Covid, I also learned how to create a Google Classroom. This was great because I could integrate a variety of multimedia tools into one area. If you click on the image below, it will take you to my virtual classroom where you can explore an array of reading supports for students. In my Google classroom, I include a video of me doing a read-aloud, links to helpful videos to support learning high-frequency words, images for handwriting techniques, and direct links to a variety of literacy games that are fun and engaging for students to learn from. Since this is all controlled in my Google Classroom, I change things as necessary for my students to access multimedia tools quickly.

    When I think of using multimedia for assessments, I think of how I can use technology to help assess each student's understanding of specific material. Thanks to this class, I will be trying out a variety of new websites and apps that can help me with this during this school year. I might have my students create images to demonstrate understanding using StoryBoardThat, Podcasts to record thoughts and verbal answers, and/or other apps that students can create and type their responses in a digital format using words and pictures. One way I used multimedia to assess students in the past was through Google Forms. I could include questions that contained text, videos, and audio in a traditional assessment format. I'm excited to move away from this and on to more creative ideas that students can get excited about!

    As of now, I don't have any major concerns about creating or using multimedia presentations for my students. I hope to continue learning new techniques and apps to support my digital learners though. I know that there is a variety of apps and software to choose from, so I'm hoping that I can continue having enough time to explore and learn new ways to help my digital learners throughout the years ahead. The only mild concern I have is having the funds to support my class when I decide to purchase an app or software to use with my students. I hope that my school or PTA can help support my learners.