TEACHING AIDS

TEACHING METHODOLOGY- INCLUDING USE OF AV AIDS
Technology Integration is a term used by educators to describe effective uses of technology by teachers and students in adult and university classrooms.
When technology is integrated into the classroom, educators are taking the constructivist approach to learning.
Promise and Challenge
Nobody really needs convincing these days that the computer is an innovation of more than ordinary magnitude. Rapid advances in hardware technology fuel new opportunities in applications, raise unrealistic expectations, and create unstable and unmanageable technological environments.
ICT in Education(India)-The Bhartiyavidya Initiative
Case study on Integrating Technology in the Classroom
If we want to understand how to improve learning in schools, we need to pay more attention to the interfaces that are specially designed to be used by a teacher seamlessly with his/her wisdom as well as all other conventional teaching aids during a classroom teaching process.
“Bhartiyavidya” is a system that can be used by the teachers for more effective classroom teaching along with other conventional teaching methods and tools that include the teacher’s wisdom, teacher’s voice, chalk and blackboard.
The system comprises Computer Hardware, Hardware-Software Interfaces, Security Devices, Colour Television, Computer-Television Interface, Secure Databases, specifically designed User Interface Software and custom made Multimedia Audio-Visual aids (known as Capsules in ‘Bhartiyavidya’ terminology) based on in-house researched school curriculum based teaching modules. The multimedia content has certain distinct features like expandability, scalability, and absence of voice over and use of minimal amount of text with specified minimum font size. The voice over has been intentionally avoided so that the solution does not become a substitute to the teacher since the solution is meant only for aiding the teacher in effectively communicating the academic subjects to the students. The system allows single button stop and play as well as functionality of Digital Chalk for the teacher to reinforce/ focus on specific areas in a given visual frame. Further the present invention is a multimedia solution that works alongwith the black/white board since the display device for students is a 29’’ colour TV (which works on the principle of light emission) and provides the teacher the flexibility to switch from the black/white board to multimedia content and vice versa any number of times as required during a teaching period even in a well-lit classroom.
Paradigms
Most research in technology integration has been criticized for being a-theoretical and ad-hoc, driven more by the affordances of the technology.
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has established standards for students, teachers, and administrators about the use of technology. The effective use of technology can help change the current educational paradigm in the following ways:
OLD PARADIGM
NEW PARADIGM
Teacher-centered instruction
Student-centered learning
Single sense stimulation
Multi-sensory stimulation
Single path progression
Multi-path progression
Single media
Multimedia
Isolated work
Collaborative work
Information delivery
Information exchange
Passive, receptive learning
Active, inquiry-based learning
Factual, knowledge-based
Critical thinking, informed decision making
Reactive response
Proactive, planned
Isolated, artificial context
Authentic, real-world context
Constructivism in Technology Integration
Constructivism, is a crucial component of Technology Integration. It is a learning theory that describes the process of students constructing their own knowledge through collaboration and inquiry based learning.
Many teachers use a constructivist approach in their classrooms ,assuming one or more of the following roles: facilitator, collaborator, curriculum developer, team member, community builder, educational leader, or information producer.
Cognitive Flexibility, a theory that has its roots in Constructivism, presents a non-linear approach to learning. Through the use of hyperlinking, wikis, and blogs, to name a few new technologies, multiple learning syles are being addressed in ways that were not possible a few years ago.
Interactive Whiteboards
Interactive whiteboards are used in many schools as replacements for traditional whiteboards and to provide a cost effective ways to show and allow students to interact with material on the computer including the full breadth of educational software, web sites, and other media. Projectors, which are used on interactive whiteboards, can also be connected to a video recorder or DVD player thus eliminating the need for a television in the classroom.
In addition, some interactive whiteboards software allow teachers to record their instruction and post the material for review by students at a later time. This can be a very effective instructional strategy for students who benefit from repetition, who need to see the material presented again, for students who are absent from school, for struggling learners, and for review for mid-terms and finals. Brief instructional blocks can be recorded for review by students—they will see the exact presentation that occurred in the classroom with the teacher's audio input. This can help transform learning and instruction.
With the unprecedented rapid adoption of Interactive Whiteboards in the UK, Mexico and the USA a large body of evidence is emerging regarding their value.
The most effective users of Interactive Whiteboards confidently exploit the rich and easy to use annotating and recall functions of the Interactive Whiteboard to scaffold effective lessons - using the board not as a simple 'interactive projector' but as an interactive 'group space' where learning objectives, negotiatied success critera, ideas, viewpoints and rich media can all be brought into the social constructivist environment for sharing and analysis.
Digital Cameras
The use of Digital Cameras and Digital Media in classrooms is an excellent example of how "technology tools can extend learning in powerful ways." Dr. Alice Christie’s Digital Media Resources is a collection of examples students using digital media, tips and tutorials, lesson planning and assessment, articles, opportunities for professional development, and free online materials to assist teachers. .
Digital cameras, both video and still, can be used for a variety of presentations. For example, if used for giving a speech on a process, a student can show the process using video and still images. Incorporated into a PowerPoint presentation, the speech would have a multi-media visual aid. This would make it more convenient to present topics on subjects that could not be illustrated in the classroom--things like shoeing a horse or rock climbing. Students are also able to use still digital camera shots to show students' work on the daily announcements that are viewed on the television throughout the day. They could also use digital cameras, video or still, in creating a student commercial type broadcast for upcoming events or past highlights. These could also be shown on the announcements.
Digital cameras are used in a variety of ways in the classroom. They are tools that are easy to use even in the lower grades. students can use digital cameras to capture events that are happening at their school. The images can then be transferred into a school newspaper that is run by the students. Images can also be used for persuasive, narrative, and informational writing assignments. students can benefit a great deal from the use of digital photos and video. Having both written words and photos or video to go along with it can help these students to understand concepts by presenting them in several ways. These students can also communicate their ideas effectively by having images to go with their writing.
Digital media can be use in any phase of lesson, in introducing phase of any topic, in task phase, in research phase, in evaluation phase, and even we can use in giving specific examples to the class, explaining how different effects we can produce in a single software.
The use of digital video in the classroom can be very beneficial. Not only do students have a chance to take charge of their learning, but its use allows them to express themselves in a non-traditional method. Some ways that digital video may be used in the classroom include:
digital storytelling
video yearbooks
broadcast journalism
student portfolios
demonstrations
video important happenings (current events)
virtual tours
Schools have began to use digital cameras more and more as they are educated in how they can be used effectively.
The use of digital cameras and digital video in a classroom can enhance the learning environment in a number of ways. By giving the students the opportunity to capture real-life allows them to directly relate to their learning. No longer are the left to imagine what something may look like or see something through someone else's eyes. Students can have an ownership over what they learn which in turn will give them a sense of attachment that can't come from a picture they see in a book. Also, using digital cameras and videos in the classroom challenges the student's creativity. Now that pictures are taken or video is filmed, what is the student going to do with it? The doors are open for a range of ideas and uses for the student's work. They can make movies, they can make photo galleries, they can implement their work into a PowerPoint; the list goes on and on. For some interesting ideas for how digital cameras and video can be used in the classroom, check out the following website .
Digital photography is an entirely new medium for students creativity and become a new artform. .
One of the best things about digital cameras are the instant replays. If you don't get what you want the first time, just shoot it again! You are instantly able to see the picture you have just taken. Schools can also use digital photography to put photos of students in a database of names and pictures. This would be especially useful to a substitute. They can then be burned to a CD and sent for publication. .
Teachers need to stop thinking of technology as the goal and move beyond it to seeing information literacy as the goal and purpose. The value of technology lies in its ability to enhance student thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving.
Blogs
Blogs (short for Web log) is a relatively new communication tool that integrates technology. This tool has widespread use due to the ease of publishing to the Internet through what is usually free software, such as Blogger. This availability provides many possible uses in an educational system. One such use is a communication tool between teachers. Given the isolation from other adults most teachers face during the work day, and the time constraints on schedules after school hours; teachers can be hard-pressed to find time to collaborate and share ideas with peers. Having a common place to share ideas has the potential to support an educational system through an online professional learning community. Teachers who post entries on a web log are not limited to a single topic, but can reflect, argue, share opinions and their own experience, as well as read others’ postings to improve the quality of their teaching. This tool take time to use when considering the reading and writing that is involved, which may not be as effective as a face-to-face discussion. However, it does provide the opportunity to share or to learn from others in a virtual environment that does not have limitations to meeting times and place. Online learning communities can include members far beyond the confines of a school’s staff, district or even state or country. Blogging can be beneficial to communicate among colleagues, especially since time is a factor. However, it may be difficult to speak freely since the information posted is public. It is not hard to write a better blog . Simple guidelines helps a lot in developing good blog, no matter what your audience size is. Not only can blogging be beneficial for professionals to collaborate and communicate, it can also be a valuable tool for teachers to use with their students. Students, just as teachers, can post their ideas in a blog, as well as view and comment on other students ideas, creating both a constructivist environment and promoting peer-collaboration.
Web Quests
Web Quests are student-centered, Web-based curricular units that are interactive and use quite a variety of Internet resources. The purpose of a WebQuest is to use information on the web to support instruction in the classroom. WebQuests can be used to build context, provide background, assess learning or to provide the "meat" of a unit. WebQuests can integrate cross-curricular activities as well as appeal to multiple intelligences. Also, these activities appeal to students because they can be constructed as project, problem or inquiry-based learning. There are thousands of WebQuests online that can serve as models for constructing your own. There are many people who create or put together activities that they say are WebQuests, but in reality, do not fit the definition at all. Some have merely taken a paper and pencil assignment they have always done and put it into a form that utilizes pictures, video and graphics to spice it up and then call it a WebQuest. While it is commendable that they are trying, it does a disservice to true WebQuests.
A true WebQuest consists of an Introduction, a Task (or final project that students complete at the end of the WebQuest), Processes (or instructional activities), Web-based Resources, Evaluation of learning, Reflection about learning, and a Conclusion. WebQuests also provide Teacher Notes that show linkage to content and technology standards, additional resources for teachers, and hints on classroom management of the WebQuest. .
WISE
The Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) provides a platform for creating inquiry science projects from the Web. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, WISE has been developed at The University of California, Berkeley from 1996 until the present. WISE provides a user-friendly interface to enable the authoring of Web-based inquiry projects, which are typically developed by partnerships of educational researchers, natural scientists and teachers. WISE inquiry projects include diverse elements such as online discussions, data collection, drawing, argument creation, resource sharing, concept mapping and other built-in tools, as well as links to relevant Web resources. Projects are further customizable by teachers through a user-friendly authoring tool in to better meet the needs of their students. The WISE library currently contains over forty publicly available projects created by partnerships including UC Berkeley researchers, NASA, NOAA, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Individuals are also free to author their own new inquiry projects which they can share qwith any WISE teachers and can submit for publication in the WISE library. .

Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a massive online encyclopedia. It is so popular that it is now one of the top 100 web sites in the world. People find Wikis as easy as e-mail and blogs . By clicking an "edit" button on an article, you are able to contribute to the article's text. You can add or change content in the article you are reading. Wikipedia is the largest and most popular wiki on the planet..
A Technology Rich Classroom integrates technology with best teaching practices for optimal student-centered learning. Research indicates that certain technologies may be more valuable than others in the classroom. The most important hardware in the classroom includes: computer (one per two students), printers, and digital cameras, followed by: document camera, projector, cd player/burner, and vcr. In addition, hardware such as an interactive whiteboard or digital data projector also prove to valuable classroom assets. To view useful lessons for using an interactive whiteboard, visit the following link Using Electronic Whiteboards in Your Classroom. Information and resources for teachers, administrators and school district buyers may be found at Interactive Whiteboard Software Vital software includes: a cluster-skills program (Microsoft Office) including word processing, web browser, presentation software, followed by: photo manipulation, Inspirations, and graphic application with paint capabilities. The advantages of a technology rich classroom are: student's technology skills improve, they work more effectively on their own, and have more meaningful cooperative interaction.
Virtual Field Trip
A Virtual Field Trip is a website that enhances the curriculum by allowing the students to experience places, idea, or objects beyond the constraints of the classroom. Unlike traditional field trips, students have the opportunity to visit and explore worlds outside their own communities. Because the trip is virtual, there are no limits to the destinations and no restrictions on time. Other advantages include: no cost, no liabilities, and no permission slips or sack lunches. Teachers can bring new worlds to their students either by visiting existing virtual tours or creating their own. Vacations take on new meaning for teachers and students because they can "bring" the rest of the class with them through a virtual field trip.
Not only can you take a virtual field trip online, but you can actually visit a location, take pictures or video footage and create a virtual field trip using other applications such as PowerPoint. Even if you are not a digital camera user, you can still use a film camera and scan your pictures into digital format. Virtual field trips are more flexible and can incorporate the personality of the creator rather than a rehearsed tour guide. They are easy enough to create that your students could share their holiday trip with the class. This is a great way to balance out the push for test scores with the desire to produce well-rounded students.
ePortfolio
The ePortfolio is a promising framework for enduring learning, self-assessment and construction of value across a student's educational path. Learners learn by doing, and by constructing knowledge, meaning, ownership and value from the act of learning. An ePortfolio is a selection of work put together to show what a student has learned over a period of time. The student decides which pieces of work to include and how to present their work. Besides choosing pieces of work the student will write a reflection on what he or she learned through completing the work and creating the ePortfolio. EPorfolios may be put together using programs such as PowerPoint and FrontPage. The program used to put an ePortfolio together must have the ability to link between programs and document. Teachers could also benefit from the use of ePortfolios. It could be used professionally as a self-assessment of what was accomplished within a school year. Components would include lesson plans, student samples, and personal reflections of various tasks, projects, and/or assignments.

Understanding by Design
Understanding by Design is a model that a teacher can use to develop a unit. The development begins with the assessment component. Here are some benefits of the UbD model:
promotes student engagement
start with the end in mind
provides design tools and template
encourages teachers to establish spirals of learning
can be challenging for many teachers
uses multiple methods of instruction
allows students to revisit and rethink ideas
uses a variety of resources
use of many strategies
active construction of meaning
samples or models are available for students
big ideas and essential questions are shared with students
authentic tasks rather than memorization
curriculum is structured rather than trying to cover material
focuses on understanding
establishes curricular priorities
incorporates six facets of understanding
Learners can:
Explain what they are doing and why
Describe the method in which their work will be evaluated
Engaged in activities
Describe the goals for the unit
Involved in self- or peer-assessment
Set goals
Drawbacks:
Lack of teacher training
Lack of administrator support/funding
Need for appropriate assessment
Lack of teacher confidence
can be challenging for many teachers
Lack of time and opportunity
Limited resources
Limited technological support
Non-reflective of daily teaching practices
Lack of personal interaction between students and teacher
The Need for Web Site Evaluations
The amount of information being placed on the web is doubling every twelve months. Due to the rapid increase of information, it is essential that students know how to discern valuable sources. To ensure that students make valid educational choices, it is necessary to provide guidelines. These seven steps are an excellent resource.
Identify the right questions
Organize the search
Select appropriate search tools
Analyze online resources
Synthesize, sort, and sift
Publishing new information
Get feedback
New Teaching Methodologies Are Needed
In today's world of video games, cable and satellite tv, and high action digital video, teachers need to integrate technology in order to keep the attention of their students. The old methods of text book, pencil and paper are just not "flashy" enough for the "digital" generation. Students want to see their lessons on a big screen with action and sound or come up and physically interact with it on an Interactive Whiteboard. They want to be making PowerPoint and iMovie presentations. Now a child with a fear of speaking in front of their peers can make a presentation with a voice over and not worry about messing up the words or losing their notes. Technology is here to stay and teachers of all levels of experience need to realize this.
While the need for technology and equipment is obvious, simply throwing money at the issue will not solve it. The proper research and evaluation needs to be completed in order to address the needs of the staff and students. The first priority of a district is to evaluate how technology will affect the success of the students. They must also determine the experience and willingness of their teachers when it comes to implementing a technology plan. Teacher buy-in, planning time and training is vital to making any technology plan successful. It is easy to get trapped into a cycle of upgrading expensive software and hardware without assessing the needs. Also it is crucial to provide teachers with support and training to integrate the technology into their current curriculum instead of starting over. .
Information Literacy
Information literacy is a very important but also a very difficult concept for students to grasp. Anyone can post anything on the web. They can appear to be an expert, even if they know nothing at all. Students think that if it is on the web it must be true. Teaching them to evaluate the information they find is an important part of education today. A good starting point is asking familiar questions, such as: Who is the source? What am I getting? When was it created? Where am I (on the web)? Why am I there? How can I distinguish quality information from junk?
Our society is becoming an information age. This is changing the role of education from teaching information to teaching information management. In today's society, we have to be able to know how and where to find the information we need. The major problem today is not that we cannot find information, but that we find too much information. The amount of available information doubles every twelve months. We can become paralyzed by the amount of information we find. This can cause information overload and anxiety making the information lose all meaning for us. Educators need to teach students the skills to narrow the information from a tidal wave to a trickle that is easily used. For more information on the subject go to "We Have the Information You Want, But Getting It Will Cost You: Being Held Hostage by Information Overload".
Although the One Computer Classroom is not an ideal situation it can still work. There are different strategies that a teacher can use with only one computer available. One idea is to divide students into groups and allow each group a limited amount of time to accomplish a small task. Limiting the time will give them, at least, some experience with using the computer, especially if school is the only opportunity the students have to use a computer. Similarly, the instructor may use the computer as a station for independent skill development and assessment. Another idea is to use the computer as a presentation Station. This can be done by connecting the computer to the TV for display. The presentation station is a great way to grab and keep student's attention, as the instructor brings information to life. These are only two ideas of many that are available to those who are limited on the amount of technology they have access to. Don't be discouraged, the more you use it the more the students will love it!
Online Information
Anybody can post information on the Internet, making it possible to find "proof" of any ideas or beliefs you can imagine. Yet to many students, "If it's on the Internet, it must be true." How to find good information With millions of pages already published, and thousands more being posted every day, finding information can be daunting. Some online searches produce hundreds of results and many legitimate-sounding Web sites may not be what they appear to be. A good start is to use dependable sources, such as bookmarks collections from library and educational sites. Evaluating online information The resources listed in the right sidebar include strategies to help students think critically about online information. Using the template The Five Ws of Cyberspace as a guide, young people can examine the authorship, purpose, perspective and presentation of Web sites, in order to determine their credibility. Deconstructing Web Pages provides a step-by-step application of the five Ws to an actual Web site with some interesting results. And finally, Quick Tips for Authenticating Online Information offers some simple and effective strategies for assessing sites. The two background documents (Evaluating Internet-Based Information: A Goals-Based Approach, and Evaluating Internet Research Sources, by educators David Warlick and Robert Harris), provide strategies and templates for disseminating online information, and for integrating Internet research into classroom assignments.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is hardly a new issue in the classroom. However, the Internet makes it easy to locate ready-made information to cut and paste into research papers. That may make cheating a tempting proposition for some students. The Internet is forcing teachers to rethink how they assign and evaluate student research. .
Copyright
Copyright is a complex issue, especially as it concerns the Internet. a handy reference for teachers is called "Copyright Matters!" and to the University of Berkley's "Style Sheets for Citing Internet and Electronic Resources," are provided.
Purchasing Technology for Schools
A school can't simply buy and install technology and think that it is going to make huge changes. teacher training and motivation is one of the biggest problems. There are still a large amount of teachers who prefer to teach in a traditional method and are unwilling and uncomfortable moving to more of a constructivist methodology.
One interesting strategy was: Invest in staff growth. The most powerful strategies to promote staff enthusiasm and competence are informal. Instead of falling into what I call the "software trap," we should offer a rich menu of learning opportunities that match the diverse styles, interests, and skill levels of our teachers. .
Interacting themes
Integrated technology does not exist in a void. Its power lies in the ability to identify supporting concepts. Here are six ideas supporting information literacy:
Collaboration should be part of the learning process. Teaching interdependence is natural in the process of information literacy. Students as well as teachers must learn how to use technology as a tool for communication, creation, and collaboration. Learning as a team and how to work in partnerships are key.
The teacher's role as guide is essential. Teachers must take on the roles of motivator, mentor, and co-learner if they want to produce information-literate students. Acting as a mentor is critical. (See telementoring at the National School Network Exchange site.)
Ethics play a role in the development of information literacy. Students must understand the ethical issues raised by the use and misuse of the Internet. In addition to plagiarism, slander, and pornography, ethical issues include unlicensed copying of software (theft); flaming via e-mail (poor netiquette); hacking into school records (unlawful entry); and creating viruses that corrupt files (destruction of property).
Technology must become part of the curriculum. Students must develop an understanding of how technology influences our lives. Much of the material included in courses on communication, transportation, or production (tech ed) can be useful to students in a college prep curriculum that has little or no reference to technology. Unfortunately, many schools see tech ed and tech prep as a separate curriculum to be kept strictly apart from the college prep curriculum.
Students must learn communication skills, including presentation and motivation skills. They should be able to communicate with technological media -- text, graphics, video, and sound. They must learn how to arrange information and motivate learners with more than the written and spoken word. Understanding the motivation of providing and receiving information will be one of the great challenges of information literacy.
Visual literacy is essential. This includes knowing how to create, organize, and display print, video, audio, and graphics. Learning how to use color, style, placement, and font size are important. Once they understand specific content, students must learn to articulate their knowledge both visually and verbally. -- G.B. and D.L.
Beyond Technology
. Here are ten effective strategies for curriculum development opportunities and teaching :
Put learning first
Build support
Invest in staff growth
Slow Down
Focus and Provide adequate resources
use assessment to steer programs
Shed the ineffectual
Remember the lessons of the past
Heed research
Ask good questions
Nortel LearniT: Nortel LearniT is a Not For Profit organization that provides free online training and resources for teachers to help move their teaching to a constructivist methodology that embeds the use of technology into core curricular learning. The use of technology allows the students to engage more deeply in their learning and create new content using higher orders of reasoning. This site provides streaming video tutorials on technology topics from using the Internet safely to Digital Video Production. In conjunction, it provides team-oriented hands-on lesson plans across the grades and core curriculum that link the technology into the classroom.

PREPARATION OF LESSON PLANS
Write a Lesson Plan Guide
How to Develop a Lesson Plan
To begin, ask yourself three basic questions:
Where are your students going? How are they going to get there? How will you know when they've arrived?

Then begin to think about each of the following categories which form the organization of the plan. While planning, use the questions below to guide you during each stage.
Goals
Goals determine purpose, aim, and rationale for what you and your students will engage in during class time. Use this section to express the intermediate lesson goals that draw upon previous plans and activities and set the stage by preparing students for future activities and further knowledge acquisition. The goals are typically written as broad educational or unit goals adhering to State or National curriculum standards.
What are the broader objectives, aims, or goals of the unit plan/curriculum? What are your goals for this unit? What do you expect students to be able to do by the end of this unit?
Objectives
This section focuses on what your students will do to acquire further knowledge and skills. The objectives for the daily lesson plan are drawn from the broader aims of the unit plan but are achieved over a well defined time period.
What will students be able to do during this lesson? Under what conditions will students' performance be accomplished? What is the degree or criterion on the basis of which satisfactory attainment of the objectives will be judged? How will students demonstrate that they have learned and understood the objectives of the lesson?
Prerequisites
Prerequisites can be useful when considering the readiness state of your students. Prerequisites allow you, and other teachers replicating your lesson plan, to factor in necessary prep activities to make sure that students can meet the lesson objectives.
What must students already be able to do before this lesson? What concepts have to be mastered in advance to accomplish the lesson objectives?
Materials
This section has two functions: it helps other teachers quickly determine a) how much preparation time, resources, and management will be involved in carrying out this plan and b) what materials, books, equipment, and resources they will need to have ready. A complete list of materials, including full citations of textbooks or story books used, worksheets, and any other special considerations are most useful.
What materials will be needed? What textbooks or story books are needed? (please include full bibliographic citations) What needs to be prepared in advance? (typical for science classes and cooking or baking activities)
Lesson Description
This section provides an opportunity for the author of the lesson to share some thoughts, experience, and advice with other teachers. It also provides a general overview of the lesson in terms of topic focus, activities, and purpose.
What is unique about this lesson? How did your students like it? What level of learning is covered by this lesson plan? (Think of Bloom's Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation.)
Lesson Procedure
This section provides a detailed, step-by-step description of how to replicate the lesson and achieve lesson plan objectives. This is usually intended for the teacher and provides suggestions on how to proceed with implementation of the lesson plan. It also focuses on what the teacher should have students do during the lesson. This section is basically divided into several components: an introduction, a main activity, and closure. There are several elaborations on this.

• Introduction

How will you introduce the ideas and objectives of this lesson? How will you get students' attention and motivate them in order to hold their attention? How can you tie lesson objectives with student interests and past classroom activities? What will be expected of students?
• Main Activity

What is the focus of the lesson? How would you describe the flow of the lesson to another teacher who will replicate it? What does the teacher do to facilitate learning and manage the various activities? What are some good and bad examples to illustrate what you are presenting to students? How can this material be presented to ensure each student will benefit from the learning experience?

Rule of Thumb # 1:
Take into consideration what students are learning (a new skill, a rule or formula, a concept/fact/idea, an attitude, or a value).
Choose one of the following techniques to plan the lesson content based on what your objectives are:
Demonstration ==> list in detail and sequence of the steps to be performed
Explanation ==> outline the information to be explained
Discussion ==> list of key questions to guide the discussion

• Closure/Conclusion
What will you use to draw the ideas together for students at the end? How will you provide feedback to students to correct their misunderstandings and reinforce their learning?
• Follow up Lessons/Activities

What activities might you suggest for enrichment and remediation? What lessons might follow as a result of this lesson?
Assessment/Evaluation
This section focuses on ensuring that your students have arrived at their intended destination. You will need to gather some evidence that they did. This usually is done by gathering students' work and assessing this work using some kind of grading rubric that is based on lesson objectives. You could also replicate some of the activities practiced as part of the lesson, without providing the same level of guidance as during the lesson. You could always quiz students on various concepts and problems as well.
How will you evaluate the objectives that were identified? Have students practiced what you are asking them to do for evaluation?

Rule of Thumb # 2:
Be sure to provide students with the opportunity to practice what you will be assessing them on. You should never introduce new material during this activity. Also, avoid asking higher level thinking questions if students have not yet engaged in such practice during the lesson. For example, if you expect students to apply knowledge and skills, they should first be provided with the opportunity to practice application.


General Rule of Thumb:
Your plan should be detailed and complete enough so that another teacher knowledgeable in your subject matter could deliver the lesson without needing to contact you for further clarifications. Please do not forget to edit and spell check your work before submission

Six Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans[A1] (and what to do about them)
Successful teachers are invariably good planners and thinkers. Planning lessons is a fundamental skill all teachers must develop. So let's begin at the beginning.
If you are serious about improving your skill in planning lessons, you should begin by first thinking carefully about what the lesson is supposed to accomplish. There is no substitute for this. the following are common mistakes :
1. The objective of the lesson does not specify what the student will actually do that can be observed. Remember, an objective is a description of what a student does that forms the basis for making an inference about learning. Poorly written objectives lead to faulty inferences.
2. The lesson assessment is disconnected from the behavior indicated in the objective. An assessment in a lesson plan is simply a description of how the teacher will determine whether the objective has been accomplished. It must be based on the same behavior that is incorporated in the objective. Anything else is flawed.
3. The prerequisites are not specified or are inconsistent with what is actually required to succeed with the lesson. Prerequisites mean just that -- a statement of what a student needs to know or be able to do to succeed and accomplish the lesson objective. It is not easy to determine what is required, but it is necessary. Some research indicates that as much as 70% of learning is dependent on students having the appropriate prerequisites.
4. The materials specified in the lesson are extraneous to the actual described learning activities. This means keep the list of materials in line with what you actually plan to do. Overkilling with materials is not a virtue!
5. The instruction in which the teacher will engage is not efficient for the level of intended student learning. Efficiency is a measure that means getting more done with the same amount of effort, or the same amount with less effort. With so much to be learned, it should be obvious that instructional efficiency is paramount.
6. The student activities described in the lesson plan do not contribute in a direct and effective way to the lesson objective. Don't have your students engaged in activities just to keep them busy. Whatever you have your students do should contribute in a direct way to their accomplishing the lesson objective.
A lesson plan that contains one or more of these mistakes needs rethinking and revision. Below is a rationale and guide to help you develop effective lesson plans and avoid the six common mistakes.
FIRST, YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO PLAN
The purpose of a lesson plan is really quite simple; it is to communicate. But, you might ask, communicate to whom? The answer to this question, on a practical basis, is YOU!
A key principle in creating a lesson plan is specificity. It is sort of like saying, "almost any series of connecting roads will take you from kashmir to kanyakumari, eventually." There is however, one any only one set of connecting roads that represents the shortest and best route. What process one uses to get to a destination depends on available resources and time.
So, if you agree that the purpose of a lesson plan is to communicate, then, in order to accomplish that purpose, the plan must contain a set of elements that are descriptive of the process. Let's look at what those elements should be.
THE LESSON PLAN
1. Preliminary Information
The development of a lesson plan begins somewhere, and a good place to start is with a list or description of general information about the plan. This information sets the boundaries or limits of the plan. Here is a good list of these information items: (a) the grade level of the students for whom the plan is intended; (b) the specific subject matter (mathematics, reading, language arts, science, social studies, etc.); (c) if appropriate, the name of the unit of which the lesson is a part; and (d) the name of the teacher.
2. The Parts
Each part of a lesson plan should fulfill some purpose in communicating the specific content, the objective, the learning prerequisites, what will happen, the sequence of student and teacher activities, the materials required, and the actual assessment procedures. Taken together, these parts constitute an end (the objective), the means (what will happen and the student and teacher activities), and an input (information about students and necessary resources). At the conclusion of a lesson, the assessment tells the teacher how well students actually attained the objective.
In a diagram, the process looks something like this:
Input ======>process=====>output
Let's look at each part separately.Input: This part refers to the physical materials, other resources, and information that will be required by the process. What are these inputs? First of all, if you have thought about what the lesson is supposed to accomplish, the inputs are much easier to describe. In general categories, inputs consist of:
1. Information about the students for whom the lesson is intended. This information includes, but is not limited to the age and grade level of the students, and what they already know about what you want them to learn.
2. Information about the amount of time you estimate it will take to implement the lesson.
3. Descriptions of the materials that will be required by the lesson, and at some point, the actual possession of the materials.
4. Information about how you will acquire the physical materials required.
5. Information about how to obtain any special permissions and schedules required. For example if your lesson plan will require a field trip, you must know how to organize it. If your lesson will require a guest speaker (fire chief, lawyer, police officer, etc.) you must know how to make arrangements for having that person be at the right place at the right time.
Process
This is the actual plan. If you have done the preliminary work (thinking, describing the inputs), creating the plan is relatively easy. There are a number of questions you must answer in the creating the plan:
1. What are the inputs? This means you have the information (content description, student characteristics, list of materials, prerequisites, time estimates, etc.) necessary to begin the plan.2. What is the output? This means a description of what the students are supposed to learn.3. What do I do? This means a description of the instructional activities you will use.4. What do the students do? This means a description of what the students will do during the lesson.5. How will the learning be measured? This means a description of the assessment procedure at the end of the lesson.
As an example, here is a template that I have used successfully to teach students to write lesson plans:
Lesson Plan Format:
Teacher_______________________________________ Subject_________________________Grade Level_________________ Date___________________________
I. Content: This is a statement that relates to the subject-matter content. The content may be a concept or a skill. Phrase this as follows: I want my students to: (be able to [name the skill]) OR (I want my students to understand [a description of the concept]). Often times, this content is predetermined or strongly suggested by the specific curriculum you are implementing through your teaching.
II. Prerequisites: Indicate what the student must already know or be able to do in order to be successful with this lesson. (You would want to list one or two specific behaviors necessary to begin this lesson). Some research indicates that up to 70% of what a student learns is dependent on his or her possessing the appropriate prerequisites.
III. Instructional Objective: Indicate what is to be learned - this must be a complete objective. Write this objective in terms of what an individual student will do, not what a group will do. Limit your objective to one behavioral verb. The verb you choose must come from the list of defined behavioral verbs on my web site. Make sure your objective relates to the content statement above.
IV. Instructional Procedures: Description of what you will do in teaching the lesson, and, as appropriate, includes a description of how you will introduce the lesson to the students, what actual instructional techniques you will use, and how you will bring closure to the lesson. Include what specific things students will actually do during the lesson. In most cases, you will provide some sort of summary for the students.
V. Materials and Equipment: List all materials and equipment to be used by both the teacher and learner and how they will be used..
VI. Assessment/Evaluation: Describe how you will determine the extent to which students have attained the instructional objective. Be sure this part is directly connected to the behavior called for in the instructional objective.
VII. Follow-up Activities: Indicate how other activities/materials will be used to reinforce and extend this lesson. Include homework, assignments, and projects.
VIII. Self-Assessment (to be completed after the lesson is presented): Address the major components of the lesson plan, focusing on both the strengths, and areas of needed improvement. Determine here how you plan to collect information that will be useful for planning future lessons. A good idea is to analyze the difference between what you wanted (the objective) and what was attained (the results of the assessment).
Of course, there is an immense difference between being able to plan and actually being able to carry out the plan. However, if you have thought carefully about where you are going before you begin writing your plan, the chances of your success, as well as the success of your students, are much greater.
The Madeline Hunter Lesson Design Model
Madeline Hunter's eight steps have stood the test of time. Below is a brief description of each.
1. Anticipatory Set (focus) - A short activity or prompt that focuses the students' attention before the actual lesson begins. Used when students enter the room or in a transition. A hand-out given to students at the door, review question written on the board, "two problems" on the overhead are examples of the anticipatory set.
2. Purpose (objective) - The purpose of today's lesson, why the students need to learn it, what they will be able to "do", and how they will show learning as a result are made clear by the teacher.
3. Input - The vocabulary, skills, and concepts the teacher will impart to the students - the "stuff" the kids need to know in order to be successful.
4. Modeling (show) - The teacher shows in graphic form or demonstrates what the finished product looks like - a picture worth a thousand words.
5. Guided Practice (follow me) - The teacher leads the students through the steps necessary to perform the skill using the trimodal approach - hear/see/do.
6. Checking For Understanding (CFU) - The teacher uses a variety of questioning strategies to determine "Got it yet?" and to pace the lesson - move forward?/back up?
7. Independent Practice - The teacher releases students to practice on their own based on #3-#6.
8. Closure - A review or wrap-up of the lesson - "Tell me/show me what you have learned today".
Please feel free to comment on the ideas expressed on this page. The ADPRIMA web site is intended to give you both information and to stimulate your thinking about teaching and learning. In short, your growth as a student or teacher depends on your willingness to learn and think. To that end, I hope this information is useful to you.
"Anything not understood in more than one way is not understood at all."

DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Better Public Speaking & Presentation- Ensure Your Words Are Always Understood

Think of the last really memorable talk or presentation that you attended. Now, was that easy to do, or did you really have to rack your brains to remember one?Sadly, too many presentations are easy to forget. And that's a big problem because the only reason the presenter gave the talk was to communicate something to you!

However, there are three basic things that you can do to ensure that your verbal messages are understood - and remembered - time and time again.

Although somewhat obvious and deceptively simple, these are:
Understand the purpose of the presentation
Keep the message clear and concise
Be prepared
Be vivid when delivering the message
Understand what you want to achieve:
Before you start working on your talk or presentation, it's vital that you really understand what you want to say, who you want to tell and why they might want to hear it. To do this, ask yourself: Who? What? How? When? Where? Why?
Who are you speaking to? What are their interests, presuppositions and values? What do they share in common with others; how are they unique?
What do you wish to communicate? One way of answering this question is to ask yourself about the ‘success criteria’. How do you know if and when you have successfully communicated what you have in mind?
How can you best convey your message? Language is important here, as are the nonverbal cues discussed earlier. Choose your words and your nonverbal cues with your audience in mind. Plan a beginning, middle and end. If time and place allow, consider and prepare audio-visual aids.
When? Timing is important here. Develop a sense of timing, so that your contributions are seen and heard as relevant to the issue or matter at hand. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent. ‘It’s better to be silent than sing a bad tune.’
Where? What is the physical context of the communication in mind? You may have time to visit the room, for example, and rearrange the furniture. Check for availability and visibility if you are using audio or visual aids.

Why? In order to convert hearers into listeners, you need to know why they should listen to you – and tell them if necessary. What disposes them to listen? That implies that you know yourself why you are seeking to communicate – the value or worth or interest of what you are going to say.
Keep it Simple:
When it comes to wording your message, less is more. You're giving your audience headlines. They don't need to and are usually not expecting to become experts on the subject as a result of hearing your talk.

If you're using slides, limit the content of each one to a few bullet points, or one statement or a very simple diagram.
Be Prepared:
Preparation is underrated. In fact, it is one of the most important factors in determining your communication successes. When possible, set meeting times and speaking and presentation times well in advance, thus allowing yourself the time you need to prepare your communications, mindful of the entire communication process (sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback and context). By paying close attention to each of these stages and preparing accordingly, you ensure your communications will be more effective and better understood.

Of course, not all communications can be scheduled. In this case, preparation may mean having a good, thorough understanding of the office going-ons, enabling you to communicate with the knowledge you need to be effective, both through verbal and written communications.


Unforgettable Delivery:
Your delivery of your speech or presentation will make or break it, no matter how well you've prepared and crafted your clear, concise message. Some useful tips for keeping your presentation vivid include:
Use examples to bring your points to life
Keep your body language up-beat - don't stay stuck behind a rostrum
Don't talk to fast. Less is more here too. Pauses are effective.
Use a variety of tones of voice
Use visual aids.
Why Communications Skills Are So Important:
The purpose of communication is to get your message across to others clearly and unambiguously. In fact, communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication.
By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you send do not necessarily reflect your own, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals – both personally and professionally.
In a recent survey of recruiters from companies with more than 50,000 employees, communication skills were cited as the single more important decisive factor in choosing managers. The survey, points out that communication skills, including written and oral presentations, as well as an ability to work with others, are the main factor contributing to job success.
In spite of the increasing importance placed on communication skills, many individuals continue to struggle, unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas effectively – whether in verbal or written format. This inability makes it nearly impossible for them to compete effectively in the workplace, and stands in the way of career progression.
Getting your message across is paramount to progressing. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived. You must also weigh-in the circumstances surrounding your communications, such as situational and cultural context.
Communications Skills - The Importance of Removing Barriers:
Problems with communication can pop-up at every stage of the communication process (which consists of sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback and context ) and have the potential to create misunderstanding and confusion.
To be an effective communicator and to get your point across without misunderstanding and confusion, your goal should be to lessen the frequency of these problems at each stage of this process with clear, concise, accurate, well-planned communications. We follow the process through below:
Sender...
To establish yourself as an effective communicator, you must first establish credibility. In the business arena, this involves displaying knowledge of the subject, the audience and the context in which the message is delivered.
You must also know your audience (individuals or groups to which you are delivering your message). Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood.
Message...
Next, consider the message itself. Written, oral and nonverbal communications are affected by the sender’s tone, method of organization, validity of the argument, what is communicated and what is left out, as well as by the individual style of communicating. Messages also have intellectual and emotional components, with intellect allowing us the ability to reason and emotion allowing us to present motivational appeals, ultimately changing minds and actions.
Channel...
Messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal including face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing; and written including letters, emails, memos and reports.
Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, it's not particularly effective to give a long list of directions verbally, while you'll quickly cause problems if you criticize someone strongly by email.
Receiver...
Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately.
Feedback...
Your audience will provide you with feedback, verbal and nonverbal reactions to your communicated message. Pay close attention to this feedback as it is crucial to ensuring the audience understood your message.
Context...
The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (i.e. corporate culture, international cultures, etc.).
Removing Barriers At All These Stages
To deliver your messages effectively, you must commit to breaking down the barriers that exist in each of these stages of the communication process.
Let’s begin with the message itself. If your message is too lengthy, disorganized, or contains errors, you can expect the message to be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Use of poor verbal and body language can also confuse the message.
Barriers in context tend to stem from senders offering too much information too fast. When in doubt here, less is oftentimes more. It is best to be mindful of the demands on other people’s time, especially in today’s ultra-busy society.
Once you understand this, you need to work to understand your audience’s culture, making sure you can converse and deliver your message to people of different backgrounds and cultures within your own organization, in your country and even abroad.
The Johari Window: Creating Better Understanding Between Individuals and Groups
The Johari Window is a communication model that can be used to improve understanding between individuals within a team or in a group setting. Based on disclosure, self-disclosure and feedback, the Johari Window can also be used to improve a group's relationship with other groups.
Developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham (the word “Johari” comes from Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham), there are two key ideas behind the tool:
That individuals can build trust between themselves by disclosing information about themselves; and
That they can learn about themselves and come to terms with personal issues with the help of feedback from others.
By explaining the idea of the Johari Window to your team, you can help team members understand the value of self-disclosure, and gently encourage people to give and accept feedback. Done sensitively, this can help people build more-trusting relationships with one another, solve issues and work more effectively as a team.
Explaining the Johari Window:The Johari Window model consists of a foursquare grid (think of taking a piece of paper and dividing it into four parts by drawing one line down the middle of the paper from top to bottom, and another line through the middle of the paper from side-to-side).
Using the Johari model, each person is represented by their own four-quadrant, or four-pane, window. Each of these contains and represents personal information - feelings, motivation - about the person, and shows whether the information is known or not known by themselves or other people.
The four quadrants are:
Quadrant 1: Open Area
What is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others.
Quadrant 2: Blind Area, or "Blind Spot"
What is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know. This can be simple information, or can involve deep issues (for example, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, unworthiness, rejection) which are difficult for individuals to face directly, and yet can be seen by others.
Quadrant 3: Hidden or Avoided Area
What the person knows about him/herself that others do not.
Quadrant 4: Unknown Area
What is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others.
The process of enlarging the open quadrant vertically is called self-disclosure, a give and take process between the person and the people he/she interacts with.
As information is shared, the boundary with the hidden quadrant moves downwards. And as other people reciprocate, trust tends to build between them.
Tip 1:Don’t be rash in your self-disclosure. Disclosing harmless items builds trust. However, disclosing information which could damage people’s respect for you can put you in a position of weakness.
Using the tool:The process of enlarging the open quadrant horizontally is one of feedback. Here the individual learns things about him- or her-self that others can see, but he or she can’t.
Tip 2:Be careful in the way you give feedback. Some cultures have a very open and accepting approach to feedback. Others don’t. You can cause incredible offence if you offer personal feedback to someone who’s not used to it. Be sensitive, and start gradually.
If anyone is interested in learning more about this individual, they reciprocate by disclosing information in their hidden quadrant.
For example, the first participant may disclose that he/she is a runner. The other participant may respond by adding that he/she works out regularly at the local gym, and may then disclose that the gym has recently added an indoor jogging track for winter runners.
As your levels of confidence and self-esteem rises, it is easier to invite others to comment on your blind spots. Obviously, active and empathic listening skills are useful in this exercise.
The Johari Window in a Team Context
Keep in mind that established team members will have larger open areas than new team members. New team members start with smaller open areas because little knowledge about the new team member has yet been shared. The size of the Open Area can be expanded horizontally into the blind space, by seeking and actively listening to feedback from other group members.

Group members should strive to assist a team member in expanding their Open Area by offering constructive feedback. The size of the Open Area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the hidden or avoided space by the sender’s disclosure of information, feelings, etc about himself/herself to the group and group members.

Also, group members can help a person expand their Open Area into the hidden area by asking the sender about himself/herself. Managers and team leaders play a key role here, facilitating feedback and disclosure among group members, and by providing constructive feedback to individuals about their own blind areas.
Key Points:In most cases, the aim in groups should be to develop the Open Area for every person.
Working in this area with others usually allows for enhanced individual and team effectiveness and productivity. The Open Area is the ‘space’ where good communications and cooperation occur, free from confusion, conflict and misunderstanding.
Self-disclosure is the process by which people expand the Open Area vertically. Feedback is the process by which people expand this area horizontally.
By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive feedback, you can build a stronger and more effective team.

Writing Skills Before You Write It Down, Know This

Many people are intimidated by writing. Even so, there are times when writing is the best way to communicate, and often the only way to get your message across.

Write With Necessary Caution
When writing, remember that once something is in written form, it cannot be taken back. Communicating this way is concrete than verbal communications, with less room for error and even less room for mistakes. This presents written communicators with additional challenges, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, even writing style and actual wording.
Thankfully, today’s technology makes memo, letter and proposal writing much easier by providing reliable tools that check and even correct misspelled words and incorrect grammar use. Unfortunately, these tools are not foolproof and will require your support, making your knowledge in this area important.
The Importance of "Style"
Some of the most basic tips to remember when writing include:
Avoid slang words
Try not to use abbreviations (unless appropriately defined)
Steer away from the symbols (such as ampersands [&])
Clichés should be avoided, or at the very least, used with caution
Brackets are used to play down words or phrases
Dashes are generally used for emphasis
Great care should ALWAYS be taken to spell the names of people and companies correctly
Numbers should be expressed as words when the number is less than 10 or is used to start a sentence (example: Ten years ago, my brother and I…). The number 10, or anything greater than 10, should be expressed as a figure (example: My brother has 13 Matchbox cars.)
Quotation marks should be placed around any directly quoted speech or text and around titles of publications
Keep sentences short
While these tips cover the most common mistakes made when writing letters, memos and reports, they in no way cover everything you need to know to ensure your written communications are accurate and understood.
While this takes some practice, there are many sources available to assist with writing style, including “The Elements of Style”, by Strunk and White. One glance in any newsroom or on the desk of even the most accomplished writers and you are sure to find this small, easy-to-understand, no-nonsense guide to writing. It is clear, concise and perhaps the best book of its kind. If you plan on writing a great deal of letters or even proposals, it is strongly recommended that you pick up this nifty guide, which by the way, will fit in your shirt pocket.

Letter Writing Hints
When writing letters, it is best to address the letter to an individual. And, when beginning the letter with a personal name, be sure to end it with an appropriate closing, such as ‘Sincerely yours’. If you cannot obtain an individual’s name, consider ending it with a more generic (less personal) closing, such as ‘With kindest regards’.
For normal business letters, your letter should start with an overall summary, showing in the first paragraph why the letter is relevant to the reader. It’s not a good practice to make the reader go past the first paragraph to find out why the letter was sent to them.
The body of the letter needs to explain the reason for the correspondence, including any relevant background and current information. Make sure the information flows logically, ensuring you are making your points effectively.

The closing of the letter is the final impression you leave with the reader. End with an action point, such as ‘I will call you later this week to discuss this further’.
The Importance of Careful Proofing
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when writing a letter is to check it thoroughly when it is completed. Even when you think it is exactly what you want, read it one more time. This “unwritten” rule holds true for everything you write – memos, letters, proposals, etc.
Use both the grammar and spell check on your computer, paying very, very close attention to every word highlighted. Do not place total faith on your computer here. Instead, you should have both a dictionary and thesaurus (printed or online) to hand to double-check everything your computer's editing tools highlight, as these tools are certainly not always reliable, for a variety of reasons.
When checking your written communications, make sure the document is clear and concise. Is there anything in the written communication that could be misinterpreted? Does it raise unanswered questions or fail to make the point you need to get across?
Can you cut down on the number of words used? For instance, don’t use 20 words when you can use 10. While you do not want to be curt or abrupt, you do not want to waste the reader’s time with unnecessary words or phrases.
Is your written communication well organized? Does each idea proceed logically to the next? Would some additional headings help? Make sure your written communications are easy to read and contain the necessary information, using facts where needed and avoiding information that is not relevant. Again, outline the course of action you expect, such as a return call or visit.
Close appropriately, making sure to include your contact information. While this may seem obvious, it is sometimes overlooked and can make your written communications look amateurish. This can diminish your chances of meeting your written communication’s goals.


POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS
To create a presentation
Open PowerPoint. In the task pane under New select From Design Template, and then click OK.
In the Slide Design task pane, click the design template you want to use by selecting the appropriate thumbnail . To see the name of the template, hover your cursor over the thumbnail and a Tool Tip will reveal the name of the template.
Click in the box that says Click to add title, and then type the title for your presentation (for example, Welcome to Your Online College).
Click the box that says Click to add subtitle, and then type the subtitle of your presentation (for example, A Global Educational Experience for Students in Your Career Area).
From the File menu, click Save, and then enter a file name for your presentation (for example, welcome1). Click Save again to save your file.
To add graphics to your presentation
Click New Slide from the Insert menu. -or- click the New Slide button on the Formatting toolbar to add a new slide to your presentation.
In the Slide Layout pane, click Title and Text (formerly Bulleted List) on the New Slide dialog box if it isn’t already selected. Remember that a tool tip will divulge the auto layout name if hover on the object for a second.
Click the box that says Click to add title, and then type the title for that page (for example, Education to Fit Your Schedule).
Click the box that says Click to add text, and then type two or three bullets (for example, Access classes anytime anywhere, Convenient to your schedule, Education for people ON THE GO).
From the Insert menu, point to Picture and then click Clip Art to open the Insert Clip Art task pane.
Type the name of the type of clip art you want, for example, type Transporation in the box under Search For, and then click Search. (Note: All clip art may not appear unless you have access to the Office CD in your CD-ROM drive or internal network and you have cataloged the images on your local hard disks. This is a simple one time process that is initiated the first time you insert clip art.)
From the search results, click the thumbnail for the image you want to insert. The clip art will be inserted on the slide. To change the format of the graphic, double-click the image. From the Format Picture dialog box, you can adjust the size and position of the graphic. To undo automatic formatting, click the SmartTag in the lower right corner of the image, and select Undo Automatic Layout.
From the File menu, click Save to save your work.
To add Excel data to your presentation
From the Insert menu click New Slide to add a new slide to your presentation.
From the Slide Layout task pane, under Text Layouts, click Title Only to change the format of the new slide. To see the name of the slide layout, hover your mouse over the slide for a tool tip.
Click the box that says Click to add title, and then type the title for that page (for example, Annual Income in $K).
From the Insert menu, click Object, and then click Create from file. Browse to a pre-existing Excel file, like Annual_Income.xls and then click OK.
Position and resize the Excel worksheet as necessary, and then click Save to save your changes.
Click New Slide from the Insert menu to add a new page to your presentation.
From the Slide Layout task pane under Other Layouts, click Title and Chart.
Click the box that says Click to add title, and then type the title for the page (for example, Education Pays Off Over Time).
Double-click the box that says Double-click to add chart, and then click Import File from the Edit menu.
Browse to the same Excel worksheet that you used in step 4, and then click Open.
In the Import Data Options dialog box, select a sheet from the workbook, and then click OK.
Position and resize the chart as necessary, add any other pages that you want, and then select Save from the File menu to save your presentation.
Adding Narration
PowerPoint enables you to record yourself while giving a presentation. This allows others to both view and listen to your lecture at any time. It also enhances a presentation that has been saved in a Web format. If you want, you can have someone else provide the voice that will be recorded as the narration. Special hardware is not required for this, just a sound card and microphone. (Most computers now come with sound cards and microphones.)
It is best to start out with a script for a short presentation. This ensures that your finished product sounds professional without any stammering or fumbling for words.
You may also want to keep a copy of your presentation without narration, because the size of the file may increase dramatically depending on the sound quality you choose. Saving a copy of your presentation will enable you to give your slides to someone else to use the material. To save a copy of your presentation under a different name, click Save As from the File menu, and then type a new name for the file.
To record narration
1.Click Record Narration from the Slide Show menu.
Select the audio quality for your presentation by clicking the Change Quality button and then choose the level you want. For this workshop we will use CD Quality; however, this level uses up memory quickly and is probably not practical for most projects.
Click OK to return to the Record Narration screen. Turn on Link Narrations in by selecting the box in the lower left-hand corner
Click OK in the Record Narration dialog box and the first slide will appear. Begin recording the narration. Speak normally and as clearly as possible.
Click OK to advance to the next slide when you are finished with each recording. When you have finished, click the last slide to terminate the recording process.
Click Save to save the slide timings and review the slide timings.
Return to the first slide by clicking it in the slide sorter view, and then select View Show, or click the View Show button at the lower left corner of the presentation window. This will play your presentation.
If you do not like your narration and want to rerecord it, select Undo Record Narration from the Edit menu and record the narration again. (Note: If you record the narration without clicking Undo Record Narration, you will record a second narration on top of the original one.)
Click Save from the File menu to save your presentation and narration.



PRESENTATION SKILLS AND MAKING OF PRESENTATIONS INCLUDING VIDEO RECORDING

Buy power point 2007 edition along with PowerPoint producer software.
Tip: Integrate multimedia files into a presentation in PowerPoint.
Description: Adding sounds, movies, and animated picture files to presentations can really jazz them up. Students can even record their own voice, and then insert it into a slide. This is a great way to prompt, ask a question, read text to young children, or just narrate a slide. How about controlling a music CD from within PowerPoint? All those things are possible... as long as you know how.
How to:
First, open a presentation you've been working on, or create a new one. Then, move to the slide where you would like to add a multimedia file.
To insert a sound (.wav or .mid file) from the PowerPoint collection:
1. Select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Sound from Clip Organizer.
2.Scroll through the selection, or click the Modify button to type your own search word(s), such as lion. If you conduct your own search, be sure to select Sounds from the Results should be drop-down list.
3.To hear a preview of the sound, point to the picture, click the arrow next to the picture, and then select Preview/Properties. Click Close when you are finished listening to the sound.
4.To insert the sound into the slide, click once on the picture representing the sound. When you are prompted, click Yes if you want the sound to play automatically during the slide show. A picture of a loudspeaker appears on your slide to represent the sound. You can drag the picture and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures. While working on your presentation, you can hear the sound at any time by double-clicking the loudspeaker icon.
5.If you want to hide the loudspeaker icon during the slide show, right-click it, and then select Custom Animation. In the Custom Animation pane on the right side of your screen, click the arrow next to the media item, and select Effect Options. In the Sound settings section, select Hide while not playing, and click OK.
6.Try viewing your slide show to hear how the sound clip sounds during the presentation.
To insert a movie (an animated picture) from the PowerPoint collection:
1.Select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Movie from Clip Organizer.
2.Scroll through the selection, or click the Modify button to type your own search word(s), such as American flag. If you conduct your own search, be sure to select Movies from the Results should be drop-down list.
3.To see a sneak preview of the movie, point to the picture, click the arrow next to the picture, and then select Preview/Properties. Click Close when you are finished previewing the movie.
4.To insert the movie into the slide, click the picture once. When you are prompted, click Yes if you want the movie to play automatically during the slide show. An image representing the movie appears on your slide. You can drag the image and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures. Just be careful not to make the image too large; it will get distorted if it is too large.
5.View the slide show to see how the movie looks.

To record your voice and add it to a slide:
NOTE: You need to have a microphone connected to your computer in order to record your voice.
1.Select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Record Sound.
2.When you are ready to start recording, click the Record button (the one with the red circle). When you are finished recording, click the Stop button (the middle button). Click the Play button (the one with the triangle) to hear your recording. In the Name box, type a name for your recording, and then click OK.
3.A loudspeaker icon appears on your slide to represent the recorded sound. You can drag the loudspeaker icon and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures.
4.While working on your presentation, you can hear the recording at any time by double-clicking the loudspeaker icon. Try viewing your slide show to hear how the recording sounds during the presentation.
To control a music CD during a slide show:
1.First place a music CD into your CD drive. If the CD starts playing, close the media player program.
2.In PowerPoint, select Movies and Sounds from the Insert menu, and then select Play CD Audio Track.
3.In the Start area, specify the track number and time at which point you'd like the CD to start playing (select 00:00 if you want to start from the beginning). Next, select the End track number and time at which point you'd like to stop playing the music (or just leave the time that appears by default, which indicates the real time of the song or songs you've selected). Click OK when you're finished.
4.When you are prompted, click Yes if you want the music to play automatically during the slide show. An picture of a CD with musical notes appears on your slide to represent the CD. You can drag the picture and resize it, just as you can with regular pictures.
5.Double-click the CD picture to hear the track(s) and the timing you selected. Try viewing your slide show to hear how the music sounds during the presentation.IMPORTANT: You must have the music CD in your drive in order for PowerPoint to play the track you specified.
More Ideas:
If you have some sound, movie, or other multimedia files on your computer from outside sources such as the Internet, you can insert them into your presentation, too. To do so, click Movies and Sounds on the Insert menu, and then select Movie from File or Sound from File. Locate the folder that contains the file you want to insert.

[A1]Dr. Bob Kizlik
Printer Friendly VersionUpdated November 29, 2006