Google Drive: Presentations and Common Core State Standards

Google Drive/Presentations provides a wonderful forum for students to learn and organize information in a variety of ways that meets Common Core State Standards.  In fact, Anchor Standard 5 speaks specifically to the use of presentations in achieving speaking and listening skills.  These skills taught through all aspects of presentation assignments, from gathering information to displaying data and visually representing findings, are vitally important to the future lives of students beyond their school careers.

Google Presentations has many of the same basic functions as seen in other presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint.  The differences come in to play in three key areas of price, sharing abilities and opportunities for collaboration.  One great aspect of this presentation software is that other types of files, such as Power Point, can be quickly converted to Google Docs format and then edited and shared online.

FREE...this is what most teachers love about Google Drive.  Not only is the software free but the file storage as well.  There is also an enormous amount of storage available in cloud format which solves the dilemma of how to store numerous student presentations and digital media over time.  The cloud storage system also can be a teaching tool on the aspects of good organizational skills and how they translate to the professional world.  Files can easily be shared through email or with other Google Drive users.  

Many aspects of Google Presentations also support collaborative learning as defined in Common Core Standards.  Assignments can be easily divided and worked on easily from within and also outside of class.  Slides from classmates can easily be imported and added to the final presentation.Videos can also easily be shared and inserted into slide shows.  Students can use YouTube and other resources to find tutorials, lectures and other types of video to use in their assignments.  One video, "What to do in Just a Few (Google Presentations)", explains how easy it is to use Google Presentations for collaborative classroom assignments.  My "test run" at using the software can be seen here:
 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1aXvvf-jBbHEN-yvqXGXj9WY5x-TX1r10kazyA52ReCA/edit?usp=drive_web#slide=id.p