Sessions

Teaching Presentations Remotely and Engagingly

Presentations are performance art and are meant to be done in person but since the beginning of last year, we have not been able to do so. A speaker, after a good amount of preparation, conveys a message to an audience in an entertaining and meaningful way with limited interaction between the two. Group Discussion (debate) is a hefty benchmark in many communication classes because they allow for a lot of spontaneous (unscripted and with less preparation) interaction and student agency which makes for more meaningful communication. However, the difficulty level is much higher. Aclan & Aziz (2015) found that when students lack the platforms to practice their English in a more meaningful and critical way (as many students do in Japan) that debate is a practical tool for developing oral communication. Presentations can be used to scaffold debate and allow students to create a foundation of information and vocabulary with which they can discuss. Students explore different topics and create presentations for them and then debate while the teacher stands to the side and only steps in when necessary. Additionally, this presentation will show how Zoom as an application was perfectly suited for this task.