Engaging an Audience during a Presentation

I am big in attempting to engage an audience during a presentation.  I don't like to be the focus of a lecture.  I'm not egocentric.  Instead, the audience or learners should be able to do what they were meant to do, which is engage with the content being discussed/taught.

I wanted to talk about QikPad, which is a collaborative-online-word-processing tool.  Of course, there is Google Drive and you can share a Google Doc with everyone in the audience, but maybe you have been there and done that.  You want something similar, but slightly different.  Well then, try QikPad next time!

QikPad is an easy way to engage an audience, classroom, or small group in a collaborative document with its own unique URL.  I like how QikPad can be embedded into a blog post like the one below.  Additionally, I like how the document can be exported directly to Wordle to create a word cloud.  Again, a lot of this can be done in Google Drive, but still a cool tool to use when collecting responses or collaborating quickly.

photo credit: Xosé Castro via photopin cc

AnswerGarden - Classroom Response Collection

This is just a cool tool to use when collecting student responses.  Pose a question and allow students to respond.  Then, responses are displayed below the question.  If multiple students respond with the same answer, the response will display the number of people with the same response.  Just hover your mouse over the words to find out how my people came up with the same answer.

Overall, this is just a quick and informal way to check for understanding.  Answer my question about favorite web-based tool or app.  You can do so by typing your answer below or by clicking the link in the previous sentence.

What is your favorite web-based tool or app for the classroom?... at AnswerGarden.ch.