Not Your Mother’s Slideshow: Rethinking Digital Presentations with Pear Deck

With the advent of Microsoft Powerpoint in the nineties, digital slides became ubiquitous as the go-to method for presenting information to live groups, in both the corporate and education sectors. As educational models move away from lecture, and towards interactive, student-directed learning, new tools are emerging in educational technology to transform delivery of content. This case study will discuss Pear Deck, an extension offered for G-Suite’s Google Slides application, as well as Microsoft PowerPoint Online.

Active Learning

“Well-designed lessons require students to be active (not passive), induce student engagement (not disengagement), and have criteria-based assessment” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017, p. 269). Some of the biggest drawbacks with using a slide deck are the tendency to pack it with too much and/or poorly formatted text, and the use of the deck by the teacher as an outline for their lecture, which sometimes becomes verbatim reading; “Death by PowerPoint” has become a well-known phrase in the corporate world. Add in a generation of students who have grown up with constant immersion in digital entertainment and social media, and you have a recipe for a room full of apathetic learners (Berk, 2012). As an easy-to-access browser extension, Pear Deck takes this stereotypical presentation experience and elevates the potential for engagement. With a few clicks and edits to Pear Deck’s built-in templates, teachers now have the ability to insert interactive functionality into their existing slides. In a slideshow that is either teacher- or asynchronously student-paced, elements such as polls, draggable objects (e.g., map markers), text boxes (for responses or questions), and drawing ability give the students an opportunity to immerse themselves in new concepts on the spot, versus simply receiving information (“Logic Model,” n.d.). Processing and critical thinking become embedded in the lesson rather than existing as a culminating activity.

Formative Assessment

With Pear Deck, on-the-fly assessment by the facilitator becomes an integral part of the lesson. By giving students the ability to respond to slides on their own devices, teachers can evaluate whether understanding is taking place and who may need extra support. Stacey Roshan writes, “I can monitor individual needs at the same time I am looking at the overall class analytics ... If most of the class chose an incorrect multiple-choice answer, this can be a wonderful opportunity to talk about why so many students chose the wrong response” (2016, para. 4). Teachers may then adapt their lesson to provide feedback and reinforce any areas of weakness before moving on. Data can be collected through the use of multiple-choice questions, number lines, as well as hand-drawn and open-ended responses (Pear Deck, n.d.). Likewise, interactive technology tools such as Pear Deck offer the flexibility to differentiate instruction and increase motivation in children with learning challenges (Hoffman & Ramirez, 2018).

Social-Emotional Learning

Reiser and Dempsey (2017) cited as one of the core principles of motivation the belief that one has the ability to succeed. In a 2018 survey of young people by Microsoft, close to half prioritized social-emotional skills as a crucial element in personalizing their own learning (Holzafpel, 2018). Pear Deck recognizes the connection between classroom climate and learning by embedding options for checking on students’ mental needs. For example, a slideshow may begin with a template posing a question as simple as “How are you feeling today?” with a series of faces from which to choose. Other personalized features include a “time lock” for students to notify the teacher that they need a bit longer to process, draggable indicators for stress level, and open response to share opinions or concerns (“Logic Model,” n.d.). Anonymity in responses provides a blanket of security to students who may not be otherwise comfortable allowing themselves vulnerability, or may feel self-conscious about incorrect responses to assessment of skills.

Conclusion

By utilizing a combination of interactive learning, ease of formative assessment, and intentional social-emotional awareness, and its ease of integration into existing slide resources, Pear Deck is an ideal tool for engaging 21st-century learners.

References

Berk, R. A. (2012). Top 10 Evidence-Based, Best Practices for PowerPoint® in the Classroom. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, 5(3), 1–7.

Hoffmann, M. M., & Ramirez, A. Y. (2018). Students’ Attitudes toward Teacher Use of Technology in Classrooms. Multicultural Education, 25(2), 51–56.

Holzapfel, B. (2018, May 24). How can technology empower the Class of 2030? Microsoft Education Blog. https://educationblog.microsoft.com/en-us/2018/05/technology-empower-class-of-2030/

Logic Model. (n.d.). Pear Deck. Retrieved August 17, 2020, from https://www.peardeck.com/efficacy

Pear Deck. (n.d.). University of South Alabama. Retrieved August 17, 2020, from https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/ilc/peardeck.html

Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. (2017). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (4th Edition) (What’s New in Ed Psych / Tests & Measurements) (4th ed.) [E-book]. Pearson. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780134237039

Roshan, S. (2016, August 12). Addressing diverse student needs using Pear Deck student-paced. Medium. https://medium.com/pear-deck/addressing-diverse-student-needs-using-pear-deck-student-pace-4eb066a400b7