Pear Deck

I chose to use Pear Deck for this week’s readings as a means to illustrate the ways in which technology, with its implied innovative methods for teaching and learning, can center on and replicate the traditions of didactic education and the ways it “inculcates in children a sense of discipline and order” (Kalantzis and Cope 39). Using this tool is an inherently powerful act for the instructor, as she creates and populates the presentation with her expert knowledge and invites students to view and interact with it via an email invitation through GoogleApps. The instructor prompts, limits, and creates opportunities for student interaction in rigid and formulaic ways. I do not mean to insult any of you in using it to take and present notes, but I needed to use and experience it so that I could see aspects of didactic education in action and help deter my use of this method of teaching, learning, and knowledge creation (or lack thereof) in the future.

PearDeck is hosted by or at least connected to Google. Once I chose to begin the program, it asked for access to my basic profile information and informed me that it will add itself to Drive, where it will save and store all of my Decks. If I were to use this with students, I would need to make sure that we all understood what the meant for each of us in relation to the types of information the program would have access to, as well as why it would need or want this information (working toward transparency). Upon accepting its terms, the next screen asks for some personal information regarding my occupation (likely anticipating my needs and uses for the program), and then asks what subject and grade level(s) I teach.

After accepting the Terms of Use and telling the program that I am an English Language Arts teacher in grades 12 and 13+, the Welcome screen suggested potential uses for the program; using PearDeck, I can “send my slides to student laptops during class so students can answer questions and I can see the answers as they enter them” (https://peardeck.com/editor). They suggest that I “use it for quick formative assessments or to launch discussions during class, or to easily send a quick quiz or exit ticket to everyone” (https://peardeck.com/editor/). I’m not sure if these particular uses were generated for me based on the specific information I provided, but I think the use of buzzwords and teacher vernacular like “formative assessment” and “exit ticket” help sell the functionality of the program before I have attempted to use it. There is also a short YouTube video that demonstrates the program in action, promoting its ability to provide interactive content and formative assessment. In my short experience as a high school English teacher, I can attest to the appeal that this sort of tag line has for administrators. I can deliver content that will (we assume) engage students because it is “interactive” and requires them demonstrate their knowledge of the material being presented. I can check for student understanding while presenting information, and I can also gauge student opinions while they remain anonymous.

Students will access the program through the GoogleApps accounts once I share the presentation with them. Users can start from scratch and create their own new slides or import a Google presentation or PDF. The Free accounts will only be able to import five presentations and/or PDFs. The interface and content options are very similar to PowerPoint, as users can add text, images, a bulleted list, or a YouTube video.

With the Free account, there are four types of slides: Normal, Multiple Choice, Free Response: Text, and Free Response: Number. With Free Response: Text, students can respond with either a paragraph or short text. Free Response: Number slides require students to input numbers without a text option. The Multiple Choice slides allow the instructor to ask a question on the slide, then input multiple choice answers; the default setting is three answers, but I added twelve and there does not seem to be a limit to the number you can add (though, because of the nature of the assessment, I doubt you would add more than five). Upgrading to the premium account provides users with two additional templates: a Draggable Slide and Freehand Drawing.

I used the Normal blank slide template and was instantly incensed by the lack of formatting ability. I could not bold or italicize text, change fonts, or manipulate what I was typing. Say what you will about PowerPoint—at least it lets you format text. There was also no text-wrapping feature, which meant I had no idea how the text would appear on the slide when students viewed it. I chose to add text to the first slide, but was unable to add text and insert a picture or bulleted list. Each slide only offers a single functionality. I was unable to edit the parameters of text blocks; text is separate from visuals which is separate from lists. This limitation in organizing and conceiving of relationships between and among information and concepts was maddening. In addition, the presentation quickly became unwieldy and unnecessarily lengthy. I was physically and mentally exhausted a mere three slides into the presentation and that is reflected in its inability to signify the breadth and depth of the reading and the significant, yet nuanced relationships among the types of educational experiences. I think I would need to be physically present while using this in class so that I could supplement the slides with narration to explain the relationships that I was unable to represent with the tool; this limited functionality limits my ability to use this tool in my hybrid courses.

To add an image, Pear Deck requires access to my Drive. Pear Deck will then be able to view and manage the files in my Drive. I did not accept this term and instead Pear Deck required that I use Google to search for images that are free for use under Creative Commons.  The rage continues.

When presenting, a Free account will allow you to utilize Student View, with students joining and viewing the presentation on their own devices, or Projector View, with students viewing the presentation as it is being projected via an teacher’s laptop or desktop.

In sum, I am exhausted and less than thrilled with Pear
Deck, so I welcome you to join in my hate spiral:

www.peardeck.com/join

Student Code: klcbf

Amy’s Notes
on Timeline

Amy’s ability to illustrate how each paradigm overlapped was critical to her notes on
the reading, and Timeline’s capacity to achieve this is a major selling point
for me for future readings. I have only ever used Timetoast and while I
appreciated its ability to populate a single year with multiple events, its
linear construction was problematic and perpetuated the narrative of progress
that I think is important to complicate. The graphics she included in the
timeline seem to be embedded in the content and not simply added or tacked on;
some programs discourage the inclusion of visual elements by only allowing them
to appear in a square, with no capacity to meaningfully alter the dimensions. I
may attempt to use this for my Early American Literature class as a way to
locate and visualize the presence of various authors and historical events.