Google Slides is a collaborative presentation tool: build, edit, and present together in real-time.
🔍 What does it do?
Google Slides is a web-based presentation app that lets pupils create professional-looking slideshows. Slides is built for collaboration. Multiple pupils can work on the same slide deck at the exact same time, making it a “go-to” tool for group projects and class-wide contributions.
🎓 Why is it useful?
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Real-Time Teamwork: Every pupil in a group can have their own assigned slides within one file. They can see each other’s updates live, which encourages peer support and collective effort.
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Automatic Cloud Saving: No “Save” button required. All changes are instantly synced to the pupil’s Glow Google Drive, so work is never lost.
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Compatibility: Slides works on any device. A pupil can start a presentation on their school iPad and finish it on a home laptop just by logging into Glow.
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Simplified Tools: The interface is clean and intuitive, focusing on the core elements of a great presentation: text, images, shapes, and basic transitions.
⚙️ How does it work?
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Launch: Open the Google Slides app on your iPad or login to Google Slides on your internet browser.
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Sign In: Use your Glow email (e.g., gw15smithjohn@fa.glow.scot) and use your normal Glow password.
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Create: Tap the ‘+’ icon and select ‘New presentation’ or ‘Choose template’ (great for school reports and science projects).
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Insert Content: Use the menus at the top of the screen to add Text, Images, Shapes, and Lines.
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Present: Tap the ‘Play’ icon at the top to present directly from your iPad to a classroom screen via Apple TV.
- Classroom: If using Slides with Google Classroom you can directly create an assignment that is based in Slides by going to ‘classwork’ > ‘+create’ > ‘assignment’ > ‘+create’ and selecting Slides. From there you can choose whether learners can view the Slide deck, edit it as one group or make a copy for each student. If you want to add a scaffolded Slide deck with information or instructions already in it, it is the same process but instead of clicking ‘+create’ as the last step, click ‘upload’ and choose the Slide deck you have already made to support learners.
🚀 Beyond the Basics
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Group Anthologies: Create one “Class Book” slide deck. Assign each pupil a single slide to write and illustrate a short poem or character description. By the end of the lesson, the class has a shared digital book.
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Data Presentations: After collecting data in Google Sheets, pupils can copy their charts and paste them into Slides to explain their findings to the class.
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Collaborative Lab Reports: A lab group can share one deck. One pupil inserts photos of the experiment, another types the method, and a third writes the conclusion.
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Interactive Choice Boards: Teachers can create a “Menu” slide where shapes link to other slides in the deck. Pupils tap a topic to jump straight to that information.
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Accessibility Check: Use the ‘Speaker Notes’ area for pupils to script their presentation. This helps those who might be nervous about speaking or need extra prompts during their turn.
💡 Top Tips for the Free Version
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App vs. Browser: The iPad app is perfect for adding content and basic editing. For advanced features (like adding YouTube videos or detailed theme editing), open Slides in Safari and “Request Desktop Website.”
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Grid View: Tap the icon in the bottom left that looks like a four-square grid. This shows every slide in the deck at once – perfect for a teacher to quickly see which pupils are working on which slides.
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Offline Mode: If working out of wifi range (perhaps in the school playground), tap the ‘three dots’ on your file in the main menu and toggle ‘Available offline’. Your edits will sync back to Glow as soon as you reconnect.
