Using+Slides

=__**Slides**__=

//** What is Slides? **//



Slides is a web page aimed at the creation of presentations including pictures, audio files and text. Users can design their product choosing among the different options the site includes and then share their creations with a wide audience.

//** How can teachers use this web? **//

Teachers can use Slides to create presentations to implement in their lessons and they can also teach students how to use the site since it is very easy to navigate and they only need to design the slides according to the intended purpose. Students can work on different tasks using this web page such as talking about their routine, explaining the different parts of a story they read in class or a presentation to introduce themselves.

//** Why? **//

Students should be immersed in authentic contexts in order to make learning meaningful and to achieve a certain goal. According to the SAMR model proposed by Puentedura (2006), the use of this web page would transform the integration of technology in the classroom since it would be part of the “Modification” stage. This stage states that technology allows for significant task redesign given the fact that users are integrating video, audio and text to carry out a task. Moreover, implementing the core areas of NAP, teachers can promote intercultural reflection by means of asking students to use this site to talk about the traditions of their country and learning about other cultures and the differences between the place they live with those cultures. Regarding PLANIED, different dimensions can be met when using this web page to create material online. To begin with, the dimension of creativity in which learners create and construct knowledge using ICT; then, communication and sharing since they would be sharing their work with a wider audience; moreover, participation in a responsible way and the use of critical thinking skill when organizing their presentation and the content it will have; finally, and hopefully this should be achieved, the autonomy in the use of ICT and how students transfer the skills learned in different contexts to real-life settings.

__**Bibliography**__

 * Strum, M., Kennell, T., Mc Bride, R., & Kelley, M. (2010). 20. In //Handbook of research on Web 2.0 and second language learning, // Thomas, M. (2010). Hershey: Information Science Reference.
 * Garcia, M. L., Ledesma, P., & Saumell, M. V. (2017). Creating technology-enhanced language learning materials. Retrieved October 21, 2017, from [|Creating technology-enhanced language learning materials]

//** How can I use this site? **//

Here you will find a tutorial on how to use the web page. media type="youtube" key="-mUypOcTyYw" width="560" height="315"

//** Lesson plan using the tool **//

//Intended group of students: 5th form// //Age: 10/11 years old// //Topic: Holidays// //Grammar: Simple Past//

//** Warmer (10 minutes) **//

As homework, students were supposed to bring pictures about their holidays in a flash drive. At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher will present students with pictures of different places: beach, mountains, amusement parks, etc. She will ask students to tell what they see in the pictures and how they can relate them to their holidays. The teacher will brainstorm some ideas on the blackboard according to the learners` contributions. Then, they will be given a computer- the teacher previously booked the lab with netbooks so that each learner has their own computer to work with.

//** Web (50 minutes) **//

The teacher will show students the following slides presentation about her holidays: My holidays

The last slide says “What about you?” “What did you do last holidays?.” That is the presentation students should work on. But before working on it, the teacher will ask them to summarize the main characteristics of the presentation and how they think the slides should be arranged. The idea is that they come up with the following characteristics:


 * Short text
 * Clear pictures
 * The presentation can have music
 * Background colours combining with text colour.

After the teacher clarifies how students should organize their presentation, she will give them 45 minutes to prepare their own product with the pictures they brought from their holidays and the text they want to include, such as “I went to the beach in January”, etc. The teacher will also show students some pages to look for images free from copyright in case they don`t have enough pictures or they want to add a landscape of the place they went to.


 * [|Pixa Bay]
 * [|Pexels]
 * [|Flickr]

The teacher will monitor the activity and help students with some queries they may present or some mistakes she might find when walking around them.

//** What Next (30 minutes) **//

The teacher will ask students to get in pairs and exchange their presentations. Each learner will have to describe what the other student did in their holidays. They will get these questions in order to guide them in their written production


 * Where did your friend go?
 * What did he /she do there?
 * Who did he/she go with?
 * Do you think he/she had a good time? Why/ why not?

By Camila Dana, INSPT UTN 2017.