Review Overview
A. Instruction - 9
B. Design - 8.4
C. Engagement - 8.6
8.7
FlowVella: A Detailed App for Making Presentations
Summary : An Innovative App for Designing Presentations
FlowVella allows users to create presentations with templates that are already embedded in the app. When first launching FlowVella, users must register using their Facebook login or with an email address, username, and password. Next, FlowVella provides users with a tutorial for using the app. To create a presentation, users must tap the “Lined” button on the top left of the screen and choose the “Create Your Flow” option. Next, users must select the template for their presentation or they may choose the “Blank” option. The template then loads, and users are to tap the first slide to customize it. Users can modify, add, or delete text and images. When finished modifying the first slide, users are to tap the “Done” button on the top left of the screen, and they can then add additional slides by tapping the “+” button on the next page. Users then select a screen layout and can begin modifying it by adding or adjusting text and images. Users repeat this process until their presentation is complete. Once complete, users can share it by posting it to the FlowVella Community or choosing to share it to a private website. To do so, users must select the “My Flows” button on the top of the screen, select the presentation that they wish to share, and choose the option for sharing it. Users can also tap the “Catalog” button on the top of the menu to view presentations made by other users.
Please note: Additional features are available for this app, but they require an in-app purchase to upgrade.
Instructional Ideas
- After reading a text, students can summarize it by creating a presentation with this app. When designing the presentation, the first slide can include the title of the text and its author, and the subsequent slides can each summarize and/or critique a chapter or section of the text. Students can share their presentation by posting a link on a class website.
- Teachers can instruct students about the qualities of effective and ineffective presentations using this app. To do so, teachers can connect their iPad to a projector and pull up presentations made by other users that are posted to the “Catalog” in this app. As a class, they can discuss the quality of the presentation, and guiding questions that teachers can ask include: (1) What do you like about the presentation? (2) What do you not like? (3) Would you “buy” what this presentation is selling? (4) If you could change one thing about this presentation, what would it be? (5) Are the colors and format used in this presentation effective?
- Instead of a traditional research paper, teachers can instead have students create a presentation using this app. Teachers can add a layer to this activity by having students post their presentation’s link to a class website. Classmates will then view the presentation and respond to it with a 3-2-1 organizer. On the organizer, students will list three ideas they learned from the presentation, two questions they still have about the topic, and one idea for further research related to the topic.
- When requiring an oral presentation, teachers can have students create presentations using this app to be used as visual aids.
A1. Rigor | |
A2. 21st Century Skills | |
A3. Conn. to Future Learning | |
A4. Value of Errors | |
A5. Feedback to Teacher | |
A6. Level of Material | |
A7. Cooperative Learning | |
A8. Accom. of Individual Diff. |
B1. Ability to Save Progress | |
B2. Platform Integration | |
B3. Screen Design | |
B4. Ease of Use | |
B5. Navigation | |
B6. Goal Orientation | |
B7. Information Presentation | |
B8. Media Integration | |
B9. Cultural Sensitivity |
C1. Learner Control | |
C2. Interactivity | |
C3. Pace | |
C4. Flexibility | |
C5. Interest | |
C6. Aesthetics | |
C7. Utility |