Presentation Mode

Presentation mode transforms your lesson into a full-screen, slide-like deck for live classroom use. Instead of scrolling through a long document, content is presented page by page with focused navigation and synchronised classroom interaction.

Slide Structure and Pagination

Presentation Mode forms slides exclusively from top-level Heading 1 (# ) blocks and the initial H1 of each Step. Subheadings (## / H2, ### / H3) and interactive widgets sit inside that slide page.

Page breaks (/pagebreak) control paged document printing and PDF export; they do not create presentation slides. To create a new slide, insert a Heading 1 (# ) block or add a new Step.

Plan each slide around one teaching moment. A clean presentation structure typically includes:

• A title or warm-up discussion question
• A clear explanation, visual illustration, or dialogue
• A single interactive exercise or prompt
• A Whiteboard, image, audio, or video block for visual focus
• A recap or homework handoff

The Presentation Rail & Slide Management

When presenting, the left Table of Contents (ToC) Rail displays the ordered list of section titles:

• Class Slide-Following Toggle: In live sessions, the rail header includes the "The class follows your slide" toggle button (Users icon).
  • Follow enabled (default): As you navigate between slides, all student screens transition to the same slide in real time.
  • Follow disabled: Turning this off allows students to browse slides independently during freer practice. High-priority focus actions (such as double-clicking a block drag handle or clicking Show to class) still summon all students directly to that slide.
• Instant Slide Navigation: Clicking any section row in the rail opens that slide immediately.
• Section Row Menu (⋯): Each row has an actions menu (⋯) containing:
  • Rename section: Quickly edit the title of the section heading.
  • Delete section: Remove the section and its contents after confirming the prompt. The editor preserves a minimum of one slide.
• Reordering Slides: Drag-and-drop reordering and move up/down arrow buttons are available during single-author editing. Reordering is locked during live collaborative sessions to prevent accidental disruptions.
• Add New Slide: Click the Add new slide button (+) at the foot of the rail to insert a fresh slide at the end of the deck.
• Classroom Follower Glyph: If a student is browsing other sections during freer practice, the rail displays a class icon indicating which slide the teacher is presenting.

Narrow-Viewport Lesson Panel Drawer

When your browser or screen width is narrower than approximately 900px (such as on tablets, smaller laptop displays, or side-by-side split screens), the Presentation ToC rail collapses out of the way to preserve reading space. Click the Open lesson panel burger button in the top bar to open the slide rail as a smooth slide-over drawer.

Entering Presentation Mode & Pager Bar

During regular course lesson editing, click the Presentation button on the floating bottom dock (monitor icon) to enter the deck view. In live sessions, Presentation mode has moved off the main dock bar into the live dock's Tools menu under a top "View" section (click Tools, then click the labeled Presentation row).

The floating Presentation Pager Dock sits docked at the bottom of the window and provides:

• Slide Counter: Displays current / total slides (e.g. 3 / 12).
• Previous / Next Controls: Navigate sequentially with Chevron Left / Chevron Right, or by using the Arrow Left / Arrow Right and Space keyboard keys.
• Class Synchronization Indicator: Shows where the classroom is and lets you rejoin the teacher's active slide in one click (Rejoin class on slide N).
• Exit Deck: Close presentation view and return to the document editor.

Live Session Controls in a Running Deck

Teachers do not need to exit presentation mode to conduct routine classroom actions:

• Recording Controls: Start, pause, or stop lesson audio/video recording directly from the live dock while presenting.
• Teacher Verdict & Completion: Open the teacher's completion sheet and verdict drawer without interrupting the slide deck.
• Ask AI on Active Slide: Any content, exercise, or image inserted via Ask AI is placed directly into the currently active slide.

Interactive Content in Presentation Mode

All exercises and interactive widgets remain fully active during presentation mode:

• Students can answer multiple choice and multiple response questions
• Drag-and-drop ordering, matching, and sentence-gap chips work directly on each slide
• Fill-in-the-blank fields accept input
• Audio and video players play with synchronized room controls

PDFs Follow Separately

A PDF block has independent follow-me controls that are separate from presentation slides. Advancing a slide does not turn a PDF page, and turning a PDF page does not advance a slide. See PDF Documents.

Exiting Presentation Mode

Click the exit button (X) on the floating pager bar or press Escape to return to standard editing. Your cursor position and unsaved draft edits are preserved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does presentation mode synchronize with students in real time?

Yes. By default, when the teacher navigates between slides during a live session, students' views update automatically. Teachers can toggle this using the "The class follows your slide" button (Users icon) in the rail header if they want students to work through slides independently. If a student browses other slides, the "Class on slide N" badge allows them to jump straight back to the group.

Can I edit slide text while presenting?

Yes. You can edit text, insert widgets, or use Ask AI directly on the active presentation slide. For major structural changes across multiple steps, switch back to Canvas or Lesson view (located inline on the bottom dock during regular editing, or in the live dock's Tools menu under View during live sessions).

Can I delete an empty or unwanted slide while teaching?

Yes. In the Presentation ToC rail, open the row's ⋯ menu, select Delete section, and confirm the dialog. The section and its content are removed cleanly without affecting surrounding slides.