Using images and short text to reinforce vocabulary in the classroom.
Community Review for Haiku Deck
My Take
Although I’ve only just started using Haiku Deck I feel as though the usability has already proven beneficial. Using the photo search tool was convenient when looking for quick visuals to support vocabulary. I also feel a sense of relief knowing these photos are pulled from the creative commons and the source is automatically noted on each slide. Users can also allows upload their own photos. It’s template and layout options might seem limiting, but in many ways this keeps focus on the content and purpose of the presentation, rather than it’s appearance. However, if you are concerned with your presentation’s appearance, with Haiku Deck there is no need to worry. The layout and theme presets allow users to create professional, attractive presentations without much effort. Haiku deck also makes it easy to share your presentations. I’m excited to try the “Share to Google Classroom” feature in the near future. When working with the site I did discover some issues with the auto-save feature. It would appear that in some browsers this feature works better than in others. So far I’ve had fewer issues working in Chrome. Haiku Deck has quickly become my go-to tool for whole-group presentations. With this site I am capable of creating professional, effective presentations in an efficient time frame.
How I Use It
I was recently introduced to Haiku Deck as an alternative to more common presentation tools such as PowerPoint, Prezi, and Google Slides. In some ways Haiku Deck is very limiting, especially if you’re trying to create a long, in-depth presentation. The tool limits you to one image per slide and limits the amount of text you can add. You also have little choice in formatting. However, the ultimate goal of the Haiku Deck is to “keep it simple”. As an elementary art teacher, I use the beginning and end of my classes to review art vocabulary that relates to our current unit. Because of time constraints these presentations must be short and to the point. The simple nature of Haiku Deck allows for quick but meaningful whole-group discussion. The powerful images and short phrases play off of each other to reinforce these key concepts. I created a 9-slide presentation to introduce the art element of line to my kindergarten students. On each slide I put a different photograph and the same 7 words: “What kind of lines do you see?”. Using only 9 photos and one simple question, my students were able to identify a variety of lines in a number of different contexts. When presenting with this tool, I have found that simply hitting play moves through the slides too quickly. Manually navigating from one slide to the next worked better in my classroom allowing for a short discussion at each slide.