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With interactive whiteboards orprojectors in most classrooms,PowerPoint is a staple of many

lessons. We love them because we can pre-prepare them to help us both with thestructure and content of our teaching. But forthose pupils who sit through several lessons ina row seeing the same format time and timeagain, it can be monotonous. So why not mixthings up a bit? There are some innovative andfree alternatives to PowerPoint availableonline, which might just be the perfect tool forthe topic you are teaching. You will have to setup an account, but as they are web-based, youcan access them from anywhere – as can thosepupils who want to see them again.

1. Prezi (prezi.com)As a slick and engaging presentation tool, Preziis a winner. It starts with one large image (orblank space) and allows you to move around,zooming in and out to get to different ‘slides’. Itis different enough that it appeals to students,but it is easy to get the hang of creatingsomething engaging. It’s simple to insertpictures (Google Images is accessed within thesoftware) and add sound and videos that playdirectly, without having to use hyperlinks. Thedynamic element makes it ideal for mappingout concepts, either geographically orhistorically, and for highlighting how key ideaslink to each other to create a bigger picture. Inphysics, lessons on space could zoom in ondifferent planets around the solar system, whilegeography lessons on the water cycle can lookat each stage and zoom out to show how it allfits together.

2. Haiku Deck (haikudeck.com)A streamlined and simple piece of software,Haiku Deck allows you to search for imagesunder the Creative Commons licence, orupload your own photos, to use as thebackground for each slide. This is particularlygood for highlighting real world examples of theconcepts being studied (photos showingdifferent types of angles in maths, for example),or allowing pupils to use their own images,especially if they have access to cameras duringlessons. You can add a small amount of text (in one of six fonts) to create clear visual aidsfor teaching.

3. Powtoon (powtoon.com)This is an exciting piece of software that canhelp pupils to see information in a narrative.Rather than static slides of information,Powtoon is an animation that can include text.There are a variety of different styles to choosefrom, and each one contains characters, props,image holders, shapes and transitions to dragand drop onto a slide, creating a short movie. Itis more complex to create a Powtoon comparedto the other software looked at here, but theimpact is huge as even the simplest animation

can engage a pupil’s attention. It would work inEnglish to retell key scenes from Hamlet, forexample, or to explain how research methodswork in sociology.

4. Google Presentation(docs.google.com)With an emphasis on collaboration, GooglePresentation is ideal for projects requiringdifferent pupils to work together. Part ofGoogle+, it is very similar to PowerPoint,although slightly simpler to use as there arefewer style choices. It is also cloud based,meaning that different contributors don’t need to be in the same location, perfect forpupils to use when creating a grouppresentation for homework.

5. Good PowerPointFor many of us, PowerPoint is a familiar tooland so easy to use that the best ‘alternative’ is tosimply use it better. ‘Death By PowerPoint’occurs most often when we use it during anexposition, but there is one very easy way toavoid this: choose images instead of words. It isimportant to limit the number of words on aslide – no more than six works well – so that weresist the temptation to read them out. Pupilscan read the words on the PowerPoint muchfaster (around 250 words per minute) than wecan say them (approx 140 per minute) meaningthey read rather than listen. Using cartoonimages or photographs that emphasise aspectsof what you are saying will also help learners toapply or interpret ideas, for example usingpictures of different social movements whenteaching social influences in psychology.

IT’S EASY TO RELY ON WHAT’S FAMILIAR – BUTVARYING THE PRESENTATION TOOLS YOU USE CANREALLY HELP KEEP YOUR STUDENTS ENGAGED,SUGGESTS PHILIPPA SEAGO...

ABOUT THE AUTHORPhilippa Seago has ten years’ experience ofteaching Psychology and RE. Currently, she isTeacher in Charge of Psychology at an Outstanding

community school in Littleover, Derby. She is also a bloggerand author.

5 WAYS TO AVOID DEATH BY POWERPOINT

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