Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

Coping with online presentations 157 
others to download so they can annotate them for their notes. You 
might even be asked to use online “polling” software for interac-
tivity with the rest of the class. Te result of all this is that you are 
required to be something of a technical wizard all the time you are 
trying to make a presentation. 
QUICK TIP: Explore all the features of your online presentation 
software and practise using it.That way, you will be able to con-
centrate on giving your talk, rather than getting distracted by 
fnding out how to achieve something with the program. 
For many students, there will be group work to complete and 
present. Tis group work can be part of a tutorial session, for ex-
ample. Or it could be a team assignment in which everyone in the 
group is assessed together. When you are all in the same room, 
giving a group presentation is relatively easy. You can all see each 
other, and one of you can step in if they notice one of their col-
leagues is struggling. Equally, being in the same room means you 
can more easily support one another and provide encouragement. 
When you are all in separate places because you are studying on-
line, a group presentation becomes more difcult. You need to 
have practised more when you have to do a group presentation 
online. Not only will you need to think about timings more care-
fully, but also who will operate the slides if you have them or who 
will run the screen share. If you haven’t sorted this out in advance, 
your online presentation will not go smoothly. 
QUICK TIP: For group, presentations make sure that you have 
planned the technical nature of your talk and practised in ad-
vance. Otherwise, it will look disjointed and not seem like a 
single presentation. 
Tere is one other signifcant diference between presenting on-
line and face-to-face. When you are in a room with other peo-
ple, you pick up on their energy. If you are doing well with your 

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