In distance learning if teachers can design activities where students create knowledge rich objects in exercises which can be quickly and simply supervised, lessons are more productive, students are more engaged and the marking is much less stressful. This need has brought about a new trend in education, you might call them, "Collaborative slide shows". Simultaneously editing a single shared document all the students are active and the participation of students can be seen as they work, on a single screen. If students are repeatedly working on computers it's nice to add some variety, a little creativity and some fun. There are many wonderful templates to find online but few specifically for IB Biology. I thought it would be good to share some biological ones here. If anyone has something similar and would like to allow other to use it, please do get in touch.

This example is an IB Biology Google slides template which teachers could use as it is, or by changing the first two slides to adapt it to use in another topic. It is designed as a distance learning activity in the HL topic 11.4 on Animal physiology (Gamete formation) there is a short section about the production of gametes by mitosis, meiosis and differentiation.

Spermatogenesis and Oogenesis - sketch and tell activity

Students each produce one slide of a presentation in which they sketch a simple diagram, and the write a few key points about the process. Everyone works simultaneously and it is very easy for the teacher to watch all the slides. Simply select View, "Grid view" from the menu and it's possible to supervise all the slides, live, in one screen. 

At the end of the activity it's useful to make time to present the slides to the class and ask each student to explain their slide. If the teacher prefers students can work in small groups, and edit one slide together.

To be able to share the slide set with a class, click the link to the Sketch and tell Gametogenesis Google presentation, click; File, Make a copy, All slides.  Then the presentation is copied into your own Google drive and you can share a link with your students. Remember to give students editing rights to the slides.

This format is inspired by a template on #Eduprotocols.

I've some other ideas for IB Biology Google slides templates including, a great diagram annotating template and a Timeline template which is a nice approach to use when describing a biological process which follows a pathway. I used this recently in a class looking at the menstrual cycle. The Timeline Google slides can be found here. Look out for more of these over the next few weeks.