Google Presentations

There is not a huge difference in Google Presentations and Microsoft PowerPoint, but the few differences there are might make people want to look into using Google presentations more often.

Google Presentations

Pros:
Allows users to collaborate on the document online.
Can access the document from any source.
Auto saves
Easy to use.

Cons:
Need an Internet Connection
Few designs/limited template creativity.


Microsoft PowerPoint

Pros:

Does not need the Internet
Ability to take notes on the slides
A lot of slide options

Cons:

Cost money
Not easily accessible by coworkers, friends, teachers etc.
Need PowerPoint to open the slide presentation.





In Grahams chapter 5 we find that google presentations offers the user the ability to make presentations using images, drawings and other graphics that correlate to the guidelines of common core, Common core guidelines for students presentations are "express and listen carefully to ideas, integrate information from oral, visual, quantitative, and media sources, evaluate what they hear, use media and visual displays strategically to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt speech to context and task.”

Not only does google presentations allow students to create beautiful presentation to captivate their audience, it allows them to share those presentations with students, teachers and anyone else. The simplicity of sharing their work online is a huge advantage. During college I always used Microsoft PowerPoint and I cannot remember the amount of annoyances of emailing things to myself to work on it in a computer lab. Google presentations allows you to  have access anywhere. On way I can see how this can be useful is that students can grade their peers without anonymously. You could easily make an assignment where you have to go online and grade the different presentations on content among helping each other as well.

Teachers will find that the simplicity and flexibility of google presentations might be something they favor over Microsoft power point because google presentations is compatible with importing PowerPoint slides into the google program. Google presentations can be implemented into any computer, so if your school is Mac supporters, no problem! If they love Microsoft, no problem!

One issue that teachers and students must be careful of is that when sharing information to make sure that the team is aware of the changes and do not walk into a presentation and the order or material be different.

Over all I like what google presentations has to offer, even though I was a heavy PowerPoint user. Even with the lack of template creativity among some other things, it really is not a factor when the object under the common core requirements is to make sure students can accurate make a PowerPoint presentation. Google Presentations allows you to do that.



Graham, Michael J. (2013-04-23). Google Apps Meets Common Core (p. 72). SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.