The impact of technology, especially presentation technology, in education is not bypassed. Presentations have a very special role in education and their positive impact in the process of teaching and learning is not questionable. Today it is common to use PowerPoint presentations in education. Students depend on quality education to survive in today’s competitive global community. You as a teacher are responsible for preparing your pupils for this competitive environment.

Regardless of the objective significance of a particular activity or topic, if your students do not find it sufficiently engaging and interesting, chances are bleak that they will be motivated to expend their efforts. However, if you make the coursework engaging for them by connecting it to their goals and interests, they will be more likely to invest time and effort. You, as a teacher with engaging educational presentations, can make a big difference by influencing your pupils. Educational presentations, by providing you with the scope of including engaging illustrations, go a long way in achieving this objective of student engagement.

Don’t Lecture Your Pupils-Engage!

Do not just lecture your pupils, it is old-fashioned. Include the personal aspect of your knowledge to engage your students. Educational PowerPoint presentations have the scope to accommodate interesting activities to make the coursework interesting. It is of paramount importance to make your students personally and intellectually involve with education. It is only possible if you succeed in bequeathing your own experiences to your students. Educational PowerPoint presentations can successfully give your students a virtual tour of the area they are studying. And, if you succeed in conveying emotional involvement via educational presentations, you will increase the chances of motivating your students to get seriously involved and study.

PowerPoint Presentations are the daily rituals of modern teaching and learning. As educational PPT presentations adopt the approach of two way communication, your students feel involved and important. They promote the significance of self-study and questions. Questioning helps break the ice and build positive student-teacher relations.

Educational PowerPoint presentations are a good way give education a personal touch by virtue of effective communication. PowerPoint presentations provide you with an opportunity to talk to your students and get them involved. They encourage your pupils to participate by making the coursework interesting.

The benefit PowerPoint presentations in academic settings is that they help you engage your students not just through words, but also through powerful visuals. Remember, some students learn better by hearing, but most of them learn better by seeing. Presentations possess the power of engaging students through the visual means. Use PowerPoint with effective PowerPoint backgrounds and relevant visuals and see the difference!

In this article, I will assume that the reader already knows when to use the Spanish present perfect tense. Therefore, the focus of this article is how to conjugate this tense and how to conjugate it with ease. Let’s examine how -ar verbs are conjugated in the present perfect tense:

Practicar (To Practice)

Past Participle: Practicado (Practiced)

Yo he practicado (I have practiced)

tú has practicado (you have practiced)

él ha practicado (he has practiced)

ella ha practicado (she has practiced)

usted ha practicado (you have practiced)

nosotros hemos practicado (we have practiced)

ellos han practicado (they have practiced)

ellas han practicado (they have practiced)

ustedes han practicado (you have practiced)

Now let’s try a phrase or two with this verb:

Pamela ha practicado las letras.

(Pamela has practiced the lyrics.)

Hector ha practicado la natación por mucho tiempo.

(Hector has practiced swimming for a long time.)

Keep in mind, that in the Spanish language, as in the English language, the auxiliary verb haber (to have) must always precede the past participle of the verb. It is important to note that -er and -ir verbs take on a similar pattern when they are conjugated.

Recojer (to pick up)

Past Particple: Recogido (picked up)

Yo he recogido (I have picked up)

tú has recogido (you have picked up)

él ha recogido (he has picked up)

ella ha recogido (she has picked up)

usted ha recogido (you have picked up)

nosotros hemos recogido (we have picked up)

ellos han recogido (they have picked up)

ellas han recogido (they have picked up)

ustedes han recogido (you have picked up)

The student should also be aware that in addition to “to pick up,” this verb can also mean “to collect,” “to gather,” and “to pick.” Here is an example using the verb recojer:

Ella no ha recogido las muñecas del piso.

(She hasn´t picked up the dolls from the floor.)

Here´s an example using the -ir verb “discutir” which means “to discuss,” “to debate,” or “to argue.”

Discutir (to argue, debate, discuss)

Past Participle: (argued, debated, discussed)

Yo he discutido (I have argued)

tú has discutido (you have argued)

él ha discutido (he has argued)

ella ha discutido (she has argued)

usted ha discutido (you have argued)

nosotros hemos discutido (we have argued)

ellos han discutido (they have argued)

ellas han discutido (they have argued)

ustedes han discutido (you have argued)

Here´s an example using “discutir”:

Bobbito no ha discutido con su hermana hoy.

(Little Bobby hasn´t argued with his sister today.)

The range of media available to us today can be seemingly endless, and each type of media allows opportunities to develop presentation ideas. When stuck for a message for a meeting or event, your solution could be in one of the newest of the many forms of media – Social media.

When I talk about social media, this includes sites such as Facebook and MySpace which allow you to see and interact with others online. Social media is an online presence where the content is produced and shared by the users of the media rather than the operators of the system.

These sites incorporate a function where users are able to provide updates about what they are doing and thinking about and users also have the capacity to upload pictures and clips which have caught their attention or interest.

A clip which is widely shared in this way is referred to as having gone Viral. Introducing your presentation through referring to a viral clip or posting from social media establishes a link with those of your audience who had previously been exposed to the clip. It also demonstrates to your audience that you are aware of things happening in the broader community.

There are however things to be aware of in relation to the use of “Viral” media. The first is that the on-line world moves extremely quickly and where clothes might last a season (or more) things that are current and everybody is talking about today can be forgotten in a week or two. There are exceptions such as the audition clip of Susan Boyle which gained such a high and lasting profile in transitioned from social to news media, however for most viral media the shelf life is very short.

Also consider the audience when using social media references. Do you think the majority of the audience are likely to be familiar with social media? If so and you spend too much time describing the media article which they have already seen for themselves, their attention will soon wane.

From the opposite point of view, also be aware of making assumptions. If you introduce your presentation with a reference to a social media clip without enough content or background to explain it, those that have not seen the media item will not understand the reference. In practice it is a balancing act and the successful speaker will need to find a middle point to meet the whole audience.

Another social media platform is Twitter, and no, those posts from people using the site should not be referred to as a twit, rather they are called tweets and provide a very short comment about what the user is thinking.

An interesting function in Twitter is the trend information. Trend data allows users to see what topics and authors are currently popular and this, like the viral clips, provides an insight into what things are of interest to many people at any given time.

Incorporating content that you know is on broad interest is going to increase your opportunities to engage your audience and bring them with you through the presentation journey.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

· Social Media can provide very up to date information on what is of interest in the community
· Use social media that is fresh and recognise it’s generally short shelf life.
· Provide an appropriate amount of context around the social media content, don’t over explain or provide too little background