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Week of PowerPoint (1) - The iPad App

PowerPoint: the go-to presentation tool in most classrooms. 

It’s a favourite with a lot of teachers, it does everything you need it to and it’s easy to use. Over the last year PowerPoint has undergone quite a few updates, and added in lots of new features to help in the classroom. In case you missed anything, this week I’m going to round up a few of my favourite additions in a blog post series ‘The Week of PowerPoint’. 

I’m going to kick off the series by introducing you to the PowerPoint iPad app. It’s been around a while and most of you will have it installed on your iPads - but do you use it? Granted, it’s difficult to build a whole presentation with text and images on the iPad version, however as a tool to just display presentations you already have, it’s definitely a game changer. 

When presenting a presentation from the iPad app you can use your finger as a pointer to focus on key areas, you can draw with your finger directly on the slides and navigate through your slides whilst standing anywhere in the room. 

Here’s how: 

1. Make sure you have the PowerPoint app installed on your iPad. You will also need to be set-up with AirServer so you can mirror what is on your iPad screen onto the big screen.  

2. Open a presentation you already have in the app. If you save all of your files in Google Drive, the easiest way to do this is by finding the file in the Drive app > open the options menu by clicking the three dots > Open in > Copy to PowerPoint. Once the presentation is open in the PowerPoint app, then save a copy to the iPad. 

3. Put your presentation into Presenter mode by clicking the Play button at the top or selecting Slide Show > From Start

4. To use the Pointer - simply press and hold on the screen to display the pointer and then move it around whilst pressing onscreen

5. To draw on the slide click along the top and select the Pen. You can also change the pen colour and size using the Pen Settings icon

6. To navigate through the slides simply press to the left or right of the screen
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