To Infinity and Beyond PowerPoint

This post is primarily aimed at the PGCE students who came along to the session this afternoon.

I know that I may have bombarded you with alternatives to PowerPoint tools, so I’ve put everything together in one place. Remember, please get in touch if you need some help!

Why PowerPoint?

The main tip is to think carefully about whether PowerPoint is the correct tool to be using. Would it be better to:

Get pupils outside?
Use a worksheet, model, demonstration, video….?

What to do next?

•Start a Blog

•Read teacher blogs – some of the links below are great places to start.

•Get on to Twitter

•Come along here on 8th March – Free RGS Network Meeting

You could also check out the Partners in Learning YouTube channel for ideas of how Office can be used. For example, this Innovid shows you how to add interactive text boxes.

What other resources are there?

Remember the caveats given during the session – talk things over with your school mentor, and if you’re unsure, please get in touch! What follows is a series of links to tools and ideas that you could use when appropriate. I’ve generally linked to my own blog posts so that you can see the context in which these tools were used.

Jo Debens’ (@GeoDebs) resources.
Wallwisher
Remember to go beyond the Google Search Box.
Get free OS mapping from Bing
Make statistics and development data better with Gapminder. There is a great article in this month’s Teaching Geography on how to use this tool in the classroom written by Bob Lang
John Davitt’s (web) Learning Event Generator is great for revision lesson and preparing puopils for assessments. See how I used it with Year 7.
Urban Earth is a great project when exploring development and settlement. Check out more Urban Earth Videos on the YouTube channel. The project was put together by fellow member of The Geography Collective Dan Raven-Ellision. More on that below.
Remember about the power of webcams when teaching about timezones and just about any issue. For example, look at the Mexico / USA border.
Use a simple webcam and free timelapse software to demonstrate fronts, traffic patterns…..
Use Skype to talk to the Amazon rainforest or set up a school link.

Those where the ideas shared today, and don’t forget to get in touch!

Comments

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David Rogers

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