The following outlines options being used by Amherst faculty for online students presentations, either asyncronously or syncronously. ATS staff are happy to support you or your students in using any of the strategies below, just email askIT@amherst.edu to get in touch.
Note that online presentations can still be collaborative- Google Slides is an excellent platform for students to develop a group presentation. See our article Collaborative Class Presentations Using Shared Google Slides for how one faculty member used this process in her class.
Option 1: Students pre-record presentations and share in Moodle.
- Students watch on their own, and synchronous class time can be used for questions and discussion.
- This process can be less prone to technical complications than having students present live in a Zoom session.
Step 1. Students create presentation videos (or narrated slideshows)
Tools & Resources:
- Zoom- Students can start a Zoom meeting with just themselves, and record it. They can share their screen or show slides if needed.
- Kaltura Video Platform- Students can use Kaltura's Express Capture or desktop Kaltura Capture software for recording themselves and/or their screen. Students can access Kaltura through Moodle.
- Powerpoint- Students can create narrated slideshows.
- Google Slides- Students can add audio clips to a Google Slides presentation.
- Quick Tips for Creating Videos
- Public Speaking Tips For Recording Your Presentation
Step 2. Faculty Create a Space in Moodle for Students to Share Videos and/or Slides
To share presentations with the whole class
- If you want everyone in the class to see each other’s presentations, create a Forum. Students can embed their videos in a forum post, or attach their slideshow files.
- We recommend the “single simple discussion” forum type if this is simply for sharing the presentations.
- If you want the students to comment on each other’s presentations in Moodle, choose the default standard discussion type. Each student can have their own discussion thread about their presentation.
- If you have a large class, think about breaking the students into groups for reviewing each other’s presentations.
- For ease of viewing, have the students upload and embed their videos with Kaltura (versus adding them as file attachments).
- Kaltura creates automatic English captions for all videos. It can also caption in Spanish or Chinese, and students can edit the captions if desired.
To share presentations just with the instructor
- If the presentations should only be visible to you, or you want to review them before they are shared with the class, use a Kaltura Media Assignment, or regular Moodle Assignment.
Option 2: Students present live during a class Zoom session.
- If students are sharing slides, faculty will need to enable participant screen sharing. During the meeting, click the Security button on your toolbar and select Allow Participants to Share Screen.
- While this method is fairly straight-forward, there is more room for complications and lost meeting time due to issues with student’s internet connections, their ability to share their screen and start their slideshows, switching between students sharing screens, etc.
- In this scenario we strongly recommend that the students practice hosting a Zoom meeting on their own and sharing their screen, so they can get the hang of it before the presentation. They can record their presentation and watch it afterwards to verify that the screen sharing looked OK.
- If students are sharing videos, or anything with audio that other participants will need to hear, they should be sure to check the boxes for “Share computer sound” and “Optimize Screen Share for Video Clip” when starting screen sharing:Image
