Google slide is a powerful presentation tool for teachers . With this tool it has become possible not only to present information to our learners  but also make it look  attractive and  interactive for them. 

Any one with a G-Suite account or a Gmail account has access to Google slides. Google slides are also used to make interactive worksheets and choice boards online.

Choice boards is a hyperlinked (document with links ) document to enable learner to take charge of their own learning . Choice boards are effective way of presenting information to the learners and giving them a choice of activities they wish to do in order to learn about a particular activity .

Choice boards are used in a variety of ways. Example:

To introduce a topic

• Project Work
• Field trip
• Exam revision

So  how do we make a choice board?

#Step 1 –Create a new Google slide project:

The first step is to understand what is it that you want to make your choice board for. Once you are sure about the topic, go ahead and create a google slide to start your project. You can then decide how many topics you wish to include in your project. Give your choice board a name and get started.

#Step2 –Add Text boxes or shapes to give directions to your slide:

After you have decided how many options you wish to give your learners , you can create shape boxes or text boxes of any size , fill it with colour and  For aesthetics , you can make the border  thicker and even insert  icons/images related to the activities. You might also consider numbering the text boxes if there are any steps involved with your choice board assignment.

Add instructions about your choice board informing learners about how they are to proceed with their choice . Example if they have been assigned to complete a project on Conservation of Tigers , then they can be instructed to complete any three assignments out of a choice of 6. Usually choice board contain 9 boxes . You can also include instruction on a separate slide and hyperlink it (Wondering what is hyperlink? read below)

#Step 3 – Insert HyperLink

What is a hyperlink? A hyperlink is when you insert a website link to a webpage or when you link to another slide or page in your Google Slides project. Here’s how to do it:

1. To insert a link to another website, simply highlight the text that needs to be linked or select the shape or image that you wish to link . Then, click on INSERT TAB/ LINK from the menu bar. A box will then appear for you to copy/paste the website URL. Once you select APPLY, the text will automatically be linked to that website. There is a shortcut to do this in the toolbar that looks like an infinity sign. It accomplishes the same task.
   
2. To link to another slide or page in your Google Slides project, ( in case you have your slides running into too many pages) you first need to create all of the slides you will need. Then, go back to your choice board and follow the same instructions from step one EXCEPT instead of entering a URL into the box that appears after you select INSERT/ LINK, you will select SLIDES IN THIS PRESENTATION. When you select that option, all of your slides will appear, and all you need to do is simply select the slide that you would like to link to from your choice board. Why would you want to use this option? This option enables you to link to other slides in your presentation where students can get more information or help to complete the option from the choice board. For example, if one of the options says to “Pick out all the verbs from the passage,” you can create a slide which takes them back to the passage to pick out all the verbs.

This is just one of the ways you can make use of hyperlinks. There are many other ways in which you can make use of this feature

#STEP 4- ASSESSING CHOICE BOARDS

Decide how you want to assess you leaner. If the objective is just to have them select their project and work on their choice of content , then they can simply do this virtually with you or at their own pace. However if you want your learners to be accountable for the choice they have made then you  can ask them to make notes for the same .This enables you to understand their preferences and why they chose what they chose.

There are so many ways choice boards can be used and implemented .You can download the choice board template from our website by clicking on the below link .

Choice Board template for Google Slide