Page 20 - 20 Questions about PowerPoint in the Virtual Classroom

20 Questions about PowerPoint in the Virtual Classroom

Q 16

Many web conference platforms allow you to display a PowerPoint deck
from your desktop. While that can seem like an easy solution, it comes with
some potential problems. Most presenters want to be able to see their
thumbnails so, instead of putting the PowerPoint into slide show mode,
they display slides in “Normal” mode with thumbnails and taskbars
showing. It’s not a very clean solution. In many platforms, it’s difficult to

have people annotate on a slide when it’s displayed from the desktop. You
are reduced to “showing and telling,” which is not the most effective way to
present information or facilitate engagement and participation.

If your web conference platform allows it, upload the PowerPoint deck. You’ll usually find that the platform
allows you to see your thumbnails (without displaying those to participants). Most platforms give you and your

participants the ability to annotate (type, draw, or stamp) directly on a slide displayed this way. That gives you a
multitude of options for increasing interaction and engagement.

The best time to display your desktop is when you are working on a collaborative document and you want people
to see the edits you are making in real time.

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