Scott Simkins
Engaged and Active Student Learning
Creating Narrated PowerPoints
Moving the lecture out of the classroom and online can be done by digital video uploaded into a learning management system or to a private YouTube site; it can be a classroom lecture recorded with a program like Panopto, but I like the narrated PowerPoint because it's fairly easy and offers a lot of creative possibilities.
My first narrated PowerPoint, seen here, is a six minute overview of the beginnings of writing for my World Literature before 1600 classes. It's not intended to compete with a Ken Burns documentary, but rather to introduce key concepts the students can apply to the earliest texts they examine together in their groups during class.
You will probably want to have a script, regardless of how many times you may have delivered your lecture in class, to ensure concision, to time your transitions, and to reduce the number of awkward pauses. Perhaps most importantly, the presentation should have a narrative thread, and so, just as with an essay, transition words and phrases will help students move from one slide to the next and help their retention.
I'd recommend relying on voiceover and visuals to communcate information, keeping text to a minimum. High contrast colors and sans-serif fonts will make reading easier, and since most of our students seem to use smartphones to access their online material, I use boldface and try to keep images large.
When you're ready to record, you'll find the "Record Slide Show" button under the tab for Slide Show. Be sure to save your work when you're done, and if you save/convert it to a media file it will be accessible through a wider range of devices rather than saving it as a PowerPoint Show.