We’ve all been here. A speaker steps to the front of the room at a conference, workshop, school event, or leadership meeting, and everything stops. The screen is dark. The audio does not work. No one knows the WiFi password. Someone calls for “the tech person.” The device goes to sleep. The audience waits while everyone acts as if this is just part of the program.

It should not be.

Every event space, from classroom to boardroom, should have a dedicated presentation station with a device that belongs to the room. Not the speaker. Not the organizer. Not whoever remembered to bring the right adapter.

The presentation station should be part of the space, the same way the projector, screen, microphone, lights, and chairs are part of the space. When people walk into a room to learn, present, or lead, the basic setup should already work.

The BYOD Presenter Model Is Broken

The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) presenter model turns every speaker transition into a new technical gamble with a different laptop, adapter, audio setting, sleep setting, software update, notification popping up at exactly the wrong time, etc.

That is not a presenter problem, but a room design problem.

A well-run event space should not depend on every speaker plugging in, pairing, restarting, authenticating, and hoping for the best. The better model is simple: one room device, many speakers. Get the device working before the event starts, keep it working throughout the program, and stop making every presenter start from scratch.

That means the host provides a presentation station that is already connected, tested, and ready. The WiFi, browser, display, audio, and shared materials should be checked before anyone is standing in front of the room. The device should not go to sleep mid-session or require a password no one in the room knows.

As I shared in Presentation Checklist: 5 Ways to Prepare for Presentations, presenters have preparation to do, but the device setup belongs to the host. The presenter should be focused on the message, not on troubleshooting the room.

Put The Materials In The Cloud, Not Someone’s Laptop

Speakers should submit materials ahead of time and access these through a shared agenda with a short, easy-to-type link. The room device opens the agenda, each speaker clicks their own materials, and the event moves on.

I have been writing about digital agendas for years. In Anatomy of a Killer Agenda and 7 Benefits to Ditching the Paper at Meetings + Events with a Great Agenda, I explain how a strong agenda keeps links, materials, and next steps in one place. The same logic applies here. Put the work in the agenda, and put the agenda on the room device.

This is not about being fancy but reducing failure points. If the only copy of a presentation is trapped on one speaker’s personal laptop, the event is more fragile than it needs to be. If that laptop will not connect, loses power, needs an update, or has the wrong setting, the whole room pays the price.

Access Matters, Too!

A shared agenda also makes the event more accessible. Participants may need to open slides on their own devices, use screen readers, translate text, enlarge content, follow links, or review materials later. That does not happen easily when the content lives only on one presenter’s machine.

In Checklist for Accessible Teaching & Presenting, I explain why digital materials, microphones, links, and accessible design matter. A presentation station does not solve every accessibility issue, but it removes one unnecessary barrier: the idea that access depends on whatever device the speaker brought.

A QR code can help, but it should not be the only way. As I wrote in QR Codes in Education: Use with Care, Not Just Because They’re There, QR codes are useful when they reduce friction. They become a problem when they create one more barrier. Use the QR code, but also provide a short link for anyone who cannot or does not want to use a phone camera.

The goal is not to look high-tech; it is to make access simple.

What Every Presentation Station Should Include

A strong presentation station should have:

• A dedicated room device connected to the display and audio
• Stable internet already connected
• No unknown password barriers
• Settings adjusted so the device does not go to sleep during the event
• Easy access to the agenda and all presentation materials in the cloud
• A browser ready for commonly used platforms such as Google Slides, PowerPoint online, Canva, YouTube, and shared documents
• Sound, camera, microphone, and screen sharing tested in advance
• Accessibility features available, including captions when possible
• A backup plan that does not require switching to random personal devices
• A designated person responsible for checking the setup before participants enter the room

Use this checklist as the standard operating protocol for successful presentations.

The Bottom Line

A presentation station should belong to the space, not the speaker.

When the room is ready, presenters can focus on their ideas, participants can focus on learning, and hosts can run events that feel smooth, professional, and welcoming. The fix is not complicated: provide a reliable room device, stable internet, accessible cloud-based materials, and settings that support the event instead of interrupting it.

Get the room ready. Put the presentation station in place. Make the materials easy to access. Then let the speaker do what they came to do: connect with the audience and deliver a message worth hearing.

Innovative educators know that unless you’re a designer or scripting wizard, building a presentation from scratch can be tedious, time-consuming, and uninspired. We deserve better. With AI at our fingertips, “blank slide syndrome” should be a thing of the past.

To put that belief to the test, I asked my edtech community on social media a simple question: Shouldn’t AI be able to turn a professional learning agenda into a polished presentation?

The responses were mixed. Some believed the right prompt could deliver. Others said the tech just wasn’t there yet. I wasn’t convinced. There had to be a smarter way.

A few colleagues suggested presentation-specific AI tools. So I tested them all.

What followed was a side-by-side comparison of the big three general AIs and three tools built for slides. Each one was given the same task: eliminate the need to start from scratch and actually save educators time.

The Process

A core part of my work is helping others leverage technology effectively. That means identifying the right tools, designing an agenda, and translating it into clear, engaging slides.

But I kept wondering: Why can’t AI handle that last step for me?

I put three general-purpose AI platforms, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, to the test with the same prompt: transform my agenda into a presentation.

Each fell short and the platforms even admitted their own limitations when asked.

Next, I turned to three platforms colleagues recommended because they’re built specifically for creating presentations: SlidesAI, BeautifulAI, and Gamma.

One stood out as the clear winner.

How They Compare

The charts below show strengths, limitations, and results so you can see exactly how the three general-purpose platforms and presentation-specific platforms stack up, and why Gamma is different. Sample presentations are also included so you can see for yourself what the outputs look like.

Bottom Line

General-Purpose Platforms Fall Short

While general-purpose AI tools can support the planning stage, these won’t get you across the finish line. These are useful for brainstorming and structuring, but still leave you formatting slides, fixing layouts, and wrestling with design. The editing burden remains high.

That’s where presentation-specific platforms come in.

Bottom Line

The Real Game-Changers: SlidesAI, BeautifulAI, Gamma

Presentation-specific platforms dramatically reduce that burden. SlidesAI is quick but plain. BeautifulAI produces polished decks, but at the cost of flexibility. Gamma goes further, producing polished, story-driven decks that are presentation-ready with only light refinements. That makes it the clear winner.

Stop Starting from Scratch. Choose Gamma.

If you’re tired of formatting slides, dragging elements around, or staring at a blank screen, stop.

Educators deserve tools that eliminate wasted time. Among today’s options, Gamma leads the way and can take you from an agenda to a visually engaging presentation faster than you may be able to create on your own.

Whether you're leading PD or sharing a vision with your team, presentation-specific platforms such as Gamma help you focus on the message, while AI focuses on the mechanics.

• Battle of the AIs: An Educator’s Guide to Choosing the Right AI Platform
• Lights, Camera, and 7 Actionable Ways to Use Google Vids

Sutori, previously known as HSTRY, offers a presentation tool that goes beyond presenting alone and is designed specifically to serve schools.

Unlike many other presentation tools, the company here has designed the online system to develop interactive stories. As such, this can be used by students and teachers to plan and deliver projects with a really open-ended set of options. It is used by more than 2.5 million teachers and students across the world.

Since this is all online-based it can mean easy access across devices and internet connections, making it readily accessible for students and teachers. Collaboration also can occur across the classroom, home, and beyond, from both school-assigned and personal devices.

This guide aims to lay out all you need to know to see if Sutori could help with your class.

What is Sutori?

Sutori is an online-based tool that offers the ability to create, collaborate on, and share presentations and storylines.

As such, this is a very adaptive tool that allows teachers from various subjects to work with it, from sociology, history, and geography to languages, arts, STEM, and beyond.

Thanks to a selection of templates that offer a canvas to build on, this is an open-ended tool that allows for a great deal of creativity and variation. Think of it like an endless digital pinboard that everyone can interact with using various types of media.

Since this is designed to be easy-to-use, its access can span a range of ages and abilities, letting students focus on the content itself without wasting time on working out how to use the system.

How does Sutori work?

Sutori lets teachers create storylines and share these via codes with the class or students individually. Thanks to starter templates, this creation process is a guided and simple even for those new to these types of tools.

Everything is scrolling-based, so you can add images, words, videos, interactive questions, and more with no limit on length. Thanks to assessments and quizzes, this can be a deeply interactive tool and can grow as a class or project progresses.

The tool is built to work well with Google Classroom, and it offers real-time collaboration, both of which are ideal for schools setup with that system that want students to work together digitally.

What are the best Sutori features?

Sutori offers a lot of templates to get you started and that's both from the company but also from other users who leave their creations for anyone to use. As such, there is a huge amount of options to pick from, making this great for most subjects and many, many topics. All that means this is a great time-saving tool for planning and presenting projects.

That collaboration piece is really powerful as students can work together on projects, but also teachers can monitor progress. So a teacher may place information in a storyline for students to read and follow up with an assessment, through which each individual can complete for teachers to see how well they have learned from that story.

Thanks to the social media-style feed, this is more interactive and freeing than many other presentation tools, making it an easily implemented tool for students. Sharing output is easy and can make this a useful way to set and have students submit class projects.

How much does Sutori cost?

Sutori offers a free trial and paid premium version as well as tiers specifically designed for schools or departments.

The Essential Free model gets you the basics through which you can create stories, add text and images, share and collaborate, present, embed into websites, and use basic student management.

Go for the Unlimited tier, at $120/year/educator, and you get the above plus videos, quizzes and polls, audio, bulk media uploads, headings, links, customization, feedback, class discussions, story analytics templates, Google Drive integration, LMS integration, and more.

The Department plan is offered at $500/year for up to six educators.

Or go for the Schools tier at $2,500/year to cover all educators in the entire school.

Sutori best tips and tricks

Feed into a lesson
Use a feed to teach a lesson as a way to show students how this works and how they can interact with it on their devices.

Assess
Use a feed for a lesson and offer assessments to see how students are taking in the subject material along the way, and adjust teaching accordingly.

Project
Set projects for groups or individuals and have them present it back using the Sutori tool, encouraging a class presentation so everyone learns from the result.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Wooclap is a presentation tool that aims to make the learning process far more engaging by creating an interactive element. The idea is to capture attention better by making presentations more two-way.

While presenting information to the class can be time-efficient and often effective, it can leave some students less engaged. By introducing the potential of having a question fired at students at any moment, this can help to keep them focused and learning. It also makes for good feedback.

That's the idea behind Wooclap, which allows educators to work with current platforms such as PowerPoint, but to make presentations more quiz-like.

So could this work for your class? This guide aims to help you find out.

What is Wooclap?

Wooclap is called an interactive presentation tool, but in reality, it is a questions-and-answers platform with real-time feedback.

For teachers, it offers a way to ask questions and receive answers, class-wide, so you can immediately see how well students know a subject or not. Crucially, this is a student-by-student result for more personalized feedback, which can make tailoring teaching to suit all needs a more realistic option.

Thanks to plenty of style choices, when it comes to questions, this can be adapted to suit various situations. Plus, the integration with current tools should make it easy enough to use for even less tech-savvy educators.

How does Wooclap work?

Wooclap is a service that you can sign-up for and use online or via the app integrations. It allows teachers to create what it calls events. These are filled with questions and answers -- if doing multiple choice, for example -- before being shared.

Teachers can share using a QR code or a link, and in either case, students are able to access the questions from their own devices or class device without the need to sign-in. As questions are answered, those responses appear on the teacher's device in real-time so they can see how the individuals in the class are all responding.

Lots of Woolclap templates are available so you can pick one and get started right away, or edit that to more quickly create a personalized event as needed.

What are the best Wooclap features?

Wooclap is a really well-integrated tool that can be used with a number of other platforms. These include, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Canvas, Moodle, and more.

A plentiful 20 question types are available to pick from, allowing teachers to keep things fresh. It can also be adapted to the way students engage so as to offer variations to suit the differing needs. These include word clouds, multiple choice questions, surveys, brainstorming, and so on.

Usefully, there is also a competition mode and a message wall, which can be used to get a group dynamic working. As opposed to the more singular question-and-answer via individual devices, this is all sent privately to the teacher.

Results are instant but there is also the ability to view this data in the app to reveal trends, individual variations, and general student progress tracking, all at a glance. This data can be exported too, with both PDF and Excel support available -- making it easier to share with students or guardians, as needed.

Collaboration is also an option that can allow for teaching colleagues to work together on a quiz event, to share student progress across classes, and to integrate Woolclap directly within the institution's LMS.

How much does Wooclap cost?

Wooclap offers a few pricing options, including a free version.

The Free tier gets you a maximum of two questions, up to 1,000 participants, unlimited events, real-time votes, and support.

Go for the Basic plan, at €6.99($7.52)/month/user, and you get unlimited questions, participant pace questionnaires, and the ability to export to Excel and PDF formats.

There is a Pro plan, at €14.99($16.13)/month/user, which gets you colleagues collaboration, SMS, moderator, custom color themes, and support via email and chat.

You also have a Custom plan charged at a bespoke rate, which offers unlimited participants, SAML/SSO/CAS, LMS integration, and dedicated support.

Wooclap best tips and tricks

Exit tickets
Setup questions for the end of the lesson to assess how well students have learned and what needs to be covered in the next lesson.

Work in
Present and work in questions to have students interact as you go along, keeping them focused and allowing you to see, live, how they're absorbing it all.

Poll
Use the multiple choice-style questions to take a poll in class to assess everyone's needs, with privacy, so you can see where to go next.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Doceri Interactive Whiteboard

Interactive whiteboard app for designing and recording presentations

Pros: iPad mobility means no more being tied to a computer or whiteboard; the record-as-you-go feature helps students track and narrate their thinking.

Cons: Lacks some editing tools, such as a pointer and text tool, which makes it difficult to isolate items or add much detail; no recent updates.

Bottom Line: Teachers and students can spice up presentations and demonstrate processes and problem-solving skills with this well-designed tool.

Read more.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Nearpod

Interactive slideshow tool engages students, promotes collaboration

Pros: Students actively participate in their education while teachers get valuable feedback on student learning.

Cons: Creating and modifying presentations can be time consuming and can get expensive; some features may not work on all devices.

Bottom Line: This effective tool leverages the capabilities of 1-to-1 environments and offers both teacher- and student-paced learning.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

HoverCam will demonstrate its full hardware and software learning platform for digital classrooms in Booth 2144 at the International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE), June 23-26 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The company will feature its Pilot Series of digital teaching stations; next-gen document cameras; and the debut of ClassFusion, a presentation and learning management software platform for today's digital classrooms.

At ISTE 2019, attendees will have the opportunity to see a live demonstration of ClassFusion, HoverCam's new, comprehensive software platform for 21st-century, fully digital classrooms. ClassFusion integrates a classroom presentation system with a learning management system. Designed for wireless and interactive collaboration in a multidevice ecosystem classroom, ClassFusion features dynamic lesson and notes capture; a lesson plan builder with access to a database of over 4 million resources; teachers' calendars; space-saving, vector-based lesson recording to the cloud; whiteboarding with tools including handwriting and object recognition; online homework submission and student messaging; Hopscotch multisplit; and more.

The Pilot X, the mobile addition to HoverCam's Pilot series, is a tablet-based, battery-operated, wireless digital teaching station. The tablet can be charged while docked in the station or be removed to grant teachers more flexibility around the classroom.  Pilot X offers connectivity options similar to the Pilot 3integrated wireless digital teaching station, which will also be on display at ISTE 2019. Both models feature a Windows® PC and 13-megapixel document camera, with Pilot 3 including a 21-inch multi-touchscreen with wireless HD mirroring functionality in a mobile podium. The Pilot series' wireless transceivers beam the teaching station's screen and touch annotations to any interactive flat panel, projector, or TV in uncompressed 1080p HD resolution.

Also on display will be the latest models from the company's line of document cameras. HoverCam's Ultra 10 features a 7.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, true 4K HDMI output, and a 16-megapixel sensor, and Android computer. The built-in multitouch viewing monitor allows educators to see exactly what their students see without having to turn their backs. Users can connect a display, IFP, or projector — via wired HDMI or a wireless 4K transmitter without a PC — to record lessons, capture images, and show live video. The Solo 8 Plus is a lightweight and compact document camera with a 13-megapixel lens that captures images and live video with clarity up to 4K; supports 1080p full HD video recording; and provides connectivity with iPads®.

More information on HoverCam's full line of education solutions is available at thehovercam.com.

A few times a day I chuckle at a text message or social media post with a meme. Maybe it’s a Game of Thrones reference sent by a friend or a corny joke sent by a family member. Either way, a meme requires a certain level of topical knowledge and a big dose of creativity to really get laughs. 

Creating memes with students is a great classroom activity. It asks students to think deeply about a topic, apply what they’ve learned and create something ready-to-share with the world. Although you might think of meme activities as something popular in an English Language Arts classroom, you can make memes with students in any subject area.

In our book 40 Ways to Inject Creativity in the Classroom with Adobe Spark, Ben Forta and I share dozens of classroom activities with Adobe Spark. There are also lots of graphic organizers for students. In this blog post, I’ll share another activity that promotes creativity. It asks students to think about course content from a new angle. In the math classroom, you can have students create memes to illustrate an idea or bring a concept to life.

Memes in the Classroom

So here’s a sentence I couldn’t imagine writing a decade ago… Merriam-Webster defines meme as “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media.” You’ve certainly come across memes in your own social media spaces, and there are lots of classroom creations too. A quick Pinterest search will bring up lots of cross-curricular examples, like this math meme featuring Drake.

In this activity, students can brainstorm what they’d like their meme to communicate and create their own math meme in just a few steps. Spark Post makes it easy for students to layer text over images. This is just like the memes students are used to seeing in social spaces. Students can think of a meme, search for the perfect picture, add text to their image. Then they can share their meme with classmates, family, or any audience.

Making Math Memes

To start making math memes, head over to Adobe Spark’s website or open up the Spark Post app on an iOS or Android device. Students can use one of Spark Post’s templates or start from scratch. If you have the branding features set up for your school (learn more here), you can access them during this first step too.

For the meme I share in this blog post, I started from scratch and first chose the shape and size of my graphic. These sizes are optimized for different social media platforms. You can resize your graphic at any time and even add custom dimensions. I chose a square to keep it simple.

Searching for Images

Since I already knew that my meme was about fractions — with a pizza reference — I searched for free photos right from within Spark Post. When your students brainstorm and plan their meme before opening up Spark Post, you may want to encourage them to write down 3-4 search terms for their image. This way they have several options to work with when looking for images.

After students search for and choose an image, they are prompted to add text to their Spark Post graphic. The colors are chosen automatically to match the image. However, you can change the font colors, alignment, and any other details manually. I actually included two lines of text on my meme, so I used the plus sign at the top righthand corner of the screen. 

Students looking for design inspiration can use the Design suggestions built right into Spark. This feature makes it easy to create a beautiful graphic without having a design background. Students can tap on each design idea and then tweak the text, colors, and arrangement to create their perfect meme. 

Using the Download button at the top of their screen, students can then save their meme as a picture file. If students are on a Chrome browser, there is also the option to download the graphic as a PDF file. Alternatively, students can publish their meme as a link.

You may have seen other ideas on my site for using Spark Post. Check out these two blog posts on using this tool for exit tickets and vocabulary study. Or head straight to Adobe Spark’s website to get started with this powerful, easy-to-use creation tool.

I've had the pleasure of working with this company. All opinions are my own. 

cross posted at classtechtips.com

Dr. Monica Burns is a former classroom teacher, Speaker, and Curriculum & EdTech Consultant. She is the author of Tasks Before Apps (ASCD) and #FormativeTech (Corwin). Visit Monica's site ClassTechTips.com for more ideas on how to become a tech-savvy teacher.

Innovative educators understand the importance of being prepared to give a great presentation to inspire and influence others. Keeping these five ideas in mind, will help ensure you don't fall short. 

Presentation Checklist

1. Have speaker notes on your slides. 
2. Know how to access the speaker notes as needed. 
              *When I present, I have speaker notes view on my phone.
3. Use the speaker notes to make a transcript and practice it.
4. Submit your presentation to the person who requested you speak in advance and ask for feedback.
                 *If you are doing this for a class, ask your teacher for feedback before you present.
                  *If you're a teacher, ask your students to share their presentations with you for review before they present live.
5. Arrive about at least 15 minutes early. Use this time to:
                  *Prepare yourself.
                   *Check your tech. 
                   *Don't forget to check the sound.
                    *Connect with participants. 

Your turn

Do you do you, or your students, do each item on the checklist before presenting? Any other tips, tricks, or ideas? 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

In booth 1119 at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), Jan. 27-30 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, HoverCam will showcase its Pilot Series of digital teaching stations; wireless Ultra 10 document camera; and ClassFusion, a classroom presentation and learning management system.

At FETC 2019, HoverCam will showcase the  Pilot 3, the fully integrated wireless digital podium as a teaching station. The Pilot 3 combines a Windows PC, 13-megapixel document camera, and 21-inch multi-touchscreen with wireless HD mirroring functionality in a mobile podium, while the wireless transceiver sends the podium's screen and touch annotations to any interactive flat panel, projector or TV in uncompressed 1080p HD resolution.

Also during the show at its booth, HoverCam will be showing the Pilot X, the next addition to the Pilot family. Offering connectivity options similar to the Pilot 3, the Pilot X is a tablet-based, battery-operated wireless digital teaching station that's designed for ultramobility. 

HoverCam's Ultra 10 is a  document camera, featuring a 7.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, true 4K HDMI output, 16-megapixel sensor, and driven by an Android computer. The built-in multitouch viewing monitor allows educators to see what their students see without having to turn their backs. Users can connect a display, IFP, or projector — via wired HDMI or an optional wireless 4K transmitter without a PC — to record lessons, capture images, and show live video.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to see a demonstration of ClassFusion, HoverCam's software for the digital classroom. ClassFusion integrates a classroom presentation system with a learning management system designed for wireless and interactive collaboration. ClassFusion features dynamic lesson and notes capture; lesson plan builder with access to a database of over 4 million resources matched to curriculum; teachers' calendars;  vector-based lesson recording to the cloud;  whiteboarding with smart tools including handwriting and object recognition; online homework submission and student messaging; Hopscotch multisplit; and more.

More information on HoverCam's full line of education solutions is available at thehovercam.com.

Scratchwork

Intelligent collaborative whiteboard opens up new ways to create math

Pros: A slick, collaborative interface brings together writing, math, and videoconferencing in a powerful way.

Cons: The selection tool can be a bit finicky, and the interface takes time to get used to.

Bottom Line: This flexible tool is great for student groups to upload, manipulate, and share math projects.

[Free Quizzing Tool Combines Learning With Avatars & Music]

Read more here.

Site of the Week picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

Google Slides is a superb tool for presentations and for student resources. It's ideal when used as part of Google Classroom but can have issues. Sometimes a student may select an area and auto advance, or indeed a teacher might click a wrong part and advance the slide without wishing to.

This can mess up the flow and, often more importantly, cause a mix-up in the revealing of information. This might give away the next slide, which makes the current one a waste of time. So, avoiding skipping a slide accidentally is legitimate concern.

• Google Classroom for students
• Create group assignments in Google Classroom
• Google Classroom review

While in presentation mode, the problem is that some students click on the empty space in the slide. This will cause it to advance to the next slide, which is annoying at best and destructive in many cases.

A great strategy to stop Google Slides from auto-advancing is to insert a shape that covers the whole slide and link it to the existing slide. Additionally, text boxes that are not buttons must also be linked to the existing slide. 

The idea here is simply that anything that is clicked will still work as a link, only it will direct the user back to where they already are. No early revelations, no getting lost, and no jumping forward unintentionally.

How to do that might sound clear but here's a walk through guide to help you see more clearly exactly how to stop auto advancing in Slides. This video explains the whole process:

Hippo Video

Capture, narrate, flip, and give feedback with multimedia screencasts

Pros: Teachers can easily assign content to students; the intuitive design means users can be creating screencasts within minutes.

Cons: It works only on devices that allow Chrome extensions; the editing process is slow and feels a bit clumsy.

Bottom Line: This is a terrific option that supports flipped classrooms, video feedback, student presentations, and formative assessment.

[Free Online Video Library Ideal for Flipped or Traditional Classroom]

Read more here.

Site of the Week picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

I hope you enjoy the below three templates that have, and continue to, completely empower my teaching practice.

• Looking for a 5E lesson planning template that also addresses the Next Generation Science Standards? Click here for a template.
• Interested in using medical diagnosis as a curiosity spark in biology? Click here for a template. Click here for a student example.
• Do your students constantly create bad presentations? Click here for a rubric template that leverages a comical approach to teaching presentation skills.

cross posted at www.cyclesoflearning.com

Ramsey Musallam teaches science and robotics at Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa, California, with the aim of fostering inquiry-based learning environments fueled by student curiosity. He presents widely on sparking student curiosity and teaching with technology. Musallam is a Google Certified Teacher, a YouTube Star Teacher, and a Leading Edge Certified Teacher. Watch his TED talk here and read his blog at www.cyclesoflearning.com.

[Helpful Tool Lets Kids Research Safely on Web]

Explain Everything Whiteboard

Refreshed version of the original presentation tool still excites

Pros: Students can import content from multiple sources to use in their presentations.

Cons: Fewer features than the subscription-based Explain Everything app.

Bottom Line: While this app lacks the options of the full-featured Explain Everything app, teachers and students can still make powerful presentations.

Read more.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

ClassroomScreen which I will be using at all future learning events. ClassroomScreen basically allows me to ditch my former toolbox of presentation tools as it combines them into one nice, simple place. Just visit classroomscreen.com and you have access to a timer, random number generator, work symbols (i.e. silence, work together, ask a neighbor), QR code, class sound level, and more.Here's the toolbar.

Here is what a screen might look like.

[5 Steps to Making It With Students]

In one place you have directions for each group, work style, timer, time, and the information on where to access their work. No one in the classroom is unsure what to do, because it is projected in the room.

The tool was created by a teacher in the Netherlands named Laurens Koppers who wanted a simple tool with all his favorite interactive widgets to help him teach and his students learn more effectively. Nothing existed, so he made ClassroomScreen.

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several books and her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

Apollo

Presentation and student-response system good for BYOD, 1-to-1 classrooms

Pros: The drag-and-drop interface makes designing easy; students can take control, answering questions and presenting their own knowledge.

Cons: Audio recording isn't available within all browsers, and some features are difficult to find.

Bottom Line: A fantastic presentation option for teachers with blended classrooms, despite some usability issues.

[Free Whiteboard App Teaches Fractions Visually]

Read more.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

PowToon

Cool presentation tool lets students turn slides into video animations

Pros: Presentations look clean and professional and add an element of fun.

Cons: Presentations can be slow to load, and the ability to add images from Flickr and other online platforms may result in student access to inappropriate content.

Bottom Line: With guidance and oversight, students will have fun making creative video presentations, but more collaborative features and classroom support would help.

[Create Stylish, Engaging Presentations with Top Slideshow App]

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Site of the Week picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

Prezi Classic

Stylish presentation creator with a unique 3D zooming effect

Pros: Attractive, easy-to-use, built-in templates produce professional looking presentations; free upgraded account for teachers.

Cons: No easy import for audio files, and, without solid content, the animation can seem gimmicky or distracting.

Bottom Line: An elegant, flexible alternative to other online slide software tools, but it requires some finesse to make the effective use of the features and infinite canvas.

[Professional Development By Teachers, For Teachers]

Read more.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

This week I’m excited to share lots of favorites at ISTE’s annual conference. From favorite open-ended creation tools to formative assessment tips, it will be an action-packed week! It seemed like the perfect time to share a must-try combo for educators. So I’ve put together a list of ways Adobe Spark and Nearpod are a fantastic pair of EdTech tools!

Adobe Spark in the Classroom

If you haven’t used the Spark tools before they are totally free, intuitive creation tools for students, professionals, and creatives in any industry. I’ve shared Adobe Spark a handful of times on my website because it is so student friendly. This year, the team at Adobe announced that K-12 schools could access all premium Spark features for free. You can learn more about the announcement in this blog post.

Spark Video is a moviemaking tool students can use to combine voice, text and more. Students can create All About Me videos, or capture stories from their day. Spark Page lets users design and publish a website. Your students might show off highlights from the school year, or you might show off student work. Spark Post is a graphic design tool perfect for quick creation opportunities. You can use it for virtual exit slips or to capture book quotes.

All of the Spark tools are accessible on a web browser, so they are Chromebook-friendly. Additionally, you can find all three as individual apps for iOS devices. No matter how you decide to use them, these tools offer endless possibilities for student creators!

[Class Tech Tips: Classroom Tips for Biography Projects with Spark Page]

Nearpod Presentation Tool

Nearpod is a favorite interactive presentation tool that I share with educators and students across the country. In addition to sharing a slide deck with a student audience, Nearpod lets users embed questions to check for understanding. This feature lets you push out a few quiz questions, a poll, an open-ended response, or even an opportunity for students to respond with a drawing.

I became a fan of this tool as a one-to-one classroom teacher, and just like the Spark tools, I share Nearpod in K-12 settings. If you’re entirely new to this tool, take a look at my post with an overview of Nearpod. You might also want to learn more about the virtual reality features or how Nearpod fits into Pre-K classrooms.

Adobe Spark and Nearpod App Smash

I love combining favorite tools, and Adobe Spark and Nearpod are a must-try combo. On this list, I provide an overview of tips for making the most of these two powerful EdTech tools. Whether you’re totally new to Adobe Spark and Nearpod, or ready to energize your practice, this combo is definitely work exploring!

Spark Post and Nearpod

Spark Post is a graphic design tool you can use for a variety of purposes. As student creators, students can capture special moments for their school and share their learning with the world. As an educator, one way I use Spark Post is to create slides for presentations.

Last year I shared this tip for using Spark Post to create slides for Google Slides. By choosing the shape with the dimensions of a slide, you can create beautiful slides to add to a Nearpod presentation. In the image above, you can see how I used Spark Post to create images I used in a Nearpod presentation with a group of fourth-grade students. You can read about that lesson in this blog post. In addition to creating slides, I used Spark Post to create images for (1) students to annotate text and (2) a slideshow.

Nearpod does allow users to create slides right from within their creation dashboard. I prefer to make my slides outside of Nearpod, so I can have a bit more control of the position of text and images. Since Spark Post lets users search for high-quality photos and add icons to their slide, it is an excellent option for slide creation. Once you download your Spark Post design, you can add it to Nearpod with a drag and drop, or simply import the JPG file.

Spark Video and Nearpod

Nearpod lets users connect to a YouTube video or share a link to content hosted online. In the middle of an interactive Nearpod presentation, you might want to pause and show a quick video. If you or your students have created a Spark Video to share, you can add the link to the video to your Nearpod presentation.

After students watch a Spark Video you have chosen for them, they can respond to what they have seen. This response to the video can take many forms. You might decide to have students complete an open-ended response or use the Draw it feature in Nearpod to sketch a response.

Introducing a Spark Video project to students? You can use Nearpod to share a handful of examples you’d like the class to watch. Instead of launching a live Nearpod presentation, create a self-paced presentation code to share with students. Then they can take their time reviewing the Spark Video examples before jumping into their own video creation.

Spark Page and Nearpod

Spark Page is a powerful website creation tool. Users of all ages can create and publish a website that features images, video, links, and text. Similar to the strategy introduced above, you can use Nearpod to push links to different content out to students. If you’ve found a Spark Page on a topic you want students to explore, or you have created your own, you can share the link in Nearpod for all students to view. For example, if you have found or have created a page to profile an astronaut, you can share the Spark Page within a Nearpod presentation.

When leading a Nearpod lesson, students can talk with their classmates about a new topic, idea, or concept. Connecting a Spark Page to a Nearpod presentation gives students the chance to scroll through a website which contains both written and visual information on a topic. By incorporating a Spark Page into the flow of your lesson, you’re providing a moment for students to take more agency of their exploration of course material.

Are you using Adobe Spark and Nearpod in the classroom? Share your tips, strategies, or favorite activities in the comments below!

cross posted at classtechtips.com

Monica Burns is a former classroom teacher, author, speaker, and curriculum & edtech consultant. Visit her site ClassTechTips.com for more ideas on how to become a tech-savvy teacher.

Mentimeter

Call on everybody at once with flexible, interactive presentation tool

Pros: With the ability to generate questions, assign polls, get image feedback, create matrices, and more, there's no shortage of options to engage your audience.

Cons: Without import options, teachers will have to spend some time creating presentations, and the free version's two-question limit can hamper interactivity.

Bottom Line: This flexible tool supports the creation of dynamic presentations and can help teachers strike a balance between information and interaction.

[Simple Writing/Note-Taking Tool Includes Text-to-Speech Option]

Read more.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

As educators and students we use images all of the time in the projects we create. Most of the time any picture will do, but sometimes we're looking for an image with a special quality… transparency.

A transparent image is a picture where some part of the image is see-through, like the image has been cut out. This is useful because transparent images look much better when combined with other images, allowing you see the background or other items behind the picture.

1) Finding transparent images with Google image search

One way to find transparent images if you use the advanced features in the Google image search. Here's how

• Go to Google image search as usual at https://images.google.com
• Type in your search term and run your search as normal.
• After you get your results, click on "Tools" in the top menu to see the advanced search options.
• In the "Color" drop down menu choose the option for "Transparent".
• The results you get now will be images that have a transparent portion.
• Click on any image to view it with its transparency, which will display as a checkerboard pattern.
• You can download the picture by right clicking on the image and choosing "Save image as"
• Or you can copy the link to the picture by right clicking on the image and choosing "Copy image address".
• Or you can simply drag and drop the image into another program such as Google Docs, Slides, or Drawings.

Note: As always be sure that you have permission to use the image and that you cite it properly.

2) Find transparent images on the "No Backs" website

Another great source to search for and find transparent images is the "No Backs" website. This is a website dedicated to collecting and organizing totally free images that have transparent backgrounds. Here's how to use the site:

• You can access the website at http://nobacks.com
• Once there you can run a search for the image you want.
• Or you can browse through the categories such as Animals, Food, Nature, Objects, People, and more.
• When you find an image you want, you can download it, copy its address, or drag and drop it just like explained in the section above.

[18 Free Image Sites and Tools for Schools]

3) Create your own transparent images with Google Drawings

Instead of searching for images, you can create your own transparent pictures. One way to do this is with Google drawings.

• Make a new Google Drawing by going to Google Drive, clicking the "New" button, clicking "More", and then finally choosing "Google Drawings".
• When the drawing opens up you will notice the background has a checkerboard pattern. This means that it is transparent.
• You can now insert anything you want onto the canvas through the "Insert" menu.
• This can include other images, shapes, text boxes, word art, lines and arrows, and more.
• Note: For more detailed directions see my help guide "Using Google Drawings".

When done you can download the image.

• Click "File", then "Download as", then choose "PNG image".
• The PNG image format support transparency, so everything with the checkerboard pattern in the drawing will be saved as transparent.
• Note: JPG images do not support transparency,

• Go to the Lunapic website at https://www167.lunapic.com/editor/
• Click "Upload" in the toolbar.
• Next click "Choose File" to upload your original photo.
• When your image loads, click "Edit" in the top menu bar, and then choose "Magic Wand" from the drop down menu.

• Now click anywhere in the background of the photo and Lunapic will select a portion of the background based on the color.
• Next click the "Cutout" button to remove the selected area of the background and replace it with transparency.
• If some areas of the background are still left, click "Crop Another Area" and repeat the process as many times as needed to remove all of the background.
• Note: If too much or two little gets removed you can undo the operation and then make an adjustment to the "Threshold" setting.

When done you can click "Save" below the image to save your edited picture with its transparent background.(Image credit: PictureYouth)

Uses for transparent images in learning

Because transparent images don't have a background they can be used to make products that look cleaner and more professional. For example, they could be used in Google slides for a regular presentation, stop motion animation, eBooks, comic strips, and more. Or they can be used in Google drawing for posters, interactive images, graphic organizers, and more. They could even be used in Google Sites on student web pages.

One specific fun activity you can do with transparent images is creating compilation pictures. This is where you take a background image to serve as a setting and then insert a new image on top of it to make it look like it is all one image.

For example, a student could put a picture of themselves into an event from history, a location in a foreign country, the setting of a book, or even a famous work of art.

For historical photos, you can adjust the colors of your image in Google Drawings to make it match better. Simply click on your transparent image, then click "Format options" in the toolbar. You can now "Recolor" the image, as well as adjust the "Brightness" and "Contrast."

Conclusion

There are many sources for finding images with transparency, as well as lots of ways to create your own. These images can be used to make presentations, graphics, and websites look better and more professional. They can also be incorporated into a wide range of creative projects using Google Slides and Drawings.If you have other ideas for how to use transparent images, or have examples of students creations you would like to share, please do so in the comments below.

cross posted at www.controlaltachieve.com

Eric Curts is an education trainer and consultant with over 20 years' experience throughout the U.S. He is an authorized Google Education Trainer and a Google Certified Innovator. Read his blog at www.controlaltachieve.com and follow him on Google+ and @ericcurts on Twitter.

Can you use Nearpod with early learners? You bet! This year I’ve had the chance to visit classrooms and work with teachers in different parts of the country. One of the highlights of this year has been working with an enthusiastic group of early learners in New York.

The team at Nearpod has developed lots of content specifically for early learners. I modified the most recent lesson I used with a group of Pre-K students from their library of pre-made content. I knew this class was exploring life cycles of different animals. A quick keyword search in the Nearpod marketplace made it easy to find a lesson to share with this group.

If you haven’t downloaded a lesson from Nearpod before, you can add either a free or paid lesson to your library. You can edit the lesson to tailor it to your group of students. I found this great lesson on the life cycle of frogs and added a few additional activities. This way students could take part in a drawing activity and a virtual reality activity that wasn’t initially in the lesson. Although this particular lesson was designed for Kindergarten, I made a few changes to make sure it was Pre-K friendly. With just a few clicks, I removed a couple of slides with extra information I didn’t think was necessary for my group.

FormativeTech and Nearpod

If you’ve visited my blog before, you know I’m a big fan of Nearpod. This interactive presentation tool is in my book #FormativeTech: Meaningful, Sustainable, and Scalable Formative Assessment with Technology. Here’s a short excerpt where I highlight the power of developing authentic learning experiences with digital tools:

“Authentic learning experiences connect student activities to the real world. Designing experiences that are relevant to students and related to their everyday lives is an important part of demonstrating the purpose of the learning taking place in school.”

Although this is a tool I credit with transforming my teaching as a fifth-grade teacher, I’ve had the chance to use Nearpod with Pre-K students this year. With clear learning goals in mind, Nearpod is perfect for early learners. It provides opportunities for students to engage with content, and share their learning!

Trying a new activity with a group of students might feel overwhelming. If you are introducing your early learners to Nearpod for the first time, ask for help! A second-grade student who has used Nearpod in their classroom could absolutely help your class log in together and navigate the app. A ninth grader in need of community service hours might be able to visit your classroom too.

If you have family helpers or teaching assistants that spend part of their day in your classroom, plan a lesson using Nearpod around this schedule. A few extra hands to help students enter the lesson or switch the colors on the Draw toolfor the first time can definitely come in handy. You might not need this extra help every time you lead a Nearpod lesson with your group. But it can be a great way to support your students the first time you try this out!

Pause for Discussion

For those of us who have spent time in innovative classrooms, we know technology use is so much more than asking students to plug in a headset and stare silently at their screens. All students can benefit from whole group, small group, and partner discussions. When early learners are using Nearpod, build in opportunities to pause and ask questions. Students can take part in a think-pair-share as you introduce new information.

I recently shared this list of discussion prompts for Virtual Reality experiences. You can tailor these prompts to the experiences you share with students during Nearpod. Whether they are looking at a still image on their screen or moving their device side-by-side, these prompts are entirely customizable!

Head over to Nearpod’s website to get started or check out this blog post sharing my experience leading an interactive reading lesson with this tool.

Have you used Nearpod with early learners? Share your experiences in the Comments section below!

cross posted at classtechtips.com

Monica Burns is a former classroom teacher, author, speaker, and curriculum & edtech consultant. Visit her site ClassTechTips.com for more ideas on how to become a tech-savvy teacher.

Crestron announced today that its new AirMedia Wireless Presentation Systems (AM-300 and AM-200) with built-in AirMedia 2.0 technology will make their North American debut at InfoComm 2018, June 6 – 8 in Las Vegas, NV.

[New Crestron AirBoard™ to be Showcased at InfoComm 2018]

The AM-300 and AM-200 turn lobbies, lounges, and other open spaces into productive meeting spaces. They mount discreetly behind wall mount displays and enable wired or wireless presentation. No furniture, dongles, or new Wi-Fi networks are needed. Live demonstrations of the AM-300 and AM-200 are available at Crestron Booth #C2562.

Nureva Inc. announces the release of its Dual HDL300 audio conferencing system, with early units shipping in June and general availability in July. The system supports large dynamic spaces up to 30' x 50' (9.14 x 15.24 m) and is the second model in the HDL300 audio conferencing system product line, first introduced in June 2017.

[How To Listen To Music Without Destroying Your Hearing]

Powered by Microphone Mist™ technology, the Dual HDL300 system fills a room with up to 16,384 virtual microphones that pick up sound throughout the space, regardless of where in-room meeting participants are standing or the direction they are facing. The system consists of two wall-mounted integrated microphone and speaker bars that plug into a single connect box, which is connected to a laptop or meeting room computer. It also comes with Nureva Room Manager, which keeps the system up to date and allows users to adjust audio settings to suit their environment and preferences.

Availability and pricing
The Dual HDL300 audio conferencing system is available through a global network of value-added dealers and distributors. The MSRP in the United States is US$5,499. Prices in other countries will vary.

Corel announces the latest version of its office suite WordPerfect Office X9. that prioritizes productivity and control over your documents. Improved features include workflow enhancements and updates to tools such as Reveal Codes and Macros. The suite comes complete with PDF functionality; support for over 60 file types; as well as SharePoint integration and network deployment for corporate accounts.

WordPerfect Office X9 (Standard Edition) includes:

• WordPerfect word processor
• Quattro Pro spreadsheet program
• Presentations™ slideshow creator
• WordPerfect Lightning™ digital notebook
• eBook Publisher
• AfterShot™ 3 photo-editing and management
• 900 TrueType fonts; over 10,000 clipart images; over 300 templates; over 175 digital photos; BrainStorm training videos; the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary; the WordPerfect Address Book; and much more.

[The Marriage Between IT & Curriculum]

Pricing and Availability
Corel WordPerfect Office X9 is available in English and French now at www.wordperfect.com. Suggested retail price (SRP) for WordPerfect Office X9 Standard Edition is $249.99 USD and $159.99 USD for upgrade. WordPerfect Office X9 Home & Student Edition is available for $99.99 USD SRP. WordPerfect Office X9 Professional Edition is $399.99 USD for full and $259.99 USD for upgrade SRP. Commercial and education volume licenses are also available.

For more information and to download the WordPerfect Office X9 free trial, visit www.wordperfect.com.

Vigo Video (formerly Flipagram)

Easy-to-use video slideshow creator has potential for classroom use

Pros: Having access to all of your photos makes creating videos simple, and the added editing tools make it easy to customize.
Cons: The lack of tutorials may make using the app difficult for some students.
Bottom Line: This is a simple tool for creating and sharing presentations.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education