{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01937680020947892, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0010473946059177796, 'mean_word_length': 4.642540620384048, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
At the Head of the Class

Guiding Students through the Maze of Multimedia Presentations How often have you sat down at the computer with a spare 20 minutes to search the Web for a lesson plan or supplemental material only to find yourself still sitting there an hour later? We all know how technology, which is supposed to be a time saver, can be it time eater. Our students face the same problems and often need guidance in utilizing technology efficiently in the classroom. While giving students the opportunity to give multimedia presentations is a great opportunity for them to showcase their skills, promote collaboration and assess what they've learned, they often don't have experience in designing a successful presentation for an allotted amount of time. As educators we have to balance time constraints and desired learning objectives with students' own creativity. Left to themselves, students will often spend excruciating amounts of time on the smallest details of the technology, which isn't always the most productive use of time. What do you know? It's interesting when we as educators get out of the box and try something like alternative assessment. We tend at first to forget that students aren't used to this. We just expect them to adjust and go with the flow. One thing we have to remember when assigning a multimedia presentation is that, for many students, the only time they've been asked to demonstrate what they know on any formal level has been with paper and pencil on an exam. So initially it's important to pass on to your students some guidelines they should follow in preparing their presentation. What follows are guidelines that can apply for any type of presentation -- by student or teacher -- regardless of the delivery medium. STEP 1: Outcomes or Objectives As teachers we realize the importance of knowing where we want to go with our instructional time. We know what our objectives are for a day or a week's instructional unit. Students don't tend to think this way. Especially when technology is involved, they often dive head-first into the presentations and don't take the time to think about what goals and objectives they want to get across to their audience. This can be a difficult process for many students, as they've never been forced to think this way before. Starting with the outcomes and working backward into the steps for presenting the content can be a foreign process to many. This step accomplishes several desired results: * Provides for a period of reflection * Requires students to think of the overall process they've been through for the given topic * Forces students to articulate and verbalize what they've learned * Facilitates cooperative learning among peers * Focuses the presentation toward something that is obtainable This first step can often be the most confusing for students working in groups, as each participant will have certain outcomes in mind. The initial list will most likely be too large for the allotted presentation time, so the group will need to get consensus on a few outcomes. This again promotes social and collaborative skills. Make sure each group is keeping a record of their brainstorming, whether it is on paper, chalkboard or even the computer. Once a group has narrowed down their outcomes to a manageable number they are ready to move on to the process phase. STEP 2: What are the steps? The next task for the group is to determine what steps they will go through to insure their outcomes will be met. Once each group member has input, they can then begin the process of melding the steps together, making sure to narrow them down to meet their time constraints. At this point they shouldn't necessarily be discussing how they are going to accomplish this, but should be recording the steps they want to go through. …