Panel Presentation
This strategy allows students to do a remote presentation together and also lets other students focus on the students presenting without being distracted by other students in the class.
Key drivers around effective learning:
Socially Connected
Peer learning and collaboration
Growth Oriented
Sustained opportunities for practice
The Why
Student group presentations are the culmination of students collaborating together on a
substantive project. These types of projects also develop students’ presentation skills. When group presentations are done in-person, the presenters are often at the front of the classroom with the audience facing them. Zoom’s spotlight feature makes it so that students can present in a similar way and also enables their peers to better focus on the presenters.
The Feature:
Spotlight Participants’ Videos
The spotlight video feature allows teachers to put up to nine participants as the primary active speakers for all participants. When this is set up, participants only see these speakers. To make someone a spotlight speaker, hover over the participant and click on “…” and choose “Spotlight for Everyone.”
The Implementation
Panel Presentation can be implemented anytime a group project is complete. It enables the
students to all present at the same time in the “front” of the virtual classroom. Some things to
consider when implementing panel presentation include:
- Set clear expectations both around how the presenters will present (e.g., have their video on, share their screen when needed, use a second camera as a doc cam to share artifacts, etc.) as well as how peers can participate (e.g., can they use the chat during the presentation, ask questions, etc. or should they wait for the end of the
presentation). - Build in ways for students to interact during or after the presentation that doesn’t interfere with students focusing on the presentation. For example, convey to students whether they can use reactions or send affirmations via the chat during the
presentation. The panel can also conduct a structured question/answer session either
verbally or in the chat or offer their peers the ability to share questions via a
collaborative online document throughout the presentation. - Offer opportunities to practice panel presentations with fun topics so that students feel more comfortable being “in the spotlight” with a more low stakes activity (e.g.,sharing their favorite type of food and why).
Building presentation skills is extremely helpful but also can be intimidating so it is important to practice, give support, and align around structures and expectations early and often for all those involved for it to be successful.
