First let me explain what Pecha Kucha is. Pecha Kucha is a presentation program that allows you to create a 6 minutes and 40 seconds presentation. The presentation is divided into 20 slides that are displayed for 20 seconds each. The original format was designed by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham. They came up with the program to help shorten their fellow architect presentations.
As I researched Pecha Kucha, I also discovered something called, “Pecha Kucha Nights.” One of the great things about Pecha Kucha nights is the fact that anyone can present and the goal is for the presenters to present on something they love. These Pecha Kucha nights occur in over 500 cities around the world, including Cincinnati.
On the Pecha Kucha website I also discovered they had a “Kids Channel,” which featured Pecha Kuchas created by children.
As I was viewing the variety of videos on the Kids Channel, I couldn’t help but to think of ways I could use this with my students. In education, we aim to teach our students 21st century skills that will help them in their future. There are several potential careers, for our students, that would require them to present information. Pecha Kucha is a great alternative to using something traditional like PowerPoint. There are several benefits to using Pecha Kucha with your students, one of which is the fact that it makes students hone in on the main point they are trying to get across. Along with helping students get to the point of their presentation, Pecha Kucha also allows them to express creativity. Here is a great website that has tips to using Pecha Kucha with your students: http://remixhumanities.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/pecha-kucha-in-the-classroom-tips-and-strategies-for-better-presentations/
My final answer to the question above would be YES Pecha Kucha. This program has so many advantages, I can’t imagine not using Pecha Kucha with my students in the future. I look forward to encouraging my students to select this presentation format, especially for TedXYouthday.
Are you ready to use Pecha Kucha in your classroom?
I like the idea of Pecha Kucha when using it in context. Obviously there are going to be times when something like a Google Presentation would need to be used - if you want to talk about a slide for more than 20 seconds! I do like the idea of students only having a set amount of time to complete the project. It teaches them to get to the point and only talk about the important stuff! Some pretty good examples from the students out there. I'd be interested to see what our students could come up with in a format like this.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to have to try one in my elementary class too. At the end of this past year, I tried having the kids create a google presentation and was truly worried that they wouldn't understand how to make one or would need hand-holding the entire way...I couldn't have been more wrong! The kids took complete control of their design and content and created incredible presentations. Sometimes, I think that teachers have more fear of introducing something new than kids will when learning it. We have to let them try and let ourselves be surprised at their work.
DeleteI agree, Christian. This tool would be especially useful in a middle school classroom, where many students are SO scared to speak in front of their peers. This "time limit" would probably put a lot of kids at ease, just knowing they only need to talk for 20 seconds!
DeleteI agree that there probably would be a time when you would have to use google presentation or something similar because of the time constraint with Pecha Kucha. However, I think that we should always keep in mind one of the main things that Pecha Kucha forces us to do. It forces us to not put a bunch of text on one slide. It's primarily forces you to put a quick hitting image, and I think that is important for whatever presentation tool we use. The slide should be powerful and eye catching. People, including me, often put to much wording on a slide. We try to put all the information we plan on saying into words and that is not best practice regarding presentations.
DeleteWe've all been to a presentation that we felt could have been much shorter, and PechaKucha seems to provide a great solution to that! I have never tried it, but will in a few minutes (Cloud webinar group, here we go!) and I am excited to see the options available. From the look of the sample presentations, PechaKucha can be very visual- and there are so MANY kids who learn that way, especially in our 21st century environment where everything is instant gratification- what a perfect presentation maker to market!
ReplyDeleteYour comments are the first thing that I thought as well. I can think of sitting through presentations where the speaker would not get to the point. As everyone has stated, this would be a great resource in the classroom.
DeleteI love the idea of helping kids to determine the main idea. This presentation site seems to offer a unique spin on traditional presentations. The 20 second time limit forces kids to determine what is essential to their presentation and what can be cut. I don't believe that this would work in all situations, but there is definitely a place for this type of learning.
ReplyDeleteThe things students would learn by doing some presentations in this format would definitely help them in some real world situations. For example, even when developing websites and web content, you have to be aware of screen space and make sure everything is "clean." Anytime a student learns how to filter the need-to-know from the good-to-know, I think that's a great skill to develop!
DeleteI completely agree that this will not work in all situations. As I mentioned before, I am worried that some of my students will use this as a way to not work as hard. However, for those students who try to put everything under the sun in the presentations this will really help them narrow their focus to the most important points.
DeleteI REALLY like the idea of having students use this style of presentations. Often students just don't know where to start when it comes to condensing information into a presentation. This is a great tool for helping students develop a main idea, and prevents them from rambling (or really, anyone who uses the tool)!
ReplyDeleteI have not used Pecha Kucha in my classroom at this point but can see how it could be useful for those who go into detail about every little thing. By having them limiting themselves to 20 slides to just 20 seconds each it really does help them narrow their talking points.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, teaching special education I often have student that don't give enough information. This might not be the best tool for them depending on what we are trying to accomplish. I think like with any technology it can be very useful depending on how it's being used.
I think Pecha Kucha is definitely an interesting concept. I like that it makes whomever is presenting get right to the point. It also makes it so you can't include a bunch of text on a slide. That is one of the things that is my biggest pet peeve with any type of powerpoint presentation.
ReplyDeleteYou mean putting 200 words on each slide, and reading them off is not a good presentation? Come on Jay- maybe we can train our administrative staff on this and have only 6 minute in service presentations?
DeleteAndy, Ha! I love it. And I agree. One year (maybe three years ago) we did some pd for admin on "death by powerpoint" and had them all create PechaKucha presentations. Perhaps we need to do this again... :0)
DeleteAt first I thought it sounded like one of my daughter's Pokemon collector cards- Pecha Kucha has no weakness and 10x Energy! Fortunately, I saw a practical, well planned, articulate, professional way to teach presentation. Constantly trying to help my students reach the level of a true professional, college student- this technique is a great vehicle!
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