While I do use Google Slides™ to share information with students, my favorite use for Google Slides is collaboration. Create a Google Slides and share with students by giving them edit access. Collaborative Google Slides allow all students to participate rather than relying on a few who raise their hand. Get started with my Google Slides Ask Template linked below.
“I do not use Google Slides to give information, I use them to GET information.”
Using Google Slides for Active Student Engagement
Transform a passive learning activity of presenting slides into active student engagement. Allow ALL students to respond to discussion prompts. Use the Share button in Slides to give students edit access. Students add a slide and put their name in the speaker notes.
Wait Time
Research indicates that teachers often do not wait long enough after asking a question, which can impact student learning and engagement. Mary Budd Rowe’s seminal research on “wait time” found that teachers typically pause for less than 1.5 seconds after posing a question. Increasing this wait time to 3-5 seconds can significantly improve the length and quality of student responses, increase student participation, and enhance overall classroom dynamics (Rowe, 1974; Stahl, 1990).
Student Responses
Using collaborative Google Slides to allow students to respond gives them a chance to have enough time to think about their response. Collaborative Google Slides allows you to see that all students are participating. Additionally you can see when student responses are ready to review.
Present Student Responses
After students have responded, click the “Slideshow button” to share responses. This allows everyone’s thoughts to influence the conversation.
Optional: Use my free Add-on Randomize Slides to shuffle student responses to avoid prioritizing particular responses.
Google Slides Add-on
Randomize Slides
Collects NO User Data
Randomly shuffle slides in a Google Slides™ presentation.
Helpful in classrooms where students collaborate on the same Slides to allow for randomized sharing.
Utilize Version History
Version history is essential when inviting students to collaborate on the same Google Slides. Use the File menu to select “Version history” and choose “Name current version.”
By manually naming the current version you are ensuring that it is easy to get back to the pre-edited version.
Google Slides Ask Template
To help you get started I created a free template you can make a copy of. Use the Google Slides Ask Template:
Using the Template
After making a copy of the template, use the tiny arrow next to the plus icon to add a slide layout.
Blue Question Slide
The blue layout is designed to allow you to easily add a question quickly to the collaborative Google Slides.
Yellow Student Responses
The background color for the student response layout is intentionally contrasting to the question layout. Ask students to “Add a yellow slide.”
Google Slides are multi-media, thus allowing students to add an image to their response to enhance their communication.
Active Student Learning
Using collaborative Google Slides, where students have edit access, can significantly enhance learning, aligning with the findings of a Harvard study on active student engagement. The study found that students learn more effectively through active participation rather than passive listening (Deslauriers et al., 2019).
Key Benefits
1. Active Participation: Collaborative Google Slides require students to contribute content, engaging them actively with the material and improving retention.
2. Enhanced Collaboration and Communication: Students practice collaboration and communication by discussing and building on each other’s ideas, which are essential for deeper understanding.
3. Critical and Creative Thinking: The process of creating and editing slides encourages critical and creative thinking, aligning with active learning strategies that enhance problem-solving skills.
4. Student-Centered Learning: Giving students control over their learning promotes ownership and autonomy, making learning more meaningful.
5. Real-Time Feedback: Collaborative Google Slides allow for real-time feedback, essential for iterative learning and improvement.
6. Integration with the 5 E’s Model: Using Google Slides fits well with the 5 E’s Lesson Plan Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate), facilitating a comprehensive learning process.
By integrating collaborative Google Slides, educators can create a dynamic, student-centered learning environment that embodies the principles of active learning, as demonstrated by the Harvard study.
References
Deslauriers, L., McCarty, L. S., Miller, K., Callaghan, K., & Kestin, G. (2019). Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(39), 19251-19257.
6 thoughts on “Google Slides: Ask and Respond Template”
Just needed to clarify a few things, Alice.
1) Do you ask students to comment whilst you are presenting or after. If they comment during the presentation, do you respond to the comments. This sounds like the kind of interaction I would be interested in but intimidated by!
2) Same for the students. I can imagine you commenting during the drafting process but do you want peers to comment on the work of others at the same time or during the presentation.
Cheers for this idea, btw.
Gerald
The purpose is to be interactive. This is for when you’re discussing and interacting synchronously. You could probably use it asynchronously also.
I love your site! Our middle school is going one to one with iPads next year. I am excited and trying to already us google classroom and all that comes with it:slides, docs, etc. it seems like most of your instructions are for using a desktop. I try it on the iPad and get a little lost? I guess I’m wondering if your students are using computers or iPads. Would there be different steps/instructions I can find for the iPads?
Thanks!!!
Roxie
Yes, Roxie. I am a laptop/Chromebook user. I taught at a 1:1 pad school but my personal device is a Mac and an Acer R 13
I’ve just discovered your AMAZING site (currently reading your book!!) and I’ve got a question about this resource– when would you use the slide discussion vs. the slide ask and respond resource? Both are fantastic, just curious as to which scenarios you’d choose one over the other. Thanks again!
Honestly I use “neither” and “both.” Ha, I keep making them over from scratch each time. Point is to use Slides when you’re having a discussion, it’s a game changer.