MEDIA&PRESENTATIONS:&ADAPTED&FOR&EMERGENCY&REMOTE&TEACHING&&!
Amanda&Yoshida&Kanda!University!of!International!Studies!
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INTRODUCTION&!
My! university! has! a! required! English! course! for! second:year! students,! the!objective! of!
which!is! to! expose! students! to! a! variety! of! forms! of! media! and! encourage! them! to! think!
critically!about!the!form!and!the!message!of!the!medium.!This!paper!will!discuss!a!specific!
assignment,!the!Media!Presentation!(MP),!that!my!students!do!each!semester.!First,!I!will!
describe! what! this! assignment! entailed! pre:2020! pandemic! emergency! remote! teaching!
(ERT),!and!then!I!will!explain!how!I!adapted!the!assignment!for!this!semester.!
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MEDIA&PRESENTATIONS&PRE<2020&PANDEMIC&&&The!MP!is!not!a!required!component!of!the!course,!and!not!all!teachers!include!the!MP!in!
their!course!syllabi.!Those!who!do!include!it!tend!to!approach!it!differently.!Initially,!it!was!
introduced!to!me!as!a!Media!Report!in!which!students!write!about!five!different!pieces!of!
media!throughout!the!semester.!Some!teachers!of!this!course!incorporate!this!report!in!their!
reflective!journals.!Some!teachers!go!further! by!requiring!students!to! choose!one!of!their!
media!reports!and!develop!it!into!a!presentation!for!the!class.!
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In!my!classes,!my!students!write!five!media!reports!in!their!reflection!journals!throughout!
the!semester,!choose!one!media!report!and!develop!it!into!a!presentation.!The!presentation!
must! include! the! following:! introduction,! explanation! of! background! and! content,! clip! of!
media!source!(in!the!case!of!a!video),!question!and!answer!time,!and!discussion!questions.!
Once!the!presenter!has!given!their!presentation,!they!allow!time!for!the!students!to!discuss!
the!content!in!groups.!The!groups!are!then!expected!to!ask!questions!to!the!presenter!about!
the! content,! background,! reason! for! choosing! the! clip,! and! so! on.! Finally,! the! presenter!
provides!three!discussion!questions!and!allows!the!groups!to!choose!one!of!the!questions!to!
discuss,!and!after!some!time,!the!presenter!asks!each!group!to!report!about!their!discussions!
to!the!class.!
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This! presentation! has! some! important! pedagogical! elements.! First,! the! students! must!
research! and! develop!a!presentation!based!on! a!topic!of!their!choice.! After!seeing!an! MP!
demonstration!performed!by!me!at!the!beginning!of!the!semester,!they!are!given!a!schedule!
for!the!semester.!The!schedule!allows!for!three!individual!student!presentations!per!MP!Day,!
which!are!set!apart!from!lesson!content!days.!In!this!way,!I!can!ensure!that!all!members!of!
the!class!have!a!place!on!the!schedule!and!can!prepare!accordingly.!Second,!they!are!given!
a!25:minute!limit!for!the!presentation!and!discussion.!Finally,!they!are!informed!that!they!
will!be!assessed!on!their!presentation!and!discussion!facilitation!skills.!For!the!Q!&!A!portion!
of!the!presentation,!they!must!be!able!to!answer!the!questions!or!to!respond!with,!“I!am!not!
sure!of!the!answer,!but!I!will!research!and!get!back!to!you.”!For!the!discussion!portion,!the!
presenter! is! expected! to! comment! on! and! summarize! the! reports! to! conclude! the!
presentation.!As!their!teacher,!I!am!there!to!provide!support!and!encouragement!as!needed.!
3.	  Media	  Presentations:	  Adapted	  for	  Emergency	  Remote	  Teaching.	  Amanda	  Yoshida.	  Pages	  15-­‐17.	  Literacies	  &	  Language	  Education:	  Research	  &	  Practice,	  2020	  Special	  Section:	  Teaching	  During	  a	  Pandemic.	  English	  Language	  Institute,	  KUIS.

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The!reason!I!enjoy!the!MPs!so!much!is!because!I!feel!they!have!a!true!pedagogical!purpose!
and! are! an! integral! part! of! their! learning! development.! Most! of! the! students! have! never!
presented!alone!before!much!less!facilitated!a!class!discussion.!In!choosing!topics,!they!are!
forced!to!think!about!their!audience!and!the!appropriateness!of!the!topic.!Students!tend!to!
put!time!and!effort!into!these!presentations,!and!I!appreciate!the!opportunity!to!learn!about!
pieces!of!media!that!I!am!not!familiar!with.!
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MEDIA&PRESENTATIONS&ADAPTED&FOR&ERT&&With!the!decision!to!go!online!this!semester,!I!had!to!decide!whether!or!not!to!keep!the!MPs!
and,!if!so,!how!to!adapt!them!to!be!done!either!synchronously!or!asynchronously.!As!they!
are!my!favorite!part!of!the!course,!I!decided!that!I!wanted!to!keep!them.!The!question!was!
how.!
!
I!organized!my!course,!which!has!two!lessons!per!week,!to!have!its!synchronous!lesson!on!
Zoom! in! the! second! lesson! of! the! week.! The! first! lesson! of! the! week! was! reserved! for!
asynchronous!tasks,!such!as!homework,!small!group!work,!and!so!on.!Initially,!I!was!reluctant!
to! attempt! whole! class! presentations! on! Zoom! because! I! worried! about! technical! issues,!
connectivity,! and! students’! anxiety! regarding! performing! for! their! entire! class.! We! were!
advised!to!not!spend!more!than!50%!of!our!class!time!on!Zoom!in!synchronous!lessons,!so!I!
needed!to!spend!that!time!focusing!on!the!coursework.!Instead,!I!decided!to!make!groups!of!
four!students!and!schedule!them!to!come!to!the!asynchronous!lesson!to!perform!their!MPs!
and!participate!in!the!discussions.!
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In! our! orientation! unit,! the! students! and! I! had! made! some! presentations! that! involved!
sharing!slides!and!playing!video!clips.!While!I!could!share!my!screen!for!slides,!I!was!unable!
to!show!video!clips!with!sound.!Despite!this!setback,!I!imagined!that!the!MPs!could!be!done!
similarly!to!how!they!were!done!in!the!classroom!with!the!following!adaptations:!!
1.! Four!students!would!present!their!MPs!in!one!asynchronous!lesson.!!
2.! Each!MP!would!be!limited!to!20!minutes,!including!the!discussion.!
3.! Slides!were!to!be!submitted!to!Google!Classroom!before!the!assigned!MP!day.!!
4.! I!would!control!the!slides!to!ensure!that!the!content!could!be!shared!smoothly.!
5.! For!video:based!media,!students!would!have!to!provide!the!link!in!the!chat!so!that!we!
would!watch!it!individually.!!
6.! I!would!participate!in!the!discussions!with!the!students.!!
7.! I!would!take!notes!and!evaluate!their!presentations!as!usual.!
8.! I!would!invite!other!students!to!attend!class!on!that!day!(attendance!was!optional)!
and!they!would!be!able!to!participate!in!the!discussion!using!breakout!rooms.!
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The!MPs!were!scheduled!to!take!place!for!five!weeks!in!a!row!from!mid:June.!I!was!nervous!
on!the!first!day!of!MPs.!I!questioned!whether!20!minutes!would!be!enough!time!and!worried!
if!I!would!have!enough!energy!to!take!part!in!four!discussions!in!a!row.!I!soon!found!some!
limitations!to!my!plan,!and!made!the!following!adjustments,!which!worked!and!which!I!used!
for!the!remaining!MPs:!
1.! I!could!not!grade!their!presentation! skills!strictly! because! making! eye! contact!and!
gestures!on!Zoom!is!challenging,!and!I!could!not!always!tell!if!they!were!reading!a!
prepared!script!or!not.!

2.! Because! I! was! controlling! the! slides! and! sharing! my! screen,! it! sometimes! worked!
better!if!I!also!pasted!the!video!links!into!the!chat,!but!it!depended!on!the!students.!I!
had!to!be!flexible!about!this.!
3.! For!the!Q!&!A!portion,!I!put!all!students!into!breakout!rooms!and!let!them!discuss!the!
content!and!come!up!with!questions.!Meanwhile,!the!presenter!and!I!chatted!about!
the!topic!in!the!main!room.!
4.! The!presenter!prepared!three!discussion!questions,!but!due!to!time!constraints,!we!
could!only!use!one,!so!I!asked!the!next!presenter!to!choose!the!question.!!
5.! For!the!discussion!portion,!I!had!the!presenter!lead!the!discussion,!which!allowed!me!
to! observe! and! evaluate! his/her! leadership! and! discussion! skills.! These! were!
important!skills!that!we!had!been!incorporating!and!reflecting!on!all!semester!as!part!
of!a!separate!research!project!I!am!involved!in.!
6.! For!the!discussion!portion,!I!turned!off!my!camera!and!just!observed.!This!served!two!
purposes:!it!preserved!my!energy!and!it!allowed!them!to!discuss!more!freely.!
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MEDIA&PRESENTATIONS&FINAL&REFLECTIONS&!
Although!I!really!miss!the!whole:class!atmosphere!of!experiencing!a!piece!of!media!together!
and!listening!in!on!all!the!various!discussions,!I!felt!that!the!adapted!MP!has!some!advantages,!
particularly!regarding!the!discussion!portion.!Never!had!I!observed!their!discussions!as!an!
isolated! group,! and! I! could! provide! feedback! on! students’! strengths! and! weaknesses.! It!
helped!me!understand!what!issues!to!address!in!terms!of!their!roles!as!discussion!leaders!or!
members.!Until!then,!I!had!been!relying!on!their!own!self:reporting!of!their!discussions,!but!
this!gave!me!a!new!perspective.!My!own!observations!include!the!following:!some!groups!
discussed!topics!very!seriously!while!other!groups!giggled!nervously!throughout;!and!while!
some!students!could!comment!on!and!summarize!their!group!members’!comments,!it!was!
clearly!still!a!struggle!for!other!students!to!do!so.!In!addition,!it!also!gave!me!a!chance!to!talk!
to!students!in!small!groups!and!one:on:one!so!I!could!get!to!know!them!better!and!provide!
encouragement!or!praise.!
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The! MPs! were! fun! and! worthwhile! even! though! it! was! tiring! for! me,! and! I! lost! the!
asynchronous! time! to! prepare! lessons,! assess! assignments! or! meet! with! students! who!
needed!extra!help.!The!MP!presentation!in!a!small!group!helped!students!reflect!on!their!own!
presentation!and!critical!thinking!skills,!which!they!wrote!about!in!their!reflection!journals.!I!
plan!to!schedule!the!MPs!in!the!fall!semester!during!the!asynchronous!time!so!as!observe!
their!progress!with!presentation!skills!and!discussion!facilitation.!!
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