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Education  |  Sep 21 2019

5 Interactive Presentations Ideas that will Engage Students

Interactive presentations should always be an educator’s goal. Dry, teacher-centered lectures lose students’ interest, while interactive presentations grab and hold attention. Getting students involved improves retention, understanding, and enjoyment. And it’s remarkably easy to involve the audience with just a few easy principles (especially with the right technology at your disposal).

Start creating interactive presentations with the tips and tricks below or get more insights on modern education technology.

Students today expect the classroom to be both educational and enjoyable at the same time. Interactive presentations help engage students by having them participate in the lessons instead of passively listening to lectures. This reduces boredom and gives students a sense of responsibility to be attentive.

A Gallup Poll  of about 3,000 schools shows that around the 5 th  grade 74% of students feel they are engaged in school, but by the 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th grade those numbers fall to the 30% range. It is important for educators from K-12 and on to higher education to recognize that keeping students engaged in the classroom is important and the adoption of interactive learning environments can be a key driver.

Millennials and Generation Y students are especially accustomed to being a part of the lessons and not just a spectator. Students are encouraged to talk and offer their ideas to create a collaborative atmosphere where both teachers and students are sources of knowledge and insight. The teacher plays more of a facilitator role in moving the lesson along and encouraging students to participate in their own learning outcomes. Students offer their own input, additional information, and give examples of how they would apply the key concepts.

The learning task is the central aspect of the interactive presentations (instead of the teacher’s energy level and hold on the students’ attention spans) and the lessons evolve around it. Even though the teacher is normally, the ‘presenter’ in most cases the ‘interaction’ part comes in a variety of ways to get students participating in the lesson. Many activities, games, role-plays, quizzes, and discussions  can be integrated into the presentation flow and the lessons will take different directions from there. We will discuss later many examples of tools and techniques to encourage collaborations.

Technological Aid in Interactive Presentations

Although interactive presentations can be done without technology, it is greatly aided with the adoption of tools designed to facilitate the learning process. For example, a quiz is given in the middle of the presentation. On one side, traditionally a teacher can write the quiz before the lesson starts, print out copies for all students, pass out the quiz, and collect answers. To provide feedback for the exercise the teacher will also need to grade and start a discussion on the results before moving on to the next topic. This process is time-consuming and restrictive.

With technological aid such as an interactive digital whiteboard or a classroom quizzing application on individual devices, the students and teacher can come up with the quiz questions on the spot. This digital quiz can be administrated wirelessly to all students and within seconds, the results can be shared with all participants to discuss. This greatly increases spontaneity, variability, and class involvement.       

5 Interactive Presentations Ideas and Corresponding Technology Aids

1. Storytelling

The teacher does not have to be the only star. The glory of the presentation can go to all participants who have a story to tell. The main concepts can be discussed and students should be given time to come up with a personal example. This exercise helps students relate to the subject matter and getting to listen to other students’ examples will drive home the concepts further. The need for the teacher to plan extensive examples and be the only one talking during the presentation is reduced. Teachers can also judge by the stories shared how much the students are understanding.

Storytelling with technology: Many digital whiteboards have Cast and Throw functions that will allow students to work on their own examples on their devices and send this to the whiteboard when sharing. This allows students to quickly go up and share their stories without sending files by email, wires, or USBs.

2. Non-linear presentation

Presentations that do not follow a strict order but organically flow from topic to topic based on the audience’s feedback are a great way to engage participants. Once prepared, the presenter can flow from one topic to the next by asking questions, polling, or receiving requests at the end of each key point. This allows the audience to ‘build’ their own presentation on what they want to hear not in a rigid manner as with traditional slide-based presentations.

Non-linear presentation with technology : There are non-linear presentation applications like  Prezi which helps presenters build presentations on easy-to-customize templates. They offer a zoomable canvas (not slides) to help people share knowledge, stories and inspire audiences to act. The canvas shows relationships between points and offers a recommended flow but not a set path to follow.

3. Polls, surveys, and quizzes

One of the most recognizable and used tools in the classroom to get a fast reaction from students are polls, surveys & quizzes. For polls, simple questions that have limited answers are used to gather a consensus. This could be in the form of a raise of hands, ballots, or having students form groups. Surveys would require printed paper sheets with multiple choices, scales, or short answers to gather opinions. Quizzes are used to quickly test a student’s knowledge on what was just covered, so the class can identify weak areas and crystalize main concepts.

Polls, surveys, and quizzes can be anonymous or not. Openly requiring students to share their ideas on results such as a debate or open discussion would increase the interactives of the activity. Students can also be tasked to create questions and grade their own surveys and quizzes for an added layer of participation within the presentation.

Polls, surveys, and quizzes with technology : Many classroom management software such as  Google Classroom has built-in tools to create polls, surveys, and quizzes along with assignments, communication, and other educational features. Once submitted, the collection and grading are instantaneous. The results can be shared easily with students both individually or as a group. 

Is there a student – of any age – who does not like a good game, contest, or competition? Adding a small game into a presentation breaks up the normal lecture format and gets the audience to think critically to help their team win. There are many versions and adaptions of basic educational games . Teachers can take games such as Pictionary, Jeopardy, Casino, and Bingo then adapt them to their needs. 

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Gamifying your interactive presentation : By integrating into the presentation links to applications like  ClassCraft  or  Kahoot a teacher can quickly launch an interactive digital game. These applications help teachers tailor their own games by adding their questions, facts, and materials for individuals, small teams, or the whole class to participate.

5. Discussions and groups breakout sessions

Having the class only listen to a lecture marks the end of any interactive presentation. Adding sections where students can have an open discussion or breakout sessions can help students learn from each other, share insights, and have an opportunity to ask questions to their peers. It is also an opportunity for the teacher to take a break from talking and help small groups or students individually as the rest of the class converse.

Taking the discussion online for interactive presentations : Live discussion applications like  NowComment  allow students to markup and discuss a text in real-time which is great for peer-review activities and gather student input into one place quickly. Alternatively, Yo Tech is great for teachers to create and moderate real-time chat rooms. Students can send text-like messages, reply to other messages, and share pictures and drawings. Online chat groups are a great way for large groups of students to collaborate and interact in one place while keeping the noise level down in a classroom.

Tips for Creating Interactive Presentations

Here are some tips when creating a presentation that has interactive components:

Add in places within your lecture notes or presentation slides reminders for you to engage the audience. This could be a small image or phrase. When using digital whiteboards or other display technology you could also use a sound, empty slide, or pop-up link to prompt you to start.

Time Limits

It is great to keep going a good game or discussion in the class where everyone is really engaged. However, keep the maximum amount of time you can dedicate to these activities in mind. Have a watch or a timer on hand and keep things moving. Give enough time for students to get engaged without overdoing it. Spread out chances for students to talk and share. When it is time to move on to the next topic prepare a transition to the next part of the presentation.

Think of ways to let all students have a chance to share. You can select students randomly or have them take turns in some kind of order. Remind students that this is a learning activity and not everyone will get it right the first time. The interactive activity should be open and inclusive. Students who are introverted may be given activities that can be done without going to the front of the class or public speaking.

Benefits of Having Interactive Components in Your Presentation

• Retention:  Actively having students engage with the concepts of the presentation in different ways and hearing it from different people (besides the teacher) helps with long-term retention.
• Personalization:  Students are given the choice of where the presentation is heading and participate in their own learning outcomes.
• Fun:  Having a break from the routine, getting a chance to move around, developing teams, and sharing are all much better than sitting silently and taking notes. 
• Feedback:  Adding interactive activities into a presentation gives you instant feedback about students’ comprehension.
• Vocalization: Having students actually vocalize their ideas helps them internalize the concepts.
• Summarization: Students review and summarize their own main points while doing the activities so there is less need for repetition.

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Build Your Own Version of Interactive Presentations for Your Next Lesson

Bringing in the interactive components and increasing the engagement of your presentations will both help you – a teacher – and your students. Make presentations both educational and entertaining with Edutainment! With or without technology, consider incorporating some new ideas into your next interactive presentation.

If you liked reading this article, you might also want to explore our complete guide to technology in the classroom or gain more insights on engaging lessons with ViewSonic’s education solutions.  

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3 Alternatives to Classroom Presentations

Rae Hughart December 7, 2019 Blog , Engage Better , Innovate Better , Lesson Plan Better

In This Post:

• A warning against  always doing formal classroom presentations.
• Alternative options for classroom presentations that still encourage understanding & allow for assessment!

I was writing this blog while hanging out after school with a few students. I asked them if they had ever had to do a formal presentation in a classroom. Suddenly groans filled the room.

“ Ugh, I hate those! ”

To be honest, I hated those growing up as well. It didn’t matter how confident I felt with the material, sharing in front of all of my peers gave me stage fright!

After sharing our horror stories and embarrassing moments of formal classroom presentations, I asked them a simple question I wish we’d all ask our students more often… “ How would you fix it? ”

Here were their ideas:

Video Explanation: Share your thinking via video! Choose a tech tool like Flipgrid or Screencastify and ask students to share their presentation in a video. This medium allows for students to not only share the information they have learned, but also practice other skills like video editing, appropriate body language, tone, and more! An added benefit is that they are able to go back and watch. Then they can reflect on how well they did and what they could improve.

Small-Group Sharing: Is it always necessary to present to a whole class? Consider allowing students to share with a small group of their peers. Depending on what you are grading, these sessions are a great opportunity to videotape students. This still allows students to continue to practice their presenting skills, but more than one student can present at a time!

Illustration on PowToon: Consider illustrations as a way for students to share their learning! These can be done on programs like PowToon or Scratch. If you are not assessing speaking and listening skills, then could you adjust medium in which the information is presented? Programs utilizing coding can offer students a multitude of options to use their creativity while they share their learning.

There is no doubt that classroom presentations have a place and time. The skill of sharing one’s thoughts and insight in front of a crowd is a skill that students must practice. However, we have more than formal presentations at our fingertips to challenge our students, thanks to a new 21st-century focus on technology and collaborative classrooms.

Share out which strategy you use with #TeachBetter as you explore new ways to tackle presentations with students!

About Rae Hughart

Rae Hughart is a Middle-Level Math and Writing Educator in Illinois and the Director of Training and Development for the Teach Better Team. In 2017, Rae was honored with the Illinois State University Outstanding Young Alumni Award – inducting her into the University Hall of Fame. In 2018, Rae was honored again by the Henry Ford Innovator Award for her work within educators communities to build unity between local businesses and schools.

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• Assessing Student Learning

In designing assessments or assignments for a course, instructors often think of exams or term papers, but there are many other types of assessments that may be appropriate for your course. If you are willing to think creatively about assignments that go beyond traditional exams or research papers, you may be able to design assignments that are more accurate reflections of the kind of thinking and problem-solving you want your students to engage in. In addition, non-traditional assignments can boost students’ motivation.

In developing creative assessments of your students’ learning, it is helpful to think about exactly what you want to assess. The questions below will help you focus on exactly what skills and knowledge your assessment should include.

• Do you want to assess your students’ acquisition of specific content knowledge, or their ability to apply that knowledge to new situations (or both)?
• Do you want to assess a product that students produce, or the process they went through to produce it, or both?
• writing ability
• speaking skills
• use of information technology
• Is a visual component to the assessment necessary or desirable?
• Is the ability for students to work in a group an important component of the assessment?
• Is it important that the assessment be time-constrained?

To help you think outside the box in developing assessments of your students’ learning, here are some alternatives to multiple-choice exams that can be used in many disciplines and contexts. They are organized based on what kinds of cognitive processes or skills they require.

Alternatives that draw on students’ creativity:

• Advertisement
• Development of a product or proposal (perhaps to be judged by external judges)
• Diary entry for a real or fictional character
• Letter to a friend explaining a problem or concept
• Performance: e.g., a presentation to the class or a debate
• Poem, play, or dialogue
• Web page or video
• Work of art, music, architecture, sculpture, etc.
• Newspaper article or editorial

Alternatives that require analysis or evaluation:

• Analysis and response to a case study
• Analysis of data or a graph
• Analysis of an event, performance, or work of art
• Chart, graph, or diagram with explanation
• Legal brief
• Review of a book, play, performance, etc.
• Literature review
• Policy memo or executive summary
• Diagram, table, chart, or visual aid

Alternatives that require work similar to what is required for a term paper, but that result in shorter documents:

• Annotated bibliography
• Introduction to a research paper or essay (rather than the full paper)
• Executive summary
• Research proposal addressed to a granting agency
• Scientific abstract
• Start of a term paper (the thesis statement and a detailed outline)

Alternatives that require only that students understand course material:

• Explanation of a multiple-choice answer (students must explain why the answer they chose to a multiple-choice question is correct, or why the alternative answers are wrong)
• Meaningful paragraph (given a list of specific terms, students must use the terms in a paragraph that demonstrates that they understand the terms and their interconnections)
• Short-answer exam (rather than asking multiple-choice questions, make some questions short-answer, to require students to show their understanding of key concepts)

Alternatives that require integration of many skills and types of knowledge:

• Poster (which could be presented to the class or a larger audience in a poster session)
• Portfolio to demonstrate improvement or evolution of work and thinking over time
• Powerpoint presentation
• Reflection by students on what they have learned from an experience

Who Is Doing This at IUB

Ben Motz, in the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, assesses his students’ understanding of concepts in his cognitive psychology course by asking them to produce 60-second public service announcements about the concepts. He describes the project in  this CITL faculty spotlight . He has also created a course in which students apply concepts of probability and techniques of statistical analysis to managing fantasy football leagues.  His course is described in  this news release .

Professor Leah Shopkow, in the department of History, has her students create posters to demonstrate their understanding of concepts in her medieval history class. The students present the posters in a poster session that is open to the public.

Learning Outcomes

Walvoord, Barbara and Virginia Anderson (1998). Types of assignments and tests. Appendix B in Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 193 – 195.

For More Help or Information

For help in designing creative assignments,  contact the CITL  to meet with a consultant. 

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Search form, alternative final assignment tips and tools.

Planning with a Different End in Mind

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Many social sciences and humanities courses focus on a final essay as the cumulative assignment in a given course. While this is what students know and expect, there are many options that can also equally satisfy course learning objectives. Here, I discuss one approach to broadening the final assignment to consider other formats, such as blog posts, websites, videos, podcasts, and presentations. These offer opportunities for students to capitalize on their own interests and the  challenges 2020 has brought . This pandemic has had a huge effect on everyone, and it has not been equitable.

Thinking about alternative assessment types can be particularly beneficial as you consider your Winter 2021 courses so that students can approach their own learning in a way that maximizes their skills and strengths during a challenging time. Honestly, I have seen some of the most exceptional work by students in these final assignments. Students have done choreography about gender norms, a podcast to rival “This American Life” on gender and politics, a webpage as a fake school board candidate proposing a new zoning policy, and an interactive simulation on gerrymandering.

There are three potential advantages to alternative assignments. First, encouraging students to think about the formats, even if they write an essay, promotes critical engagement with the course content and encourages them to consider an appropriate means of communicating that content. The second is that for students who do choose the alternative format, the final product is often strong and interesting. The third is that trying to administer an exam online can be a real challenge right now. However, permitting alternative formats does not come without a cost, so I’ll offer some suggestions on how to structure alternative assignment formats and some context with the experiences I’ve had so far.

I have a previous  post on Digital Learning  that goes through the why of alternative assignments. For this post, we wanted to focus on the how of assignments, particularly considering online and hybrid learning.

What are my options?

• This can allow students to include additional information that interests them (and possibly you for future classes!) while applying course content.
• This can be an additional lecture or some kind of “explainer” where they revisit a challenging topic from your course and provide examples
• Students have pretended to be someone agitating for/against a policy we discussed, have created a how-to guide, etc. They typically like the creativity allowed by this option.
• Students have done it themselves, interviewed people, spliced in news clips, etc. It’s been fun to see.
• Design an exam/assessment : Students can create a short quiz on one of the course weeks/modules/sessions where they write questions and an answer key.

How do I make this a success?

• Prioritize the types of formats you feel most comfortable grading.
• Announce the alternative format early  to pique interest.
• Discuss alternative options in class  (I mention how a video we watch would be a fitting final project, for example).
• Make a very specific prompt  with all requirements explicitly stated.
• Require a short (1-2 page) explanation  of their reasoning/design approach for their assignment as an earlier deliverable – this is an insurance policy for them and helps dissuade low-effort attempts.
• Have a clear rubric  – students don’t like trying to guess what you’re looking for. Rubrics also make it easier for TAs/you when grading time comes.
• I have them use the rubric when workshopping – if your peer doesn’t think you’ve satisfied the rubric, then you may want to revisit things!

How do I grade such different assignments?

• I like to use consistent rubrics over the course, so students get used to expectations.
• Include an “execution” component  of the rubric to equalize across formats.

**Special thanks to Erik Lovell and Dan Hoefler for comments on previous drafts of this post.

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7 alternative presentation tools for classroom use.

To learn about more alternatives to the typical presentation, check out this on-demand training video,  Alternatives to Slide Presentations – Free Tools for Student Projects . Join technology trainer Lauren Boucher as she introduces free tools for student projects that go beyond the slide show. In addition to sharing the free tools, Lauren provides project ideas and classroom tips that can be used across curriculum and grade levels.

Which of these tools are you planning on using first? Let us know how you like to present information in your classroom — please leave a comment on this article below.

Kimber Thompson is a Lead Moderator for SimpleK12 webinars and a Contributing Editor for SimpleK12.com. She writes frequently about education topics, and is passionate about tools and techniques that inspire young learners. You may reach her with ideas and comments at [email protected] .

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6 Tools to Create Flawless Presentations and Assignments

No matter how you look at it, presentations are vital to students’ success. It is a great way to showcase your talents, demonstrate understanding of the subject, put a positive light on the assignment, and so on.

However, with limited time and resources, it can be tough for students to prepare impactful assignments and presentations.. Here, we will share with you seven best tools you can use when creating presentations and assignments.

Table of Contents

Tools for Presentation

1.   venngage.

Students are often intimidated by the thought of creating attractive and informative presentations. Venngage is a highly effective presentation tool that helps students create impressive infographics. Users can add text, images, videos, slides, and other essential elements to enhance your presentations. Additionally, users can also edit the content in the presentation at any time and preview it before sharing it.

It’s a user-friendly tool to quickly create quick academic presentations. The drag-and-drop feature to add images from your computer or any other source makes it easier to add illustrations to presentations. Furthermore, the feature of adding text or import documents from Google Drive or Dropbox is an advantage with Venngage.

Keynote is another tool for creating presentations. It’s another easy-to-use tool for students to create presentations without getting into the technical details of designing slides and images.

Here are some noteworthy features of Keynote:

A Wide Range of Templates

You can use professionally designed default templates or create your slides with ease. This saves your precious time in making the right template. Get your hands on the available templates to serve your presentation purposes.

Easy-to-Use Interface

The interface of Keynote is extremely simple, which makes it easy for beginners to use it effortlessly. Even the most novice users can create professional-looking presentations within minutes using this tool without looking around for assistance.

Different Types of Transitions

You can add transitions between slides and animations to your presentations. This helps in keeping things interesting and engaging for your audience. You will also be able to choose different types of transitions, such as cross-dissolve, wipe transitions, and many more.

Free to Use

It’s free to download and use on all platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. It is also accessible with macOS version 10.10 and higher, so you don’t have to install anything else to use it.

Wide Range of Theme Collection

It has a wide range of themes to choose from. It allows theme customization with =with pictures and colors to create unique layouts and designs.

Canva is a free online tool that can be used to create posters, presentations, and other visual content.

If you want a way to create fascinating presentations, Canva is the perfect place to start with. It’s free, easy to use, and has many features to help you create better presentations.

Here are some of the great features available in Canva:

• Layouts are easy on the eyes and make it easier to read the text.
• Multiple pictures can be added on each slide with different sizes, shapes, and colors.
• Different text effects like drop shadows, outlines, and more.
• Stickers that you can use to personalize each slide.
• You can use a fully customizable background to add flair to your slides. Add text boxes, shapes, lines, and arrows by dragging and dropping from the toolbox or clicking the + button in the toolbar.
• Add custom design elements using Canva’s unique blend of fonts and graphics to create eye-catching designs that will get you noticed.

Tools for Assignments

4. enago plagiarism checker.

Enago plagiarism checker is a free online tool that helps students check their assignments and research papers for plagiarism. The tool is compatible with all device types and can be used to check any kind of text, including articles, essays, and even research papers. It also has an option to compare the original source with the copy presented in the assignment.

How does the Enago plagiarism checker work?

Enago works by scanning through the text of your assignment and finding any instances where it looks like someone else’s work has been copied into yours without attribution. The tool is easy to use and requires no technical skills.

The tool compares provided text against over 91 billion current and archived web pages. Furthermore, the advanced scholarly article check compares your text against over 135 million pay walled and open access write-ups. It’s detailed and accurate plagiarism report helps in making your assignment plagiarism-free.

5. Merge PDF

One of the most common problems students face is combining assignments from different sources.

Students may have to combine several assignments or projects they may have created on different platforms. An online PDF merger tool can help them combine your assignments into one document for easy submission.

This tool can help you merge PDF documents within seconds and make your assignments submission-ready in no time. The best thing about this tool is that it does not require any special skills or technical knowledge, which means anyone can use it without facing any issues.

How Does it Work?

You don’t have to follow a difficult process to combine PDF documents using an online PDF merger tool. Simply follow simple steps to get your job done.

• Upload the PDF documents that you want to combine. You can either upload from your device’s internal storage or cloud storage services such as Google Drive and Dropbox.
• Once uploaded, correct the order of the files by dragging and dropping documents in the required sequence.
• Now, you can click the ‘Merge Files’ button to combine files. You can download the consolidated document once it’s ready in a few seconds.

That’s how easily you can merge as many PDFs as you want into a single document. This tool is free to use and does not require registration or sign-up.

6. Trinka AI

Trinka AI is a digital assistant that corrects your grammar and spelling mistakes in real-time. It is the world’s first AI-powered grammar checker with a built-in platform for creating custom checks.

Trinka is exclusively made for academic and technical writing. It corrects over 3000 complex grammar errors to ensure delivering of error-free file. Furthermore, it checks tone, structure, word choice, writing style guides, and more. It goes beyond grammar checks and also flags sentences with informal language.

It helps polish your content with various advanced tools, including grammar checks, word suggestions, and conciseness.  to

These features make Trinka AI an excellent resource for those who want to improve their grammar skills and those who want to learn new ones.

Students have a lot of things to think about while creating presentations or assignments. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the tasks you have due soon. One way to cope with your workload is using the right tools. The above six tools can help you understand how to present your work the best way and how to organize and manage your assignments as they move towards the submission process.

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What should universities' stance be on AI tools in research and academic writing?

• Utility Menu

Harvard College

The Honor Code

• Alternative Assignments: Creative and Digital

Goals for student learning:

• Combine, curate, or interact with course materials and information in original ways
• Develop skills that college courses don’t often teach

Be aware that:

• Creative or digital assignments may require extensive preparation for students to complete and faculty to evaluate.
• Student facility with tools can mask weak mastery of content.
• Students may not understand the ethos--or mechanics--of citation in digital media or creative work.
• Digital assignments may tempt students to “cut and paste” from online materials without proper attribution.
• Anticipate that students will want to apply the skills they learn in other endeavors; discuss source use guidelines to follow in work they’re doing on their own. 

To encourage active, deep, and honest engagement:            

• Don’t assume students are technology natives; prepare students to work in the media that is assigned. 
• Get help from experts. Even if you're familiar with certain media, you might ask someone who produces art or digital media professionally to train your students and provide support for the assignment.
• Consider whether a digital or creative assignment accomplishes your learning goals  better  than a traditional assignment. If your assignment is about making an argument or engaging with print sources, then a written paper or oral presentation might be more effective than a digital or creative project. 
• Require students to cite faithfully and appropriately, which may include submitting a bibliography for a digital assignment.
• Share your discipline’s debates on originality and source use with your students.

Assignment types and examples:

• Movie-making
• Art-making (drawing, painting, assembling, collage, etc.)
• Creative writing
• Performance
• Digital annotation; mapping

Resources for faculty: 

Academic Technology Group, “ Technology for Teaching, Learning, & Research ” The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, " Grading and Responding to Student Work " (scroll down to Creative Assignments) The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, " Assignment Modalities " Office of the General Counsel, “ Copyright and Fair Use: A Guide for the Harvard Community ” Digital Arts & Humanities at Harvard Digital History at Harvard Tomorrow’s Professor, “ Projects, Tests, or Assignments that Encourage Original or Creative Thinking ”

• Syllabus Design
• General Considerations
• Reading Assignments
• Analytic Writing Assignments
• Problem Sets
• Problem Solving Assignments (including design assignments)
• Speaking Assignments
• Sample Materials
• What Faculty Need to Know: From Students
• Resources from Other Institutions - For Faculty
• For Students

The Innovative Instructor

Pedagogy – best practices – technology, tag archives: alternative assignments, lunch and learn: generative ai – teaching uses, learning curves, and classroom guidelines.

The panelists began by introducing themselves and then describing their experiences with generative AI. Jun Fang loves new technology and has been experimenting with AI since its inception. He noticed the faculty that he works with generally fall into two categories when it comes to using AI: some are quite concerned about students using it to cheat and are not ready to use it, while others see a great deal of potential and are very excited to use it in the classroom.  In speaking with colleagues from across the institution, Fang quickly realized these are common sentiments expressed by faculty in all JHU divisions. This motivated him to lead an effort to create a set of AI guidelines specifically geared toward faculty . The document contains a number of strategies for using AI including: designing engaging course activities, providing feedback for students on their assignments, and redesigning course assessments. The section on redesigning course assessments uses two approaches: the “avoidance approach,” which involves deliberately designing assessments without AI, and the “activation approach,” which intentionally integrates AI tools into the curriculum. The document includes specific examples of many of the strategies mentioned as well as links to widely used generative AI tools.  

Carly Schnitzler currently teaches two introductory writing courses to undergraduates and is very open to using generative AI in her classroom.  At the start of the semester, she asked students to fill out an intake survey which included questions about previous writing experiences and any technologies used, including generative AI. She found that students were reluctant to admit that they had used these technologies, such as ChatGPT, for anything other than ‘novelty’ purposes because they associated these tools with cheating. After seeing the results of the survey, Schnitzler thought it would be beneficial for students to explore the potential use of generative AI in class. She asked students to do an assignment where they had to create standards of conduct in a first year writing class, which included discussing their expectations of the course, the instructor, their peers, and how AI would fit in among these expectations. The class came up with three standards:  

• AI tools should support (and not distract from) the goals of the class, such as critical thinking, analytical skills, developing a personal voice, etc.   
• AI tools can be used for certain parts of the writing process, such as brainstorming, revising, or editing, but students must disclose that AI tools were used.  
• If there appears to be an over-use or over-reliance on AI tools, a discussion will take place to address the situation rather than disciplinary action. (Schnitzler wants students to feel safe exploring the tools without fear of repercussion.)  

This assignment comes from an open collection of cross-disciplinary assignments that use text generation technologies, mostly in a writing context. TextGenEd: Teaching with Text Generation Technologies , co-edited by Schnitzler, consists of freely accessible assignments submitted by scholars from across the nation. Assignments are divided into categories, such as AI literacy, rhetorical engagements, professional writing, creative explorations, and ethical considerations. Most are designed so that the technologies used are explored by students and instructors together, requiring very little ‘expert’ technological skills.  Schnitzler noted that there is a call for new submissions twice each year and encouraged instructors to consider submitting their own assignments that use text generation AI.

The discussion continued with a question and answer session with audience members:  

Q: How do we transfer and integrate this knowledge with teaching assistants who help manage the larger sized classes? What about grading? ST: I would advocate for the potential of AI to replace a TA in terms of grading, but not in terms of a TA having a meaningful dialogue with a student.  JF: Generative AI tools can be used to provide valuable feedback on assessments. There are a lot of tools out there to help make grading easier for your TAs, but AI can be used for the feedback piece.  

Q: How might professors provide guidelines to students to use generative AI to help them study better for difficult and complex topics? MR: One possibility is to generate quiz questions – and then have students follow up by checking the work of these quizzes that have been generated. CS: Using a ChatGPT or other text generation tool as a reading comprehension aid is something that has been useful for non-native English speakers. For example, adding a paragraph from an academic article into ChatGPT and asking what this means in plain language can be helpful.

CE: This gets to what I call ‘prompt literacy,’ which is designing better prompts to give you better answers. There is a very good series about this on Youtube from the University of Pennsylvania . Sean, what have you experienced with prompting right now, in terms of challenges and opportunities? ST: We’re trying to put together advice on how to better prompt the system to get more refined and accurate answers. After a few iterations of prompting the system, we refine the prompt and put it into a template for our faculty, leaving a few ‘blanks’ for them to fill in with their specific variables. The faculty are experts in their subject areas, so they can tell if the output is accurate or not. We’re in the process of collecting their output, to put together best practices about what works, what does not work.   

CE: What would you all like to see in terms of guidelines and best practices for AI on a web page geared towards using AI in the classroom? Guest: And along those lines, how to we move forward with assigning research projects, knowing that these tools are available for students? ST: I think it could be useful for students to learn research skills. They could use the tools to research something, then critique the results and explain how they verified those results. It can also be useful for generating ideas and brainstorming. Another thought is that there are a number of domain specific generative AI databases, such as Open Evidence which is useful in the medical field.   CS: To Sean’s point, I think a comparative approach is useful with these tools. The tools are very good at pattern matching genre conventions, so doing comparative work within a genre could be useful. JF: I think ChatGPT and other generative AI tools can be useful for different parts of the research process, such as brainstorming, structure, and editing. But not for something like providing or validating evidence.   

Q: As a grad student, I’m wondering how the presence of AI might force us to refine the types of questions and evaluations that we give our students. Are there ways to engineer our own questions so that the shift of the question is changed to avoid the problem [of having to refine and update the question] in the first place? CS: There is an assignment in our collection that talks about bringing an assignment from past to present. Again, thinking in terms of a comparative approach, ask ChatGPT the question, and then ask your students the same question and see how they compare, if there are any patterns.  I think it can be helpful to think of ChatGPT as adding another voice to the room. JF: We have a section in the guidelines on how to redesign assessment to cope with generative AI related issues. We suggest two approaches: the avoidance approach and the activation approach. The avoidance approach is for faculty who are not yet comfortable using this technology and want to avoid having students use it.  One example of this approach is for faculty to rework their assignments to focus on a higher level of learning, such as creativity or analysis, which will hopefully reduce or eliminate the opportunity for students to use AI tools. The activation approach encourages faculty to proactively integrate AI tools into the assessment process. One example of this approach I mentioned earlier is when I suggested to a faculty member to rework their discussion board questions to allow students to submit two versions of the answers, one created by them and the other by ChatGPT, and then analyze the results. 

Q: I work at the library and we’re getting lots of questions about how to detect if students are using AI. And also, how do you determine if students are relying too heavily on AI? JF: We also get this question from our faculty. The most used detection tool right now is Turnitin, which is embedded in Canvas. But the level of accuracy is not reliable. We encourage faculty to always validate before accepting the results.  For faculty who are actively using AI in the classroom, we also encourage them to provide clear guidance and expectations to students on how they are allowed to use it.  This may make it a little easier to determine if they are using it correctly or not. MR: There are some other tools out there, such a GPTZero , ZeroGPT , but to Jun’s point, the difficult thing is that it’s different than plagiarism detection which says this is copied, and here’s the source. These tools say there’s a probability that part of this was taken, but you can’t point to a direct source. It’s up to instructors whether or not to use these tools, but consider using them to facilitate a conversation with students. In my own classes if I suspect academic misconduct, I usually start by asking them to explain, talk to me about what is happening before I make accusations. With these tools, there tends to be no hard evidence, just probabilities that something may have happened.  This is definitely an area we’re all still learning about. Guest: I was just thinking that having a conversation with students about why they are turning to the tool in the first place might prevent misconduct.  Instead of sending them to an academic misconduct committee, we could have these conversations, like Carly mentioned. Making students aware of the limitations of the tool could also be helpful. CS: Yes, I say that in our guidelines that I’m prioritizing conferences with students over immediate disciplinary action. I try to pre-empt anxiety students might feel around using these tools. Designing your assignments in a way that reduces anxiety is also helpful. For example, I tend to design assignments that build on one another throughout the semester in smaller bits, rather than one giant chunk all at once.   

Q: Is there any discussion around combining AI with teaching, such as generating personalized explanations of a topic? Students will have different levels of expertise and comfort with different topics. ST: We’re trying to do this, to create a teaching aid for the future. We’re planning to use it to create assessment items.   

Amy Brusini, Senior Instructional Designer Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation  

Image Source: Pixabay, Unsplash

Quick Tips: Alternative Assessments

Throughout the past year and a half, instructors have made significant changes to the way they design and deliver their courses. The sudden shift to being fully remote, then hybrid, and now back to face-to-face for some courses has required instructors to rethink not only the way they teach, but also the way they assess their students. Many who have previously found success with traditional tests and exams are now seeking alternative forms of assessment, some of which are described below:

Homework assignments: Adding more weight to homework assignments is one way to take the pressure off of high stakes exams while keeping students engaged with course material. Homework assignments will vary according to the subject, but they may include answering questions from a chapter in a textbook, writing a summary of a reading or topic discussed in class, participating in an online discussion board, writing a letter, solving a problem set, etc.

Research paper :  Students can apply their knowledge by writing a research paper. To help ensure a successful outcome, a research paper can be set up as a scaffolded assignment, where students turn in different elements of the paper, such as a proposal, an outline, first and second drafts, bibliography, etc. throughout the semester, and then the cumulative work at the end.

Individual or group presentations: Student presentations can be done live for the class or prerecorded ahead of time using multimedia software (e.g., Panopto , VoiceThread ) that can be viewed asynchronously. Depending on the subject matter, presentations may consist of a summary of content, a persuasive argument, a demonstration, a case study, an oral report, etc. Students can present individually or in groups.

Reflective paper or journal : Reflective exercises allow students to analyze what they have learned and experienced and how these experiences relate to their learning goals. Students develop an awareness of how they best acquire knowledge and can apply these metacognitive skills to both academic and non-academic settings. Reflective exercises can be guided or unguided and may include journaling, self-assessment, creating a concept map, writing a reflective essay, etc.

Online Tests and Exams : For instructors who have moved their tests online, it may be worth considering lowering the stakes of these assessments.  Instead of high-stakes midterms and finals, replace them with weekly quizzes that are weighted lower than a traditional midterm or final. Giving more frequent assessments allows for additional opportunities to provide feedback to students and help them reach their goals successfully. To reduce the potential for cheating, include questions that are unique and require higher-level critical thinking. Another consideration is to allow at least some of the quizzes to be open-book.

It’s worth noting that offering students a variety of ways to demonstrate their knowledge aligns with the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) . Going beyond traditional tests and exams helps to ensure that all learners have an opportunity to show what they have learned in a way that works best for them. If you’re looking for more ideas, here are a few sites containing additional alternative assessment strategies:

https://www.scholarlyteacher.com/post/alternatives-to-the-traditional-exam-as-measures-of-student-learning-outcomes

https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/course-design-guide/design-effective-assessments/alternatives-traditional-testing

https://cei.umn.edu/alternative-assessment-strategies

Amy Brusini, Senior Instructional Designer Center for Educational Resources

Image Source: Pixabay

Strategies for an Inclusive Classroom

During the session, participants were encouraged to examine their own biases by reflecting on an unconscious bias test they took just before the session. Many were clearly dismayed by their own results; Fleming reassured them that we all have biases and that accepting this fact is the first step in addressing them.  She then shared a real-world example of unconscious bias toward women in STEM that is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . The shocking results of this study, which show that even women faculty in STEM display a preferential bias toward males over females, resulted in an engaging discussion. The dialogue continued as participants then debriefed about a video they watched, also before the session, which featured a teaching assistant (TA) stereotyping various students as he welcomed them to class.  The video was intentionally exaggerated at times, and participants were eager to point out the “over the top” behavior exhibited by the TA. Participants were inspired to share personal experiences of bias, prejudice, and stereotyping that they’ve encountered in the classroom either as students or instructors.

• Administer a pre- or early-semester survey to get to know the students and build community.
• Include a “campus climate” section in the syllabus with language expressing a commitment to respecting diverse opinions and being inclusive.
• On the first day of class, have students create a “Community Agreement” to establish ground rules for class discussions, online discussions, and group activities. This can be revisited throughout the semester to adjust what is working/not working.
• Acknowledge that there may be uncomfortable moments as we face mistakes and hold each other and ourselves accountable. Encourage students to “call in” when mistakes (intentional or not) occur, rather than “call out” or “cancel” so that we may learn from each other.
• Work collaboratively with students to develop rubrics for assignments.
• Include authors and guest speakers with varied cultures, backgrounds, and identities. Include images, readings, examples, and other course materials that are diversified. If opportunities are limited, have students do a reflective exercise on who/what is missing from the research.
• Share content with students in multiple ways: research papers, videos, images, graphs, blog entries, etc.
• Increase the number of active learning activities to enrich the learning experience.
• Offer options to students: vary the types of assignments given and allow for a choice of ways to demonstrate knowledge among students when possible.
• Follow accessibility guidelines : ensure video/audio recordings have closed captioning and/or a transcript, for example.
• Create opportunities for students to discuss their lived experiences in the classroom and/or on assignments.
• Provide opportunities for students to participate anonymously without fear of judgement (i.e. using iClickers or Jamboard ).
• Conduct activities that engage students in small groups so they get to know one another. Encourage students to use these connections to identify study partners. Consider switching groups throughout the semester so students meet additional partners.

Do you have additional strategies to share? Please feel free to add them in the comments.

Image Source: Best Practices in University Teaching Logo, Pixabay

Expanding Students’ Research Skills with a Virtual Museum Exhibit

Morgan Shahan received her PhD in History from Johns Hopkins University in 2020. While at Hopkins, she received Dean’s Teaching and Prize Fellowships. In 2019, her department recognized her work with the inaugural Toby Ditz Prize for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching. Allon Brann from the Center for Educational Resources spoke to Morgan about an interesting project she designed for her fall 2019 course,“Caged America: Policing, Confinement, and Criminality in the ‘Land of the Free.’”

I’d like to start by asking you to give us a brief description of the final project.  What did your students do?

Students created virtual museum exhibits on topics of their choice related to the themes of our course, including the rise of mass incarceration, the repeated failure of corrections reform, changing conceptions of criminality, and the militarization of policing. Each exhibit included a written introduction and interpretive labels for 7-10 artifacts, which students assembled using the image annotation program Reveal .  On the last day of class, students presented these projects to their classmates. Examples of projects included: “Birthed Behind Bars: Policing Pregnancy and Motherhood in the 19 th and 20 th  Centuries,” “Baseball in American Prisons,” and “Intentional Designs: The Evolution of Prison Architecture in America in the 19 th  and 20 th  Centuries.”

Can you describe how you used scaffolding to help students prepare for the final project?

I think you need to scaffold any semester-long project. My students completed several component tasks before turning in their final digital exhibits. Several weeks into the semester, they submitted a short statement outlining the “big idea” behind their exhibitions. The “big idea statement,” a concept I borrowed from museum consultant Beverly Serrell , explained the theme, story, or argument that defined the exhibition’s tone and dictated its content. I asked students to think of the “big idea statement” as the thesis for their exhibition.

Students then used the big idea to guide them as they chose one artifact and drafted a 200-word label for it. I looked for artifact labels that were clearly connected to the student’s big idea statement, included the context visitors would need to know to understand the artifact, and presented the student’s original interpretation of the artifact. The brevity of the assignment gave me time to provide each student with extensive written comments. In these comments and in conversations during office hours, I helped students narrow their topics, posed questions to help guide analysis and interpretation of artifacts, and suggested additional revisions focused on writing mechanics and tone.

Later in the semester, students expanded their big idea statements into rough drafts of the introductions for their digital exhibit. I asked that each introduction orient viewers to the exhibition, outline necessary historical context, and set the tone for the online visit. I also set aside part of a class period for a peer review exercise involving these drafts. I hoped that their classmates’ comments, along with my own, would help students revise their introductions before they submitted their final exhibit.

If I assigned this project again, I would probably ask students to turn in another label for a second artifact. This additional assignment would allow me to give each student more individualized feedback and would help to further clarify my grading criteria before the final project due date.

When you first taught this course a few years ago, you assigned students a more traditional task—a research paper. Can you explain why you decided to change the final assignment this time around?

I wanted to try a more flexible and creative assignment that would push students to develop research and analytical skills in a different format. The exhibit project allows students to showcase their own interpretation of a theme, put together a compelling historical narrative, and advance an argument. The project remains analytically rigorous, pushing students to think about how history is constructed. Each exhibit makes a claim—there is reasoning behind each choice the student makes when building the exhibit and each question he or she asks of the artifacts included. The format encourages students to focus on their visual analysis skills, which tend to get sidelined in favor of textual interpretation in most of the student research papers I have read. Additionally, the exhibit assignment asks students to write for a broader audience, emphasizing clarity and brevity in their written work.

What challenges did you encounter while designing this assignment from scratch?  

In the past I have faced certain risks whenever I have designed a new assignment. First, I have found it difficult to strike a balance between clearly stating expectations for student work while also leaving room for students to be creative. Finding that balance was even harder with a non-traditional assignment. I knew that many of my students would not have encountered an exhibit project before my course, so I needed to clarify the utility of the project and my expectations for their submissions.

Second, I never expected to go down such a long research rabbit hole when creating the assignment directions. I naively assumed that it would be fairly simple to put together an assignment sheet outlining the requirements for the virtual museum project.  I quickly learned, however, that it was difficult to describe exactly what I expected from students without diving into museum studies literature and scholarship on teaching and learning.

I also needed to find a digital platform for student projects. Did I want student projects to be accessible to the public? How much time was I willing to invest in teaching students how to navigate a program or platform? After discussing my options with Reid Sczerba in the Center for Educational Resources (CER), I eventually settled on Reveal, a Hopkins-exclusive image-annotation program. The program would keep student projects private, foreground written work, and allow for creative organization of artifacts within the digital exhibits. Additionally, I needed to determine the criteria for the written component of the assignment. I gave myself a crash course in museum writing, scouring teaching blogs, museum websites, journals on exhibition theory and practice, and books on curation for the right language for the assignment sheet. I spoke with Chesney Medical Archives Curator Natalie Elder about exhibit design and conceptualization. My research helped me understand the kind of writing I was looking for, identify models for students, and ultimately create my own exhibit to share with them.

Given all the work that this design process entailed, do you have any advice for other teachers who are thinking about trying something similar?

This experience pushed me to think about structuring assignments beyond the research paper for future courses. Instructors need to make sure that students understand the requirements for the project, develop clear standards for grading, and prepare themselves mentally for the possibility that the assignment could crash and burn. Personally, I like taking risks when I teach—coming up with new activities for each class session and adjusting in the moment should these activities fall flat—but developing a semester-long project from scratch was a big gamble.

How would you describe the students’ responses to the project? How did they react to the requirements and how do you think the final projects turned out?

I think that many students ended up enjoying the project, but responses varied at first. Students expressed frustration with the technology, saying they were not computer-savvy and were worried about having to learn a new program. I tried to reassure these students by outing myself as a millennial, promising half-jokingly that if I could learn to use it, they would find it a cinch. Unfortunately, I noticed that many students found the technology somewhat confusing despite the tutorial I delivered in class. After reading through student evaluations, I also realized that I should have weighted the final digital exhibit and presentation less heavily and included additional scaffolded assignments to minimize the end-of-semester crunch.

Despite these challenges, I was really impressed with the outcome. While clicking through the online exhibits, I could often imagine the artifacts and text set up in a physical museum space. Many students composed engaging label text, keeping their writing accessible to their imaginary museum visitors while still delivering a sophisticated interpretation of each artifact. In some cases, I found myself wishing students had prioritized deeper analysis over background information in their labels; if I assigned this project again, I would emphasize that aspect.

I learned a lot about what it means to support students through an unfamiliar semester-long project, and I’m glad they were willing to take on the challenge. I found that students appreciated the flexibility of the guidelines and the room this left for creativity. One student wrote that the project was “unique and fun, but still challenging, and let me pursue something I couldn’t have if we were just assigned a normal paper.”

If you’re interested in pursuing a project like this one and have more questions for Morgan, you can contact her at: [email protected]. 

For other questions or help developing new assessments to use in your courses, contact the Center for Educational Resources ([email protected]).

Allon Brann, Teacher Support Specialist Center for Educational Resources

Image Source: Morgan Shahan

The New Google Sites

We’re always on the lookout for applications that instructors and their students can use to enhance course work. A previous post We Have a Solution for That: Student Presentations, Posters, and Websites (October 6, 2017) mentioned a new version of Google Sites as having potential as a presentation software that allows for easy collaboration among student team members. Today’s post will delve deeper into its possibilities and use. This post is also available in PDF format as part of The Innovative Instructor articles series.

In 2006 Google purchased JotSpot, a software company that had been creating social software for businesses. The software acquired from that purchase was used to create the first iteration of Google Sites, now known as Classic Google Sites. Ten years later, Google launched a completely rebuilt Google Sites, which is currently being referred to as New Google Sites.

New Google Sites hasn’t replaced Classic Google Sites so much as it offers a new and different experience. The focus of New Google Sites is to increase collaboration for all team members regardless of their web development experience. It is also integrated with Google Drive so that teams working within the Google apps environment can easily associate shared content.

This new iteration of Google Sites is designed with mobile devices in mind. Users are

Example of the New Google Sites editing interface.

not able to add special APIs (Application Programmable Interface, which extends functionality of an application) or edit HTML directly. This keeps the editing interface

and options simple to ensure that whatever you create will work consistently across all browsers and devices. While this may seem limiting, you still have the option to use Classic Google Sites if you want a higher level of control.

In a classroom setting, instructors are often cautious about assigning students projects that require them to learn new technical skills that aren’t directly relevant to the course content. Instructors must balance the time it will take students to achieve technical competency against the need to ensure that students achieve the course learning goals. With New Google Sites, students can focus on their content without being overwhelmed by the technology.

In addition to ease of use, collaborative features allow students to work in teams and share content. Group assignments can offer students a valuable learning experience by providing opportunities for inclusivity, exposure to diverse viewpoints, accountability through team roles, and improved project outcomes.

New Google Sites makes it easy for the causal user to disseminate new ideas, original research, and self-expression to a public audience. If the website isn’t ready to be open to the world, the site’s editor has the ability to keep it unpublished while still having the option to collaborate or share it with select people. This is an important feature as student work may not be ready for a public audience or there may be intellectual property rights issues that preclude public display.

Professors at here at Johns Hopkins have used New Google Sites for assignments. In the History of Science and Technology course, Man vs. Machine: Resistance to New Technology since the Industrial  Revolution , Assistant Professor Joris Mercelis had students use New Google Sites for their final projects. Teams of two or three students were each asked to create a website to display an illustrated essay based on research they had conducted. Images and video were required to support their narrative arguments. Students had to provide proper citations for all materials. Mercelis wanted the students to focus on writing for a lay audience, an exercise that encouraged them to think broadly about the topics they were studying.

History of Art Professor Stephen Campbell used a single Google Site where student teams collaborated to produce an online exhibition, Exhibiting the Renaissance Nude: The Body Exposed . Each student group was responsible for supplying the materials for one of five topic pages. The content developed from this project was accessible only to the class.

In both cases, students reported needing very little assistance when editing their sites. Typically, giving an introductory demonstration and providing resources for where to find help are all students need to begin working.

Recently, Google has created the ability to allow other Google Drive content to be embedded in a site. This means that you can embed a form or a document on a web page to elicit responses/feedback from your audience without them having to leave the site. This level of integration further supports the collaborative nature of Google applications.

Currently, this iteration of Google Sites uses the New in its title. There may come a time when Google will drop the New or re-brand New Google Sites with a different name. There is no indication that Google will stop supporting Classic Google Sites with its more advanced features.

Use of both versions of Google Sites is free and accessible using your Google Account. You can create a new site by signing into Google and going to the New Google Sites page (link provided below). You can also create a site from Google Drive’s “New” button in the creation tools menu.

It is recommended that students create a new account for class work instead of us­ing their personal accounts. While this is an additional step, it ensures that they can keep their personal lives separated from their studies.

A Google Site as displayed on a desktop, tablet, and smartphone.

Additional Resources:

• New Google Sites: https://sites.google.com/new
• New and Classic Google Sites comparison: https://support.google.com/sites/answer/7176163

Reid Sczerba, Multimedia Developer Center for Educational Resources

Image sources: Google Sites logo, screenshots

Considerations for Digital Assignments

My colleague in the Center for Educational Resources, Reid Sczerba , and I often consult with faculty who are looking for alternative assignments to the traditional research paper. Examples of such assignments include oral presentations, digital and print poster presentations, virtual exhibitions, using timelines and mapping tools to explore temporal and spatial relationships, blogging, creating videos or podcasts, and building web pages or websites.

Reid, who is a graphic designer and multimedia specialist, put together a handy chart to help faculty think about these assignments in advance of a face-to-face consultation with us. A PDF version of this handout is available for your convenience. The text from the chart is reprinted below.

Learning objectives ♦ Have you determined your learning objectives for this assignment? Deciding what you would like your students to learn or be able to do helps to frame the parameters of your assignment.  http://www.cer.jhu.edu/ii/InnovInstruct-BP_learning-objectives.pdf

Type of assignment ♦Will there be analysis and interpretation of a topic or topics to produce a text-based and/or visual-based project? Consider alternatives to a traditional research paper. http://ii.library.jhu.edu/2016/04/08/lunch-and-learn-alternatives-to-the-research-paper/ ♦Will there be a need to document objects or materials for a catalog, exhibition, or repository? Defining meaningful metadata and the characteristics of research materials will be important considerations.

Access and visibility ♦Will you want the students’ work to be made open to the public, seen just at JHU, or shared only with the class? Decide up front whether to have students’ work be public or private in order to get their consent and choose the best platform for access. ♦ Will they be working with copyrighted materials? The fair use section of the Copyright Act may provide some latitude, but not all educational uses are fair use. http://www.arl.org/focus-areas/copyright-ip

Collaboration ♦Will you want students to work collaboratively as a class, in small groups, or individually? Group work has many benefits but there are challenges for assessment and in ensuring that students do their fair share of the work. http://www.cer.jhu.edu/ii/InnovInstruct-BP_MakingGroupProjectsWork.pdf ♦ Will you want the students’ work to be visible to others in the class or private to themselves or their group? Consider adding a peer review component to the assignment to help the students think critically about their work. http://www.cer.jhu.edu/ii/InnovInstruct-Ped_peerinstruction.pdf

Format ♦ Will you want your students to have a choice of media to express their research or will all students use the same solution? An open-ended choice of format could allow students to play to their strengths, leading to creativity. On the other hand, too many choices can be daunting for some, and it may be challenging to assess different projects equally. ♦ What would be the ideal presentation of the student’s work?

• spatially arranged content (mapping, exhibition) • temporally arranged content (timeline) • narrative (website, blog) • oral presentation • visual presentation (poster, video)

Formats for digital assignments are not limited to this list. More than one approach can be used if the result fulfills the learning objectives for the assignment.

Some of the solutions that we have recommended to faculty in the past are  Omeka ,  Omeka Neatline ,  Timeline JS ,  Panopto  (JHU),  Reveal (JHU), Google tools ( Google Sites ,  Google Maps , Google Docs ), Voicethread  (JHU), and  WordPress .

*************************************************************************************************

Reid Sczerba, Multimedia Development Specialist Center for Educational Resources

Macie Hall, Senior Instructional Designer Center for Educational Resources

Image source: Image of the handout created by Reid Sczerba

• Delivery Techniques →

Creative Presentation Ideas Without PowerPoint: 7 Unique Ways to Engage Your Audience

Are you in a creative rut when it comes to making presentations and engaging your audience? Have you found yourself relying too much on good ol’ PowerPoint and need a breath of fresh air? We have the ultimate answer to your woes – 7 unique ways to present your subject without PowerPoint! These top 7 suggestions guarantee to get your audiences’ attention, keep them engaged, and make them beg for more. From utilizing props and infographics to interactive activities and storytelling, you’ll be able to find the method that works best for you. And they all come without having to use PowerPoint! So Read on to discover the secrets behind our top 7 creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint, and how you can make your next presentation a smashing success!

Quick Breakdown

There are many creative ways to present information without using PowerPoint, such as creating a hands-on demonstration , using scanned images with voiceover narration, or making a video. You can also use posters, flipcharts , props, and other visuals to help engage your audience.

Explaining Concepts with Storytelling

Storytelling can be a powerful way to explore complex concepts and engage with audiences. Using stories to explain ideas encourages critical thinking, increases audience engagement, and gives meaning to abstract topics. Unlike the structure of PowerPoint slides, storytelling allows for organic dialogue between presenter and audience, creating an environment where both are actively involved in exploring concepts. Furthermore, by using a narrative approach to present information, ideas become easier to remember as they are given much-needed context. Arguments against using stories as a means of communication focus on its relative unstructured nature and the lack of advantages that tangible visuals provide. Others find it difficult to measure engagement when using stories as opposed to traditional PowerPoint slides or other visual aids . However, the most effective storytellers understand how to use emotion, tension, humor, surprise, and suspense to narrate concrete arguments that will stay with their audiences long after their presentations have ended. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of interpersonal communication; it’s no wonder the listener’s attention is captured from start to finish. By creatively utilizing this ancient technique in combination with modern teaching practices, presenters can captivate their audiences with gripping narratives about important topics. Such engagement not only encourages comprehension but also sparks curiosity and debate among listeners. With so much potential for success, explain concepts with storytelling has become increasingly popular in business settings and other professional environments. Ready to take your presentation skills up a notch? By engaging audiences with interactivity you can ensure that your audience members leave with a full understanding of the concept you were trying share while having a great time doing it!

Engaging Audiences with Interactivity

Interactivity is a great tool for engaging (and not boring) audiences in a presentation. Interactivity can come in many forms and can be tailored to the subject matter, needs of the presenter, and objectives of the audience. Depending on the environment and resources available, there are several ways to introduce interactive elements into presentations. Two popular types of interactivity that can be used are Q&A sessions and polling or surveys . Q&A sessions can be structured by designating time at the end of the presentation or set up as an ongoing part of the presentation. This allows the presenter to quickly address questions from the audience while also staying on topic and providing additional clarity when necessary. Polling or surveys are great for getting more in-depth opinions from participants on a specific topic, helping to provide further context around various aspects of presentation topics . Another method for introducing interactivity is game-based activities. This could include quizzes, challenges, puzzles, scavenger hunts, and other types of games depending on the objectives. Games are often a great way to get people engaged with one another as well as pique interest in the content presented. It’s important to carefully consider whether this type of activity is appropriate for your particular situation prior to implementing it into a presentation. Overall, there is no single best way to incorporate interactivity into your presentation but it is a powerful tool that can help make it successful if used correctly. It’s important to understand how certain interactive elements might affect your message by building in enough time for feedback and thorough responses if needed. With careful planning and consideration for all audiences involved, you can craft engaging presentations without relying on PowerPoint alone. Next we will look at how using an interactive whiteboard is another great alternative for presenting without PowerPoint.

Interactive Whiteboard

Interactive whiteboard technologies offer content-rich, audience-engaging presentations without the same level of formality as PowerPoint. With an interactive whiteboard, you can tap into a wide variety of multimedia content that encourages audience engagement and creativity while reducing any text-heavy messages. A well-made and engaging presentation on an interactive whiteboard can provide students or trainees with an immersive experience, allowing them to visualize and understand complex topics in ways that are not possible with traditional paper-based materials. From the point of view of traditional powerpoint presentations, one advantage of an interactive whiteboard is the fact that the audience can actively participate in the process by sharing their thoughts or responses via either verbal discussion, written comments, or drawings in real time. Other benefits include simple navigation and navigation tools for finding specific parts or pages within a presentation. Additionally, sound effects like music or videos may also be included to make the presentation more attention-grabbing and creative. A disadvantage is that interactive whiteboard systems are typically more expensive than traditional PowerPoint software. Moreover, they often require additional hardware such as a projector or other devices needed to connect it to media sources such as computers and tablets. Furthermore, without technical support assistance at hand, it can be difficult for those who are unfamiliar with this technology to operate the interactive board effectively. Therefore, it is important to take into consideration these potential cons before planning a presentation on an interactive whiteboard system. Overall, when used responsibly and creatively, an interactive whiteboard provides a captivating alternative to PowerPoint presentations without diminishing its educational value and potential effectiveness in communicating key messages and ideas to your target audience. As the next section will discuss further, adding hands-on activities to your presentation is another way create impactful and engaging experiences for your attendees.

Hands-On Activities

Hands-on activities evoke a sense of participation and engagement that can be just as powerful as engaging with a PowerPoint presentation. However, they work best with smaller audiences where the participants are able to get up close to the facilitator and interact with one another. Depending on the type of message you’re trying to convey, different types of hands-on activities may be suitable. For example, if you want to capture creative ideas in a group setting, an exercise such as “speed sketching” could be conducted. Everyone in the group would have to collaboratively draw a set concept or idea in five minutes or less . Alternatively, if you’re trying to inspire people about a specific topic, physical representation will help them retain more information and give them a better understanding of complex topics . More traditional activities such as panel discussions and debates are also great options for fostering an interactive environment amongst any audience. Leading into the next section: Illustrating ideas with multimedia has been tried and tested by many businesses and organizations for its ability to effectively engage larger audiences who may have varying interests or perspectives on the topic being presented.

Illustrating Ideas with Multimedia

When it comes to creative presentation ideas without PowerPoint, leveraging multimedia to illustrate ideas can be an effective method of bringing the audience into an experience and capturing their attention. Multimedia elements such as images, videos, audio clips, and even live web streams can help bring the presentation to life and add a “wow” factor that PowerPoint cannot provide. Not only can visuals help encourage engagement, but this type of multimedia also helps break up the monotony associated with lecturing for long periods of time. By introducing multimedia elements during a presentation, audiences will find this type of approach to be interesting and memorable. Using multimedia for presentations can also add to the impact of narrative content. Rather than just reading from a script or speaking from memory, adding visuals or sound effects can make stories more captivating while strengthening an argument. That said, it’s important to remember there are drawbacks associated with multimedia elements. If not used sparingly, they can quickly become too distracting or take away from the message you’re trying to convey. Ensuring multimedia adds value instead of detracts from your talk is key when leveraging multimedia in creative presentations. Finally, leveraging multi-media is only one side of incorporating creative techniques into a presentation — performance demonstrations are another great way to engage an audience. In the next section we’ll look at how you can use props and physical demonstrations to capture the audience’s attention and create a lasting impression.

• According to a 2004 study , PowerPoint is just presentation technology’s latest iteration and will eventually be replaced by something else.

Performance Demonstrations

Performance Demonstrations are a great way to keep your audience engaged and excited about your presentation. Whether you decide to show off a skill you possess or hire an expert in their field, an engaging, “real performance” is sure to leave a lasting impression on your audience. The advantages of performing a demonstration are that it keeps the audience focused, provides an interactive element to the presentation and makes for a more creative form of communication. Additionally, it allows the presenter to explain some abstract ideas in concrete terms. For example, when explaining aerodynamics, if you have an expert mathematician available, they could use calculus to calculate air resistance and lift force while teaching the audience a physical demonstration. On the other hand, there are potential downsides when incorporating performance demonstrations into your presentation. Not everyone will understand the topic presented; visual learners may comprehend more easily than those with auditory learning styles and vice-versa. Additionally, performance demonstrations run the risk of not being done effectively causing confusion instead of clarity during the presentation. Regardless of these drawbacks, if done correctly, performance demonstrations can be a great way to engage any audience. Following this section about Performance Demonstrations we will explore how Presenters can use Physical Objects as another unique way to capture an audience’s attention and lead them through their message without PowerPoint.

Present Ideas Using Physical Objects

Using physical objects to convey a message can be an effective and creative means to engage an audience. By incorporating tangible elements, such as props, displays, and other materials, presenters can physically demonstrate a concept or idea in a way that captures attention and encourages interaction. Additionally, physical objects can enable the audience to have both tactile interaction as well as visual stimulation. This can help to keep individuals focused on the presentation and more likely to remember what is being said. For example, while explaining increasing sales numbers over time, a presenter may use a graph written on a whiteboard with colored markers. As each section of the graph is explained, the presenter can point to sections of the board with the markers to emphasize certain points or data points. This allows for visual tracking of progress on the graph, as well as directing attention away from other slides or topics being discussed. Furthermore, using physical markers instead of electronic slides gives the audience something tangible with which to interact and remember. Physical objects may also be used as props for storytelling or examples within a presentation. However, this approach can prove difficult if not done correctly due to unexpected issues with transport or storage of materials. If not managed properly ahead of time, these unforeseen problems can have an impact on the quality of the presentation and its potential success. For this reason it is important to weigh all options carefully before selecting any physical props for incorporation into the presentation.

Visual Props

Visual props are a great way to engage audiences and create interesting presentations. These props can include items such as whiteboards and markers, storyboards, sculptures, or even art installations. Visual props can be used to illustrate complex concepts, break up information into more concentrated bits, and make your audience feel like they are actively participating in the presentation. On one hand, visual props might help enhance rather than dominate a presentation. Rather than simply showing an audience slides of written words on a screen and speaking over them, visual props may allow the presenter to incorporate elements of drama and interaction with the audience. For example, depending on the type of prop you choose, viewers may be encouraged to ask questions or share their experiences in relation to what is being presented. On the other hand, using too many props can become overwhelming for an audience and detract from the larger message you want to convey. Additionally, if your chosen prop is too heavy or bulky it can become difficult for a presenter to move around while speaking over them. It is important to focus on how much of your prop should be seen and how much of it should remain behind-the-scenes or in storage during a presentation so that it has maximum impact if needed but also won’t distract from the topic at hand. Overall, visual props provide an effective way to engage viewers in a presentation without the use of PowerPoint. With thoughtful planning, visuals can be used in strategic ways that emphasize key points and foster a greater understanding rather than being distracting or overwhelming to your audience. In order to reach your audience with flashcards – the next step after incorporating visual props – additional considerations have to be taken regarding content selection as well as readability and accessibility.

Reaching the Audience with Flashcards

Using flashcards is a great way to engage an audience and make sure information is retained. This can be done before your presentation, during question and answer, or at the end as a review for what has been discussed. Flashcards are especially helpful for presentations that include a lot of facts and/or data, as they allow individuals to easily retain information without relying on taking notes. Moreover, flashcards can be used in creative ways to keep an audience’s attention. For example, a presenter can set up different stations throughout the room that have cards which can be collected during the presentation. Additionally, they can be used as an interactive prop to illustrate points or ask questions to audience members. Finally, they can be used as part of a game or challenge to test how well attendees absorbed the content. The downside is that using flashcards can take up considerable time depending on the size of the audience and it must be incorporated correctly into the flow of the presentation to avoid disruption. Additionally, it may not be effective if you are presenting topics with limited supporting numbers or facts. That being said, incorporating flashcards into an engaging presentation when done properly adds excitement and encourages participation among attendees. As mentioned previously, there are many different ways to creatively engage your audience without having to rely on tools like PowerPoint. However, having a few final tips will help make sure your unique presentation goes off without a hitch so let’s discuss that in the following section: A Few Final Tips on Creative Presentations.

A Few Final Tips on Creative Presentations

Creating a successful and engaging presentation without PowerPoint can be difficult. Apart from frameworking it differently and using alternative tools, there are a few time-tested approaches that could help you create powerful presentations. Here are a few tips to consider when creating creative presentations without PowerPoint. 1. Develop Your Story: Whether it’s one of your own experiences or craft an interesting case study for the audience to learn from, using the story format allows for naturally captivating presentation. By starting with a hook and weaving through historical perspectives and facts, you can make sure your presentation will be more memorable and enjoyable for the audience. 2. Have Fun With It: When developing your presentation without PowerPoint, it’s essential that your main focus is getting the information across in an easy-to-understand yet engaging way. Having fun while delivering the content will make it easier for audience members of all age ranges to remember what they were taught. 3. Enrich with Visuals: A presentation isn’t complete if there aren’t visuals to enhance the delivery of your message or topic. Tools like Prezi and PowToon are great alternatives to PowerPoint that you can use if you want to add visual appeal to your next presentation; similarly, incorporating images or art into your slides will guarantee attendees understand essential points they need to take away from your content delivery process. 4. Set Your Audience Expectations: Prepare a clear plan before presenting so that every component found within each slide is communicated effectively and thoroughly explained during the talk; also tell your audience exactly what you should expect from them as well – is there a question and answer session ? Do they have an activity or assignment to complete by the end? By providing these expectations ahead of time, navigating through the material will appear much easier both visually and mentally. 5. Practice & Rehearse: No matter how great of an idea you come up with, if you don’t practice it beforehand then it won’t go over as smoothly as intended. Make sure you’re well rehearsed on all topics covered within the presentation so that no questions go unheard due to memory recall issues caused by stress in public speaking contexts; additionally, rehearsing frequently also allows for polish lines that add even more flavor to any speech! When crafting a creative presentation without PowerPoint, following these top tips helps ensure success in each delivery. As long as thought is put into their approach beforehand, practically anyone can develop an effective method for teaching others without relying solely on slideshows generated through computer software programs like Microsoft Office Suite products!

Responses to Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of using alternative presentation ideas without powerpoint.

The advantages of using alternative presentation ideas without Powerpoint are plentiful. For starters, they allow speakers to be more creative and expressive since they don’t need to limit themselves to text-based slides and static visuals. Additionally, these alternatives can be especially effective for highly interactive or participatory presentations. For example, having audience members take part in activities such as role playing, group exercises and simulations can help create an engaging dynamic and offer a much more immersive experience than a traditional powerpoint presentation. Finally, alternative presentation ideas allow the speaker to use a wide range of media formats including videos, visuals, music and sound effects to present their message in a compelling way. These elements can create emotional connections with the audience that are unlikely to be achieved through static “bulleted text” slides.

How can I make an effective presentation without Powerpoint?

Making an effective presentation without Powerpoint can be achieved by leveraging various creative techniques. Firstly, it is important to know your audience and the message which you are trying to convey. When beginning a presentation without Powerpoint, it is beneficial to start strong with a short introduction of yourself and the topic. This will help the audience to more easily relate to what you are sharing. Secondly, using hands-on activities such as demonstrations or simulations are powerful teaching tools that could help to engage your audience in the presentation. You may also consider using props, videos/animations or storytelling techniques as they can draw in an audience and bring to life the subject matter. Thirdly, focus on keeping your audience well informed throughout the duration of the presentation by strategically placing breaks or visual cues. This can make the content easier to digest, in addition to lightening up any dull sections with humour or anecdotes. Lastly, end on a strong note and ensure that there is closure after delivering your message. Acknowledging any questions from the audience, a summary of what was discussed and thanking them for attending will help round off a successful presentation without Powerpoint.

What are some creative presentation formats that do not require Powerpoint?

Creative presentation formats that do not require Powerpoint include: 1. Storytelling – Use stories to bring your message to life and engage your audience. Telling an interesting, engrossing, or even personal story can be a great way to capture and retain the attention of your audience. 2. Role Play – An interactive way to demonstrate a concept is by having people act out scenarios related to the topic at hand. Whether it’s two people performing a skit or a large group of volunteers playing characters in a scene, role play can make abstract concepts concrete while providing a visual aid for the rest of your audience to latch onto. 3. Visual Presentations – One of the most common forms of presentations rely on visuals such as diagrams, maps, charts, etc., rather than words. Incorporating some visual elements will make it easier for people to understand certain key points in your discussion as well as help you keep your audience engaged during long sections of speech. 4. Demonstration – Show don’t tell is an old adage that applies when presenting without Powerpoint. You might prefer to use the time allotted for interactive demonstrations either in person or video clips that show the product or service in action. 5. Workshops – Teaching your audience a new skill or practice can be incredibly engaging while managing to educate them along the way as well. Setting up guided workshops with activities designed around group dynamics can also be highly effective in terms of creating lasting engagement with everyone present.

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Alternative Assignments for English

What is an alternative assignment.

• Alternative Assignment Ideas
• Bibliography

Course assignments can be traditional or creative. A break from the traditional research paper assignment can make the class more interesting and engaging. Institutions the world over are creating and encouraging alternative assignments to motivate students and provide them with better learning opportunities. Alternative assignments allow students to use multimedia, technology, and other resources for their projects in order to promote student engagement, greater attention to detail, encourage creativity, and embrace challenge. Alternative assignments also help to limit plagiarism which is one of the big concerns today.

Reasons for considering the use of creative writing assignments:

• Creativity and innovation are required in twenty first century workspaces
• Different types of assignments can help diverse learners connect with and retain course material
• Literature is perceived freshly when the method of analysis requires both creative and critical responses
• The importance of literary genre, structure, style and narrative perspective become clearer when one is crafting narrative and characters can be comprehended more deeply when one imagines their unstated thoughts
• Writing in various genres provides practice for students who will write as part of their careers
• Evaluation of new assignments invigorates the professor, while creative activities provide a variety and change of pace appreciated by contemporary college students Cummins, Amy. :Tell Me a Story: Effective Use of Creative Writing Assignments in College Literature Courses". Currents in Teaching and Learning, 1.2 (Spring 2009): 42-49. http://www.worcester.edu/Currents/Archives/Volume_1_Number_2/CurrentsV1N2CumminsP42.pdf
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• Last Updated: Dec 15, 2023 1:48 PM
• URL: https://libguides.southernct.edu/alternative_assignments

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Alternative assessment refers to non-traditional methods of evaluating students' learning, such as projects, portfolios, presentations, multimedia, etc as opposed to traditional exams and quizzes. It focuses on assessing students' deeper understanding and skills rather than memorization and recall.

Alternative assessment methods can provide a more comprehensive and authentic view of students' abilities. They promote critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which are valuable skills for real-world applications. Additionally, they can reduce the potential for cheating or plagiarism and can reduce stress related to high-stakes exams.

Our team of Instructional Designers is available for one-on-one consultations to explore innovative forms of assessment and learning strategies that not only engage students but also uphold academic integrity. By reimagining assessment formats, you can deter cheating while enriching the educational experience.

Schedule a consultation

Using Alternative Assessment Tools

Traditional high-stakes assessments, like midterms and finals, can exert pressure and cause anxiety that can impact students performance, often emphasizing memorization over genuine understanding. Alternative assessment strategies or the integration of recurring, low-stakes assignments can focus on a student's abilities and how they apply their knowledge, rather than what they simply know or recall. 

• Low Stakes: Use more low-stakes assessments like homework and quizzes instead of high-stakes exams. This gives students more chances for practice and feedback and gives instructors meaningful data points on understanding and progress. Low-stakes assessments are assigned fewer points and sometimes may be graded based on completion instead of accuracy.
• Reducing High Stakes in Assessments: Strategies may include dropping the lowest score, retakes, drafts, providing revision opportunities, or reducing single assessment impact on overall grade
• Panopto: Panopto’s simple in-video quizzing capabilities help instructors test comprehension, reinforce key concepts, improve knowledge retention, and make their videos more engaging. Panopto quizzes can be integrated directly into the Canvas gradebook
• Project: projects as an assessment method bridges theoretical knowledge with real-world application and can provide a comprehensive view of a student's abilities, preparing them effectively for professional settings
• Video: Videos can be used as a  means of illustrating student’s understanding, whether it's explaining a concept, showcasing a skill, or offering reflections on course material
• Open Book exams: Open book exams containing more conceptual questions or applied questions can be more difficult to look up online.
• Reflective Paper or Presentation: Reflective assessments can provide time for students to absorb what they learned and to engage with thinking about how they have learned.

Alternative Assessment Tools in Canvas

• Assignments  - create assignments for students to upload their work instead of assigning a quiz/exam that requires Respondus Monitor.  Peer Review  capability can be added to assignments, as well as rubrics.
• Examples: a)  "I have done my own work and have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this work." (add as question. From Fresno State Honor Code), b)  "You may use your books and notes while taking the test but you must work on your own. Do not share your answers or discuss with anyone, even after completing the test. You will have 60 minutes to complete the test up until the deadline of Tuesday at 11:55 PM. (add to quiz instructions), c) Please read the statement below carefully before beginning the test: By selecting the Attempt quiz now, I acknowledge that I am the assigned student taking the quiz and the work is entirely my own. (add to quiz instructions).
• Drop lowest score(s) . Setting up  Assignment Groups  (Categories) in the Assignments area gives you the ability to drop the lowest score(s). Besides offering multiple low-stakes exams, dropping the lowest score(s) take pressure off the student to cheat.
• Use   Question Banks   (Classic Quiz)/ Item Banks   (New Quizzes)  when building your quiz to pull a specific number of questions from a larger pool of questions into the quiz. The quiz will randomly pull questions from the bank so student tests will not be the same.
• Shuffle Questions . This is done through using a Question Bank on Classic Quizzes and through the Settings in New Quizzes
• Shuffle Answers  in Multiple Choice/Multiple Answer questions. Be sure that all possible answers are worded correctly (e.g., all of these options, none of these options, etc.)
• Add a time limit . Once a student begins a quiz, they will only have a certain period of time to complete the quiz. This reduces the amount of time that students have to be fact-checking or looking for the answers (suggested questions times: 30-45 second/True-False question, 60-90 seconds/Multiple Choice question).
• Show one question at a time . This only shows the question the student is working on at the moment and not the entire quiz. A sub-option is to  Lock questions after answering so   once a question is answered, the student cannot go back to change their response.
• Use Short answer/Essay questions  instead of multiple choice questions that require students to analyze and evaluate rather than recall facts.
• Choose to release only scores  and not show student's their correct/incorrect answers until after the exam is complete for everyone - or don't release that information at all.
• Assume it's open book!  
• Discussions  - can be graded or ungraded. Use Discussion boards for students to post replies to a prompt you give them and also allow them to reply to each other.
• Google Assignments  - You can create an online assignment that embeds a document directly from your Google Drive folder. Accepted assignment types are Google Documents, Spreadsheets, and Slides. 

Note:  We have become aware of an issue when students access an exam/quiz on an  iPad  that has been created as a  Canvas New Quiz  with the  Respondus LockDown Browser  enabled. Students will be  locked out  of not only the exam/quiz but also their iPad.

iPads can still be used in this scenario if students follow the steps outlined below when accessing the exam/quiz. Students are not able to tell if an exam/quiz has been created as a Classic Quiz or a New Quiz until they have begun the exam/quiz.

Please let your students know if the exam/quiz is a New Quiz so they can perform the following steps and not get locked out of their exam/quiz and their iPad and share these instructions with your students if using  New Quizzes with Respondus Enabled :

If your instructor uses Canvas New Quizzes with the Respondus LockDown Browser enabled and you access the quiz/exam on an iPad, follow these steps so you don’t get locked out of your iPad (and exam!!)

• Open the mobile browser (Chrome or Safari) on your iPad -  NOT THE CANVAS STUDENT APP!
• Log into Canvas ( fresnostate.instructure.com ) and navigate to the quiz.
• Start the quiz and the LockDown Browser app will automatically launch.
• Turnitin is an originality checking and plagiarism prevention service. Use as part of a Canvas Assignment.

Alternatives to Remote Proctoring

In-person alternatives, online alternatives.

What are some practical examples of alternative assessment strategies I can implement in my classes?

You can explore options like group projects, reflective journals, case studies, peer assessments, oral presentations, and ePortfolios. These methods encourage active engagement and allow students to demonstrate their understanding in diverse ways.

How can I ensure the fairness and reliability of alternative assessments?

To maintain fairness, provide clear assessment criteria and guidelines to students. Consider using rubrics to evaluate their work consistently. You can also incorporate self-assessment and peer-assessment components to enhance objectivity.

Are there any challenges associated with using alternative assessment, and how can I address them?

Challenges may include increased grading time, varied student abilities, and resistance to change. Address these challenges by setting realistic expectations, offering support and training to students, and gradually incorporating alternative assessment methods into your teaching practice.

What options exist for continuing to use exams or proctoring?

• The Academic Technology and Resource Center is a resource where faculty can receive assistance in creating Canvas quizzes with features that promote academic integrity. The Center  accepts requests to create Canvas quizzes  for you or provide hands-on guidance to optimize your assessments for secure and reliable test-taking. Request Quiz Creation
• The Bulldog Testing Center offers a secure, proctored environment for faculty who want to administer supervised exams. Faculty can schedule a window of time for students to take their exams under the watchful eye of professional proctors.  Contact Bulldog Testing Center
• Last Updated Oct 4, 2023

12 Interactive PowerPoint Activities Your Students will Love

At Slides with Friends, we're all about trying to make your life as a teacher a little bit easier. We want to provide as many tools, tips, and as much support as possible. That's why we share on topics like Review Games , Student Wellness Activities , and Tools for Measuring Student Engagement .

While we usually focus on how you can use Slides with Friends specifically, we want to bring you something a little different this time. We've compiled 12 of our favorite interactive PowerPoint activities you can use with your students. All of the activities are designed to engage your students in ways they'll love. Even better, these activities let you use a tool you're probably already familiar with.

And read to the end for an exciting new announcement!

Annotated Images

Annotated images let you teach history (or literature! or geography!) using detailed annotated images from your latest lesson. We're big fans of using visuals in the classroom. And with good reason! A study released by the Journal of Education and Practice found visual information is mapped better in students' minds across multiple types of thinking skills. By introducing more visuals to a lesson plan, and using tools like PowerPoint, lessons are more likely to be remembered.

You can introduce annotated images on PowerPoint by picking out relevant images and adding captions or labels to them and presenting them as you teach. You can add descriptions, draw arrows, or points of interest on the image.

Check out this fun example from Ditch That Textbook .

Even better, provide a few unique images of the lesson you just presented and have the students create their own annotations. Then, as a class, have each student present their image in PowerPoint.

Photos as Story Prompts

More visual learning! Using photos as storytelling prompts can be a great way to spark your student's creativity! PowerPoint is an ideal platform to display the photos, as it provides you the flexibility and versatility to show one photo at a time in case you want the students to focus exclusively on that image.

Simply ask them to write a story based on the photo in 1-3 sentences, and compare answers afterward. Encouraging different interpretations of a single image also helps foster critical thinking skills and encourages students to use their own perspectives when expressing their ideas.

Interactive Maps

Interactive maps are a fantastic way for students to learn about their world without leaving the classroom! And one of the easiest ways to show off these maps is through PowerPoint. Plus, PowerPoint makes adding hyperlinks to specific places (like pins), so you can click through areas of interest without having to open up a separate browser page.

If you're looking for a simple tutorial on how to create a lesson-based interactive map, check out this one from eLearning Industry . For more exploratory maps, check out the tutorial below (which includes the free template!).

Battleship Review Game

We love a good game here at Slides with Friends, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see so many options on this list. However, before doing research for this article, we had no idea Battleship could be played on PowerPoint!

In the template below, you can add words and to reveal the space beneath the words, students have to:

- Conjugate the Verb

- Use the Word in a Sentence

- Define the Word

Or one of any fun combinations.

We love this idea for language classes especially, but can also be used for vocabulary in any subject.

You can check out the whole presentation here.

Crossword Puzzle

Crossword puzzles are a timeless and popular way of testing knowledge and keeping minds alert. They can be used in the classroom to reinforce concepts and skills related to any subject, making them a great teaching tool. Crosswords can help students learn new vocabulary words, polish their grammar, understand history or science topics better, or firm up mathematics concepts.

And an easy way to do a crossword in the classroom is by using PowerPoint. You simply need to create a blank and a filled puzzle on PowerPoint and then fill it out with your class.

Check out this step-by-step guide on the best way to quickly create a crossword puzzle in PowerPoint.

Tests and quizzes are absolutely no fun, so if you can find an easy way to quiz your students in a fun way, that's a win-win! One of our favorite ways to do this is by creating a quiz show on PowerPoint.

By using those hyperlinks we mentioned above, you can easily create your own questions, assign point values, and include sound effects (or music!) to make your students feel like they're actually in a game show!

This 6 Steps to Create a Multiple Choice Quiz is a great way to start designing your next PowerPoint quiz. If you're looking for multiple ways to create a quiz show for your students, check out the detailed tutorial below .

Video Gallery

We've talked quite a bit about visuals here, not just because PowerPoint is a great tool for visuals, but because visuals are so extremely helpful in the classroom.

One way to incorporate visual activities into your classes with PowerPoint is by creating video galleries. This is especially useful if you have limited access to videos and need to play them in a certain order.

You can create a video gallery presentation by manually inserting the clips into slides or creating a series of hyperlinks to take the class through certain processes. You can also add captions, notes, and questions for further discussion.

Scavenger Hunt

A fun activity to incorporate in your classroom through the power of PowerPoint is a review scavenger hunt.

Scavenger hunts can be an engaging way to go over the material and test knowledge at the beginning or end of a unit. PowerPoint is a great tool to use when designing a scavenger hunt if you are working with students online. With the tool, you can hide clues in images, ask questions that are linked to hyperlinks, and even add video clips as hints.

Scavenger hunts also offer quite a bit of versatility in the classroom. You can have students work individually or in groups, depending on your goals for the lesson.

You can reference our Virtual Scavenger Hunt guide, which includes several hunt lists, for ideas on what to bring to your students.

Choose Your Own Adventure

PowerPoint slides can also be used to create engaging interactive experiences. PowerPoint's slide-linking feature allows you to jump between slides with the click of a button, providing users with their own “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style gaming experience. As a result, you can create an interactive story with a different ending each and every time.

While this activity will take quite a bit of upfront work, once you have it done, you can use it for countless classes.

We highly recommend this tutorial by The Training Lady on how to plan out your next PowerPoint adventure!

Picture Reveal

Picture Reveal is a great PowerPoint activity that encourages students to think critically. In this activity, you can present an obscured picture and provides clues as to what it could be. Students must then utilize their knowledge and logic skills to work out what the picture is by eliminating incorrect answers based on the clues provided until they eventually get the correct answer.

Picture reveals are a great way to review material from previous lessons or current topics. They can also act as an introduction to a new lesson. Plus, we can't stress this enough, visuals!

Word Search

Word search games are a great way to review vocabulary and help students learn new words. Using PowerPoint, you can create custom word searches by entering the target vocabulary words in a grid. Then draw lines connecting each letter to form words! You can even add visuals that correspond with the theme of your word search for an extra challenge.

Word search games are perfect for when you have some leftover time during class or if you want to review material from earlier units. A PowerPoint word search is also great for helping students recognize spelling patterns in unfamiliar words and promoting active learning as they look for the hidden words in the puzzle.

Student Presentation

One of the best ways to get your students engaged in the classroom is to have them lead the show. And PowerPoint is such an awesome tool for students to present their own material.

With a little guidance, you can have older students create mini-presentations about topics they've studied in class or even on their own. Not only will this allow you to assess what they've retained from studying, but it also allows your students to practice public speaking skills and become more comfortable with online presentations - essential in today's digital world!

With PowerPoint, you can easily turn any student project into an engaging presentation everyone will enjoy.

Use Slides with Friends for Your PowerPoint Activities

PowerPoint has been a vital tool in the teacher toolbox for decades. There are so many fantastic ways to use PowerPoint to engage and interact with your classroom.

Slides with Friends is excited to announce a new feature for our slide decks - A PowerPoint upload!

Now you can create your slides in an already-known program, or use slide shows you've already made, and with a click of a button upload them to Slides with Friends!

Slides with Friends brings classroom PowerPoint activities to the next level by enabling real-time collaborative engagement from all of your students. By combining your PowerPoint presentations with Slides with Friends live word clouds, polling, trivia, and quizzes, as well as photo sharing, you really can fully involve your students in every lesson.

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40 Alternative Assessment Ideas for Learning

The teachhub team.

• June 30, 2012

When people think of assessment , pencils and bubble sheets may be the first things that come to mind. Assessment does not always have to involve paper and pencil but can instead be a project , an observation, or a task that shows a student has learned the material. In the end, all we really want to know is that the skill was mastered, right? Why not make it fun and engaging for students as well?

Many teachers shy away from alternative assessments because they take extra time and effort to create and grade. On the other hand, once the assessment guidelines and grading rubric are created, it can be filed away and used year after year. Here are 40 alternative assessment ideas to get you started!

Alternative Reading Assessments

• Bookmark – Create a bookmark to match the theme of the last book read.
• Time Capsule – Put together a group of five things from the story of the week.
• Stuffed Animal – Students can make a stuffed animal that matches the theme of the story read.
• Business Card – Summarize the story by designing a business card (this will be harder than it sounds).
• Radio Show – Create a radio program that is set in the same time as the book.
• Recipe – Make a recipe (or just the instructions) for something that a character in the story might make.
• Paper Doll – More geared towards the younger set, this activity involves creating paper dolls and costume changes for the characters in the story.
• Wanted Poster – Make a wanted poster for the antagonist in the book.

Alternative Writing Assessments

• Eulogy – Write a eulogy for a word that is overused in the student’s own writing samples.
• Infomercial – Students will tape a segment that uses persuasion.
• Bumper Sticker – Design a bumper sticker with a catchy slogan for each of the writing genres.
• PowerPoint – Pairs can create a slideshow about their writing process from start to finish.
• Newscast – Students can form teams to create a news program about writing conventions (run-on sentences, spacing, punctuation, etc.).
• Comic Strip – Draw a comic strip that shows examples of figurative language.
• Brochure – Create a brochure that explains the steps involved when writing for different audiences.
• Survey – Create a survey of students’ favorite writing styles or writing pet peeves. Make a graph that explains the results.

Alternative Math Assessments

• Acrostic Poem – Using one math term, such as geometry or algebra, make an acrostic poem .
• Internet Resource List – Students will find a list of websites that explain the current math concepts correctly.
• Readers Theater – Perform a readers theater that is all about the current topic.
• Crossword Puzzle – Use the vocabulary from the assessed chapter to create a crossword puzzle, including the design and matching clues.
• Scrapbook Page – Each student makes a page that describes a certain math term. Combine them to provide a future review tool for students.
• Paint By Number – More artistically inclined students can create a paint-by-number portrait that includes math terms and examples. They can also write and solve problems that match the paint-by-number answers.
• Pattern – Find a pattern in the current math unit that can be explained.
• Collage – Using magazines, students can cut up and paste math strand examples.

Alternative Science Assessments

• Help Wanted Ad – Write an ad to find a “professor” who can help to explain the subject at hand.
• Singing Telegram – More musically inclined students can create a song about the latest chapter.
• Calendar – Mark on a calendar (paper or electronic copy) the time frame for how long it takes to see changes in a scientific event (such as erosion or plants growing).
• Diary – Pen a diary entry from the perspective of a famous scientist.
• Advice Column – Students write advice to an “anonymous friend” who has a scientific problem that needs solving.
• Trivia Game – Students create the questions (and answers) that will be used in a review game.
• T-shirt – Design a t-shirt that matches the current science concepts.
• Experiment – No explanation needed for this one – get creative!

Alternative Social Studies Assessments

• Cheer – Compose a cheer for someone in history who has struggled through something in your latest unit.
• Fashion Sketch – Draw an example of what a person would wear from the era being studied.
• Toy – Create a drawing (or a prototype) of a toy that might have been used from the children of that specific time period.
• Documentary – Recreate an important historical event.
• Family Tree – Research the family tree of a famous historical person.
• Time Line – Students create a class timeline as they study different eras. Post the master timeline up in the classroom and add as new eras are learned.
• Speech – Memorize and recite an important historical speech.
• Museum Exhibit – Students each create a museum “artifact” and set them up in the classroom as a museum where they will stand next to their artifact to explain and answer questions from visitors. Invite other classes or parents to come do a walkthrough of your museum.
• #AlternativeAssessment , #Assessment , #StudentLearning

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The 8 Best Free PowerPoint Alternatives

Professional results for tight budgets

• Swansea University, Staffordshire University

Microsoft PowerPoint is a great tool for creating professional-looking slideshows and presentations. However, the home version requires a Microsoft 365 subscription, and the free mobile app locks some features behind the sub as well. Fortunately, there are plenty of free PowerPoint software alternatives out there. Here's a look at some of the best options and how they compare to PowerPoint. 

Best Direct PowerPoint Replacement: Google Slides

Very similar to PowerPoint.

Free to use. 

Compatible with PowerPoint.

An internet connection is strongly recommended. 

Where there's a need for an app, Google seems to have it covered. Google Slides is its PowerPoint equivalent and it's a lot like Microsoft's app. Very simple to use and offering full compatible with the alternative, you can access Google Slides via your browser and easily create custom presentations with audio and your own images, all entirely for free. It also offers great live collaboration features for teamwork purposes.

The only minor downside is you need an internet connection to at least get started but the service does also work offline with presentations syncing once you're back online.

Best for Designers: Prezi

Video editing included.

Can easily make data visualizations. 

Stylish user interface.

Free option is pretty basic.

No support.

Presentations viewable by all.

Prezi is a great option for designers who have a vision but aren't technically proficient at achieving it. Its simple drag and drop interface makes it a breeze to organize your presentation just how you want it. Backed up with other Prezi apps that mean you can create videos or more stylish data visualizations than simple graphs, it's ideal for industries that are more visual than others. A series of pre-made templates makes it all the more attractive. 

Prezi isn't as free as it seems though. To get the full wealth of features like advanced image editing, offline access, and narration, you'll need to pay a subscription fee.

Best for Quick Results: Zoho Show

A theme for every occasion.

Quick to create something.

Intuitive interface.

Need to be online to use it.

Simple to use yet highly effective is the sweet spot for quick results, and that's certainly the case with Zoho Show. You might need to be online to use it, but it's worth the connection with an intuitive user interface that adapts to what you need to do. You can easily embed videos, tweets, and images into your presentations with some neat transition effects making things more interesting. 

Collaboration tools further sweeten the deal with annotation features meaning you can work together well as a team and fast.

Best for Animations: Powtoon

Great animation tools.

Easy to use.

Can export to social media platforms.

Branding applied on free presentations.

More about animations than slideshows. 

PowToon tackles PowerPoint presentations from a slightly different angle than a lot of its competitors. It's primarily great for creating full animations and videos rather than presentations that you would click through and present yourself. That lends itself perfectly to the internet which is why it's so useful that you can export your presentations to various forms of social media. 

With a drag and drop template, you can create something within about 20 minutes from your browser. The free version bundles in branding logos so viewers will always know you've used PowToon to create them but that's a small price to pay for an otherwise very accessible and simple to use piece of software. 

Best for Mass Branding: Renderforest

Plenty of options for expanding branding.

300MB cloud storage for free.

Unlimited exports.

Exports can be low in quality.

Content is watermarked.

RenderForest thinks of itself as more than just a PowerPoint alternative. It tackles everything you might need from creating logos to designing promo videos, music visualizations, landing pages, and websites. That's on top of its extensive animations and intro creation. That might sound intimidating but the service keeps things simple, so it won't take you long to mock something up and develop it.

Stick to the free version and there are some restrictions such as branding on your videos, lower quality logos, and so forth, but it's a solid start for an otherwise entirely free service. In particular, if you just need to concoct a quick 3-minute video for a presentation, RenderForest has you covered.

Best for Non-Designers: Visme

Plenty of templates to choose from.

Can set up five projects at once.

Charts and widgets support.

Limited cloud storage.

Visme branding on free plan.

Been asked to make a presentation and you don't know where to start? Visme is perfect for those that aren't well versed with graphics as it offers an extensive template library. The free plan limits your options a little but there are still some decent choices here. In addition, the service provides cool ways to make stats and data look exciting thanks to chart and widget support. It's all done through a simple drag and drop interface too that makes it super simple to add video and embed other content. 

Just bear in mind that storage options are a little limited and everything on the free plan will contain Visme branding. 

Best for Office Replacement: LibreOffice Impress

Full program rather than browser-based.

Extensive support. 

Similar experience to Microsoft Office.

Requires installation. 

Not quite as intuitive as alternatives.

LibreOffice is a popular free alternative to Microsoft Office, so it makes sense to use LibreOffice Impress if you want the closest experience to Microsoft's package. Unlike most of the others here, you need to install LibreOffice on your PC or Mac which means it's no good for Chromebooks or moving between different systems. However, in exchange, you get an intuitive experience that makes it simple to create slideshows, whether you're handing them out to a class or conference afterwards, or simply projecting them on screen. 

Bear in mind you have to seek out templates yourself though which may be off-putting for the least technically minded user out there. 

Download for:

Best for Apple Users: Keynote

Simple to use. 

Apple Pencil support. 

Cloud based as well as app based.

App is only on Apple devices.

Keynote is Apple's direct competitor to Microsoft PowerPoint and it's a great alternative, especially if you're a Mac user. With app support for iOS and Mac, it takes seconds to get started. Alternatively, PC users can use Keynote via the iCloud website and easily work across multiple devices. 

One of the best features is the ability to use the Apple Pencil on an iPad to create diagrams or illustrations making it great for skilled artists. As well as that, Apple provides plenty of convenient templates for personal and professional projects. 

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Create your presentation

Writing tone, number of slides.

AI presentation maker

When lack of inspiration or time constraints are something you’re worried about, it’s a good idea to seek help. Slidesgo comes to the rescue with its latest functionality—the AI presentation maker! With a few clicks, you’ll have wonderful slideshows that suit your own needs . And it’s totally free!

Generate presentations in minutes

We humans make the world move, but we need to sleep, rest and so on. What if there were someone available 24/7 for you? It’s time to get out of your comfort zone and ask the AI presentation maker to give you a hand. The possibilities are endless : you choose the topic, the tone and the style, and the AI will do the rest. Now we’re talking!

Customize your AI-generated presentation online

Alright, your robotic pal has generated a presentation for you. But, for the time being, AIs can’t read minds, so it’s likely that you’ll want to modify the slides. Please do! We didn’t forget about those time constraints you’re facing, so thanks to the editing tools provided by one of our sister projects —shoutouts to Wepik — you can make changes on the fly without resorting to other programs or software. Add text, choose your own colors, rearrange elements, it’s up to you! Oh, and since we are a big family, you’ll be able to access many resources from big names, that is, Freepik and Flaticon . That means having a lot of images and icons at your disposal!

How does it work?

Think of your topic.

First things first, you’ll be talking about something in particular, right? A business meeting, a new medical breakthrough, the weather, your favorite songs, a basketball game, a pink elephant you saw last Sunday—you name it. Just type it out and let the AI know what the topic is.

Choose your preferred style and tone

They say that variety is the spice of life. That’s why we let you choose between different design styles, including doodle, simple, abstract, geometric, and elegant . What about the tone? Several of them: fun, creative, casual, professional, and formal. Each one will give you something unique, so which way of impressing your audience will it be this time? Mix and match!

Make any desired changes

You’ve got freshly generated slides. Oh, you wish they were in a different color? That text box would look better if it were placed on the right side? Run the online editor and use the tools to have the slides exactly your way.

Download the final result for free

Yes, just as envisioned those slides deserve to be on your storage device at once! You can export the presentation in .pdf format and download it for free . Can’t wait to show it to your best friend because you think they will love it? Generate a shareable link!

What is an AI-generated presentation?

It’s exactly “what it says on the cover”. AIs, or artificial intelligences, are in constant evolution, and they are now able to generate presentations in a short time, based on inputs from the user. This technology allows you to get a satisfactory presentation much faster by doing a big chunk of the work.

Can I customize the presentation generated by the AI?

Of course! That’s the point! Slidesgo is all for customization since day one, so you’ll be able to make any changes to presentations generated by the AI. We humans are irreplaceable, after all! Thanks to the online editor, you can do whatever modifications you may need, without having to install any software. Colors, text, images, icons, placement, the final decision concerning all of the elements is up to you.

Can I add my own images?

Absolutely. That’s a basic function, and we made sure to have it available. Would it make sense to have a portfolio template generated by an AI without a single picture of your own work? In any case, we also offer the possibility of asking the AI to generate images for you via prompts. Additionally, you can also check out the integrated gallery of images from Freepik and use them. If making an impression is your goal, you’ll have an easy time!

Is this new functionality free? As in “free of charge”? Do you mean it?

Yes, it is, and we mean it. We even asked our buddies at Wepik, who are the ones hosting this AI presentation maker, and they told us “yup, it’s on the house”.

Are there more presentation designs available?

From time to time, we’ll be adding more designs. The cool thing is that you’ll have at your disposal a lot of content from Freepik and Flaticon when using the AI presentation maker. Oh, and just as a reminder, if you feel like you want to do things yourself and don’t want to rely on an AI, you’re on Slidesgo, the leading website when it comes to presentation templates. We have thousands of them, and counting!.

How can I download my presentation?

The easiest way is to click on “Download” to get your presentation in .pdf format. But there are other options! You can click on “Present” to enter the presenter view and start presenting right away! There’s also the “Share” option, which gives you a shareable link. This way, any friend, relative, colleague—anyone, really—will be able to access your presentation in a moment.

Discover more content

This is just the beginning! Slidesgo has thousands of customizable templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint. Our designers have created them with much care and love, and the variety of topics, themes and styles is, how to put it, immense! We also have a blog, in which we post articles for those who want to find inspiration or need to learn a bit more about Google Slides or PowerPoint. Do you have kids? We’ve got a section dedicated to printable coloring pages! Have a look around and make the most of our site!

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