Presentation assessment specifies one ICT
Assessment wording, both written and verbal, matters.
Consider the difference between these instructions for a presentation assessment:
- Prepare and present a concise, illustrated presentation that summarizes learning on the assigned chapter of the textbook.
- Prepare and deliver a Powerpoint presentation for the class that summarizes the assigned chapter of the textbook.
The examples are similar but the first focuses on the demonstration of learning, and separates that from any specific ICT environment.
The explicit outcome – a concise, illustrated presentation – could be accomplished in many ways.
Assessment instructions can explicitly or implicitly direct learners to work in a specific ICT environment to demonstrate learning when in fact the educator may be unattached to the ICT environment, hoping only to see learners do their best work in an appropriate format.
Presentation assessments can make a lot of learners nervous.
Presentation assessments can be made more accessible when learners choose what ICT and presentation format will work best for them.
Consider explicitly instructing learners to choose an ITC and a format that they are comfortable using. Perhaps offer examples of acceptable presentation formats, but take care to ensure examples remain illustrative, not prescriptive.
- Live, in-class presentations illustrated with PowerPoint, Google Slides, or JamBoard, etc. If learners know one ICT but not another, they can choose to work within a familiar environment and focus on their content, rather than losing hours to how-to problem-solving.
- Prerecorded videos. This option allows a learner to do multiple takes, which might help them to feel confident about their final product. It can also help the presentation viewers have a clearer presentation experience. This option can be particularly helpful for learners with anxiety, learners who stutter or experience physiological responses to stress such as tremors or ticks, learners who experience cognitive slowing or gaps in stressful situations, and for learners who lack confidence in their language skills, but are happy to choose their best take, or edit clips together.
- Live or prerecorded presentations can be illustrated by verbal descriptions. Verbal descriptions may be a more meaningful means of illustration for blind/low-vision learners or neurodivergent learners who find image curation, organization or meaning-making overwhelming or meaningless. Opening up the choice to verbally describe images in their mind, empowers learners to focus on presenting their understanding of the topic, rather than somehow sourcing images they can not themselves use to make meaning or deepen understanding.
The second example – prepare and deliver a Powerpoint presentation – limits learner agency and disables learners who may be unable to operate or effectively demonstrate their learning in PowerPoint. Though the educator might be most familiar with one ICT environment, or think it preferable to others, unless proficiency in that specific ICT is a required learning outcome of a course, the explicit instruction to use PowerPoint is superfluous. It can also be unconsciously ableist.
Presentations create social learning opportunities, but are presenters including everyone?
Consider sharing a video like this one on preparing accessible presentations from Ahead with learners and encourage them to take digital accessibility as seriously as spelling or copyright. The video addresses practices that make slide decks accessible, and explains why a simple act of sharing slides in advance can be a game changer for respecting and engaging learners with disabilities.
