At Online Educa in Berlin, I picked up a trial copy of YawnBuster, a new product from Harbinger Knowledge Products, the makers of Raptivity. Having just experienced a particularly dire example of near death by PowerPoint (without the angels and bright lights), I was up for this.
YawnBuster is a set of Flash templates that installs as a PowerPoint add-in. It allows you to incorporate structured group activities in your presentations, with the aid of on-screen prompts, scoring and whizzy animation. Most are simple enough ideas, ideal for gauging opinions or checking understanding, while others left me a little confused. It would be good to have a gallery which shows examples of how each template can be used to best effect.
Eight templates come with the basic package, which comes in at $240 ($180 for non-profit, education, government). If Raptivity is any guide, expect to see Harbinger release a whole series of additional packs.
As with any tool, this one can be used or abused. Teachers, trainers and presenters need to be able to choose the right form of interaction for the circumstance and then configure it to make sure it really does the job effectively. However, full marks to Harbinger for giving us the tool and a bundle of ideas. I’m going to give it a try when I present the ‘ten ways to avoid the downturn’ at Learning Technologies in London in January.
Source: Clive Shepherd