iEARN Guide

M8: Presenting Student Outcomes

Presenting Student Outcomes

As previous modules have indicated, a critical component of project based learning is the creation of final products. These final products provide a means for students and teachers to assess completed work, reinforce learning outcomes, and reflect on the process. And, as students increasingly discover and practice using various technology and media tools to share their work with an authentic audience, they are able to make real world connections that make an impact at home and abroad. This module will provide you with examples of various methods and platforms for presenting student work to audiences in local and global communities.

WHY SHOULD STUDENTS PRESENT FINAL PRODUCTS?

Many interesting projects can fail to make a lasting impression because inadequate attention and planning was dedicated to the project’s final product and presentation. BIE often reminds teachers doing PBL that if a project does not have a final product worth sharing beyond the classroom, it is not a project worth doing. In fact, the goal with any project is to create and share a final product that makes a meaningful contribution and allows students to multiply the impact of their learning among a larger audience.

When presenting final products to an audience, students engage with the material in new and meaningful ways. They experience a sense of ownership and pride in the work they have done and the final product they have created. Students become teachers when they present for others, which reinforces concepts and skills they learned throughout the project. Presentations also allow students to prepare and practice how to communicate information effectively as well as inspire collaboration and cooperation among their audience. Fielding questions and responding to feedback allows students to analyze their project work more carefully, from various perspectives, and to learn how to articulate the ideas and decisions made throughout the project. As a result, students develop 21st century skills and global competencies that are necessary for academic and career success. Presenting final products may also serve to raise awareness about various issues and help students obtain additional support for their project work by way of publicity, funding, and access to materials, equipment, experts, etc.

Types of Project Presentations

Student products can take many different forms. They may include magazines, creative writing anthologies, websites, letter-writing campaigns, reports to government officials, art exhibits, workshops, performances, fundraisers, and many more examples of youth taking action as part of what they are learning in the classroom.

The type of presentation that your students choose will depend on the final product and their audience. For example, if students’ final products include a strong visual element such as photo-essays, murals, artwork, or videos, consider a school or community exhibit or screening to display their work. If the final product is a compilation of written works, such as essays, poems, stories, or articles, consider sending select pieces to a school or local newspaper or publishing online on a blog or website.

In today’s classroom, more students are utilizing various technology tools at multiple stages of the project, including the final product presentation. As reviewed in Module Six, there are a number of tools available that allow students to integrate visual, auditory, and interactive elements in order to create more dynamic and engaging presentations. If students are presenting their work to a live audience, such as parents, local experts, or a younger group of students, tools that integrate text, photo, and video such as Prezi, Animoto, and Timeglider, can make a presentation more engaging. If students are sharing their work virtually with multiple audiences, video-conferencing tools, such as AdobeConnect, Blackboard Collaborate, or Skype can help them connect in real-time.

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tips Project Snapshot

In the One Day in the Life project, students share photos, videos, writings, and illustrations to tell the story of their daily life. Youth make cross-cultural comparisons on aspects of typical days, like going to the market and sports, and special days, such as holidays and birthdays in their life.

Final product:   Students from around the world shot and collected photos documenting their daily lives.

Presentation:    A group of students in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts held an exhibition at a local art gallery to display their photos and photos from their peers around the world.

Audience:   Local community members including parents, other teachers and students, and art lovers in the community attended the exhibition.

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PRESENTING TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

Classrooms that participate in online global projects have an opportunity to work collaboratively across cultures to explore and address issues that matter to them. As the project comes to a close and students complete their final products, they have an opportunity to share and present these products to both local and global audiences.

In the iEARN Collaboration Centre, students can post their completed work in online project forums and receive feedback from fellow collaborators as well as other interested peers worldwide. In addition to presentations that are shared online in the iEARN Collaboration Centre, students can also participate in local, regional, and international events and gatherings throughout the year to share and exhibit their project work and final products. Students might present products in real-time either virtually or face-to-face. The following are a few virtual and face-to-face opportunities for students to present their work to global peers:

  • iEARN International Conference: Annual conference that typically brings together teachers and students from more than 40 countries to share their project work and what they have learned about technology, global issues, and working collaboratively.
  • Global Education Conference: Virtual conference that takes place via Blackboard Collaborate for educators and students to present ideas, projects, and examples related to global connections and education.
  • YouthCaN Conference: Youth-led conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where student groups from around the world present their project work on environmental topics both face-to-face and virtually.
  • Natural Disaster Youth Summit: Annual conference where youth meet face-to-face and virtually to present how they are working to utilize information and communication technologies to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

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PREPARING STUDENTS AND AUDIENCES FOR PRESENTATIONS

It is important to prepare students well in advance of their presentations so they have a clear understanding of the expectations. First and foremost, make sure that all logistical considerations have been coordinated and confirmed before presentation day. You may wish to create a presentation day checklist with students to ensure that all details are covered beforehand. Your checklist can include preparing materials, testing equipment, arranging the space, and preparing the audience and presenters.

Spend some time with students and ask them to consider the audience and prepare themselves accordingly. If students are presenting to a younger audience, they may need to prepare simple explanations, include more photos and videos, and think about how to include interactive elements in their presentation. If students are presenting to local experts, they should be prepared to share
evidence, resources, and in-depth explanations to support their project work. Also remember to prepare your audience. If the audience is to do more than listen passively, explain expectations and prepare them in advance with presentation objectives or participation guidelines as necessary.

snapshot Project Snapshot

In the YouthCaN project, youth clubs and classes share an interest in studying and protecting the environment. Activities such as local hikes, community clean-ups, explorations of the environment, and investigations of environmental topics, conferences and workshops are all youth-directed.

Final product:   Youth around the world created final products that included skits, videos, demonstrations, and workshops to address marine life and water issues related to the 2013 YouthCaN theme “Helping Underwater Environments.”

Presentation:   Youth presented their final products at the 2013 YouthCaN Conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Students from Indonesia performed a skit about protecting their coral reefs while students from New York shared a video and PowerPoint presentation about their water-testing project. Several groups joined the conference by Skype to present their studies on local water issues.

Audience:    Elementary, middle, and high school students from around New York City, student groups from other countries, local science experts, museum staff, and local environmental organizations attended face-to-face and virtually.

 

tips BIE TIPS FOR STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
  • Have each student individually answer at least two questions about his or her work, with no help from teammates.
  • Ask a student to answer a question about what another student has presented.
  • Tell students that you may call on any one of them to deliver any
    part of the presentation so they will each need to be prepared

–Adapted from BIE PBL Starter Kit

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NEXT STEPS

In this module you have learned more about various methods, tools, and platforms that students can use to share final products among diverse audiences locally and globally. In the next module you will learn more about tools and resources you can use to evaluate what students learn during their collaborative project experience.

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