Slide+Rocket

Slide Rocket
The name of this website is [|SlideRocket] This web tool was created in 2006 with the intention of being used by businesses. Today, however, individuals and classrooms can also benefit from the tool. It is relatively simple to use. Slide Rocket was created by a team composed of six members, each of which had a specific part in its creation. You can find information about Slide Rocket and its creation team not only on their website's //About// page, but on websites such as Twitter, FaceBook, and YouTube.

Slide Rocket is basically an advanced version of PowerPoint. By using this web tool you can import your own PowerPoints and access them from anywhere. Presentations can also be created online individually, or collaboratively. These presentations can be easily shared and they are also interactive. For instance, if you wanted to add a poll to this presentation, the person viewing it could actually cast their vote for the poll right on the screen. With this web tool you can also instantly search the internet and add content from websites such as Twitter, Flickr, etc. to your presentation. Not that many elementary school students have to be worried about the effectiveness of their presentation outside the classroom, but Slide Rocket does have a feature that allows you to see who is viewing your presentation, and how much time they spend viewing it. This presentation is easy to edit, and it is secure because only specified people are allowed to edit the information on it. This provides security to both students and teachers. One disadvantage is that it is not a free web tool. After a 14 day free-trial, you have to pay to use Slide Rocket. Another disadvantage is that this tool could only be used by older elementary school students; however, teachers of every grade could benefit from its use. Also, with this web tool it is relatively safe, but since students have access to materials from various websites when creating presentations on Slide Rocket teachers will want to make sure the internet is secure and obscene material is blocked. They will also want to make sure students don't use unauthorized pictures, videos, etc. in their presentations.

On the Slide Rocket homepage, there is a very informative tutorial entitled "Take a Tour." You can find it by clicking on the following link [|Take A Tour]

Teachers could use Slide Rocket in a variety of ways: 1. Teachers could create presentations on the internet and share it not only in the classroom but in any environment that had access to the internet. 2. Teachers can be leaders in the classroom, or create a presentation that requires self-directed learning. 3. Teachers can track the effectiveness of presentations and learning experiences. If students do not seem to be benefiting from a specific presentation, or they seem to be having trouble with a concept, teachers can reevaluate their presentation in order to make it better and more helpful. 4. Teachers can collaborate with colleagues to create inspirational, effective presentations. 5. Teachers can also create presentations that provide an interactive learning environment for students and/or colleagues.

Students could use Slide Rocket as an authentic learning tool: Very easily, older elementary school students could use this web tool in a variety of ways to enhance their hands-on learning experience. In groups or individually, students could use Slide Rocket for a reading assignment. They would be required to read a book of their choice and reflect on it. After this, students would be required to create a fascinating presentation that dealt with the book they chose. They could add interactive elements to this presentation in order to make it more interesting and effective. They could then share their presentation with other students (either in their own class or other classes) via the internet. Students would be required to think carefully about the content of their presentation in order to provide a well thought, researched review of their book, and they would need to think creatively about what sort of interactive elements to include in the presentation that were both relevant and interesting. Some scaffolding that would be required would be a Slide Rocket tutorial, which can be found on the homepage. Also, teachers would need to be available to provide extra help to students who did not have access to the internet outside of school (if the project required outside work). Teachers would also need to provide the students with a set of example questions to take into consideration when reflecting on the content of the book they read and what they should include in their presentation. Furthermore, teachers would want to make sure they explain to their students the safe, legal way to get pictures, video, etc. from the internet to use in their presentations.

This review was prepared by Bethany Parker