Learning Technique: Spotlight
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Lesson duration is: 15 minIntroduction
Looking to bring more focus and engagement into your lessons with a digital activity that’s just a little bit different? Meet the Spotlight activity: a playful and interactive approach where students uncover information step by step. This method makes learning more active, visual, and meaningful—perfect for guiding attention and helping students engage with the material in a new way.
Instructions
What is it?
In the Spotlight activity, students are given a digital “flashlight” they can use to illuminate a completely dark screen. As they move their beam of light, they reveal hidden words, phrases, or images.
Students can be sent on a search for images, answers, or hotspots. The magic of this activity lies in the gradual reveal. Since they can’t see everything at once, they’re encouraged to explore, make choices, and think critically about what they’re looking for.
Why is Spotlight such a powerful teaching tool?
- Guided focus: Students have to actively search for information. Because the beam only lights up a small area, they’re less likely to get distracted or randomly click through options.
- Intrinsic motivation: The mysterious, game-like setup sparks curiosity. They want to know what else is hidden in the dark.
- Active learning: Since students are in control of what they explore, they take more initiative and tend to remember the information they discover themselves much better.
- Challenge: You decide what to hide. Clues, answers, images—it’s up to you. The smaller or more complex the hidden content, the greater the challenge!
How to use it in class
The Spotlight activity is incredibly versatile and can be used at different moments in your lesson. It’s great as a warm-up to introduce a new topic, where students uncover clues or visuals that hint at what’s to come. You can also use it during the lesson to help them actively explore concepts, definitions, or source material. And at the end of the lesson, it’s a fun and effective way to review or check understanding. With just one simple format, you bring structure, variation, and ownership into your classroom.
Some classroom examples:
- Math: Have students search for the correct answers to equations, the right mathematical symbols, or the final part of a word problem.
- Modern languages: Verb conjugations, articles, translations—these can all be hidden in black text on a black background, waiting to be found. It also works well for selecting conversation topics. Which topic will they reveal first?
- History: Add some suspense with background music and let your students explore a powder magazine for historical fragments. As they search through the darkness, they reveal images or texts that gradually piece together a historical narrative.
Ready to try this activity?
This lesson includes the examples mentioned above. You can use them as-is in your own classroom, or let them inspire you to create your own version. Save your favorite slide using the ‘Save’ button and adapt it to fit your teaching needs.
Creating a Spotlight activity takes some work. That’s why the first seven slides in this lesson guide you step by step through how it’s made.
The last two slides show how the same slide layout can be used to create two completely different learning experiences—perfect for exploring the full potential of this tool.
Items in this lesson
Slide 1 - Slide
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Go on a hunt for the 7 times table!
- Grab the flashlight and search for the answers.
- Drag the multiplication problems to the correct answers.
- Found them all? Flip the light switch on!
6 x 7 =
7 x 7 =
8 x 7 =
9 x 7 =
10 x 7 =
5 x 7 =
1 x 7 =
2 x 7 =
3 x 7 =
4 x 7 =
Slide 2 - Drag question
How do you create a Spotlight activity?
In the next slides, I’ll walk you through the steps I took to build this activity and explain the choices I made along the way!
"I'm deliberately leaving this space empty for now, so I can later add the title and instructions for the activity.
I save this for last, because adjusting text is much easier than repositioning ten drag-and-drop components."
"This will be the search area — the space where my draggable items and correct answers will be placed.
I’m outlining it now on purpose, so I know exactly how much room I have for positioning the correct answers.
I’ll add the final background color to this area at the very end."
6 x 7 =
7 x 7 =
8 x 7 =
9 x 7 =
10 x 7 =
5 x 7 =
1 x 7 =
2 x 7 =
3 x 7 =
4 x 7 =
Slide 3 - Drag question
Step 1: Slide or drag-and-drop?
Depending on whether your activity includes both correct and incorrect answers, you’ll either start with a regular slide or a drag-and-drop question.
In this example, there are clearly right and wrong answers, so I started with a drag-and-drop setup.
Step 2: Layout and composition
Decide how much space you’ll need for your draggable items, your search area, and your instructions.
It helps to outline these areas right away—this saves you time later, as you won’t have to keep repositioning your drag items and targets.
Step 3: Creating draggable components
Draggable items can be in any color and will always appear in the top layer.
You can make them from:
- images
- text boxes
- symbols
- hotspots
- audio
In this slide, the draggable components are text boxes. I start with "10 x 7 =" since that’s the longest item. Then I duplicate it nine times and adjust the text accordingly.
I’ve deliberately chosen black text for these draggable items. This way, when students switch on the light at the end, they can clearly check their multiplication results.
7
Text
Drag target
Go on a hunt for the 7 times table!
- Grab the flashlight and search for the answers.
- Drag the multiplication problems to the correct answers.
- Found them all? Flip the light switch on!
6 x 7 =
7 x 7 =
8 x 7 =
9 x 7 =
10 x 7 =
5 x 7 =
1 x 7 =
2 x 7 =
3 x 7 =
4 x 7 =
Slide 4 - Drag question
Step 4: Instructions text
I kept the instructions as short as possible and deliberately left space open for the flashlight element that students will later drag across the search area.
Step 5: Drop targets
I create one drop target and size its frame to exactly match the dimensions of my draggable components.
Since the search area will be black in this activity, I give the drop target a transparent black fill. This way, it only becomes visible when students shine the flashlight over it.
IMPORTANT: Drop targets are always placed on the top layer of your slide!
Drop targets are automatically given a red outline and an icon—but you don’t want them to be visible in your search area.
Here’s how to fix that:
- Double-click the drop target
- Go to the ‘Drag question’ tab
- Uncheck ‘Show drop target icon and red border’
Now that your drop target is ready, duplicate it nine times and place them across the search area wherever you like.
Step 6: Answer text boxes
Behind each drop target, I place a text box containing one of the ten answers from the 7 times table.
If students drag the correct multiplication problem onto the right drop target, the full equation they uncover will be correct.
In this example, the text is black—just like the background of the search area. This ensures the answers remain hidden until students pass over them with their flashlight.
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28
35
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7
42
49
56
63
70
Go on a hunt for the 7 times table!
- Grab the flashlight and search for the answers.
- Drag the multiplication problems to the correct answers.
- Found them all? Flip the light switch on!
Slide 5 - Drag question
Step 7: Linking drag items to the correct drop targets
Now it’s time to link each draggable component to the correct drop target.
As long as you're not in presentation mode, the drop targets will still show a red icon with a number.
Here’s how to link them:
- Click the small downward-facing triangle on the blue icon of a drag item.
- A list will appear showing the numbers of the available drop targets.
- Click the number that corresponds to the correct target. This links the drag item to the drop zone.
- Repeat this process for all drag items, and then check your slide to make sure everything is linked correctly.
- Click ‘Teach’ and then ‘Show answer’ to instantly see whether your drag items are connected to the right targets.
Note: This slide is a screenshot to show you what it looks like when you’re linking a drag item to a drop target.
The tip about checking your slide won’t work here, since it’s not an interactive slide.
Go on a hunt for the 7 times table!
- Grab the flashlight and search for the answers.
- Drag the multiplication problems to the correct answers.
- Found them all? Then flip the light switch on!
21
28
35
14
7
42
49
56
63
70
6 x 7 =
7 x 7 =
8 x 7 =
9 x 7 =
10 x 7 =
5 x 7 =
1 x 7 =
2 x 7 =
3 x 7 =
4 x 7 =
Slide 6 - Drag question
Step 8: Adding the spotlight
For this spotlight effect, I created a flashlight with a light beam in Illustrator and added it as an image to my slide.
Next, I double-click the image and check the box ‘Movable during presentation’ (see blue highlight).
This allows the image to be freely dragged around during the presentation.
Don’t have a graphic design tool?
No problem — you can simply add a circular shape to your slide instead.
Give it a contrasting color that stands out against your dark search area, and just like with the image, make sure to check ‘Movable during presentation’.
21
28
35
14
7
42
49
56
63
70
Go on a hunt for the 7 times table!
- Grab the flashlight and search for the answers.
- Drag the multiplication problems to the correct answers.
- Found them all? Flip the light switch on!
6 x 7 =
7 x 7 =
8 x 7 =
9 x 7 =
10 x 7 =
5 x 7 =
1 x 7 =
2 x 7 =
3 x 7 =
4 x 7 =
Slide 7 - Drag question
Step 9: Creating the dark search area
Finally, I color the entire search area black.
Make sure this shape is placed in the background of your slide.
Here’s how:
- Click on the shape.
- Then click the small gear icon in the top-left corner of the shape.
- A menu will expand — click the ‘Send to background’ icon (see blue arrow).
- Your spotlight activity is now ready! Click ‘Teach’ to check how it works in action!
21
28
35
14
7
42
49
56
63
70
Go on a hunt for the 7 times table!
- Grab the flashlight and search for the answers.
- Drag the multiplication problems to the correct answers.
- Found them all? Flip the light switch on!
6 x 7 =
7 x 7 =
8 x 7 =
9 x 7 =
10 x 7 =
5 x 7 =
1 x 7 =
2 x 7 =
3 x 7 =
4 x 7 =
Slide 8 - Drag question
Extra addition
Since I kept the answers hidden, I thought it would be fun to add a light switch to the slide.
This way, students can "turn the light on" to check their answers!
Here’s what I did:
- I added a hotspot with an image of a light switch.
- Then, I added an image of a yellow square to the slide.
- I placed this square in the background of the slide, just like I did with the search area.
- Then, I sent the search area to the background as well, ensuring everything is in the right order.
- Finally, I linked the hotspot to the yellow square by following these steps:
- Double-click the hotspot.
- Go to the ‘Media’ tab.
- Click on the yellow square image and hit ‘OK’.
Want to use this activity for all times tables?
Save this slide to your favorites by clicking the star icon in the menu bar.
Then, just add it to any lesson and simply adjust the text boxes!
Good luck!
Slide 9 - Slide
For the Teacher
This slide contains various time wasters—activities in which students often spend a lot of time.
With these activities, it’s often hard to keep track of time.
The purpose of this slide is to help students realize how much time they spend on certain things during the day.
With devices:
If you’re having students complete this activity individually or in groups on their own devices, click ‘Devices in the class’ in presentation mode, then select ‘Show to students’.
Without devices:
If you're doing the activity as a class on the interactive whiteboard, drag the flashlight across the slide yourself and pause at the activities you come across.
Alternatively, ask a student to drag the flashlight. Once they reveal an activity, discuss it and have another student continue searching.
Ask questions like:
- Do you recognize the time wasters on this slide?
- How much time do you think you spend on each of them per day?
- Do you ever lose track of time?
- Why do you think that happens? How does it make you feel?
Ask the class to check their screen time. Are they surprised by the result? Do they have any screen time limits at home? What do they think about their screen time?
Tip 2:
Calculate the average screen time per day with the class. Not to judge, but to have an open and honest conversation about it.
Adults may see screen time as wasted time, but how do the students view it?
Slide 10 - Slide
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Slide 11 - Slide
This is intended for students to interact with and discover facts for themselves - hit the 'show for students button'. The sound effect is optional!
You can zoom in on the pictures by clicking on them. After experimenting with this I set the hotspots to close when another opens. This means you turn the lamp back on after viewing an item. It seems to work better like this I found but you may disagree!
The screen looks less chaotic when in teach mode I guarantee!
Slide 12 - Slide
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