I am a United States Soldier.
Among other things, that means that I have seen a LOT of PowerPoint presentations.
Two anecdotes illustrate the way some slideshows squander opportunities that digital presentations afford.
The first one was when I was at the Defense Information School, a place that ought to have been a hub for leading communications technologies. One day in class the digital projector burned out, so our instructor read the slides aloud to us, from a print out! We were responsible for knowing everything he just read! If that's all that was needed to get the information across, why not just give us a copy, or refer us to read a long, boring document?
About six months later, when I was mobilizing, we had a class on some important legal matter. The slideshow was ready without anyone to deliver it, because by Army regulation the content had to be read by a JAG officer. We were fortunate enough to have one in the audience, so he stood up and, without ever having seen the presentation, delivered it with such expertise that we all became instantly qualified to serve overseas.
Inspired by these true events, I wrote an article on how to make the most of digital presentations.
Read it here, and then let me know, do I practice what I preach?
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16 comments:
I agree with your pointers about PowerPoint. Often teachers or other lecturers include too much information on PPs, make them too boring, or even make them too exciting which can distract from the message. Your top ten tips are useful because they are a happy medium between the two extremes and the get the listeners involved in what you're talking about.
I definitely enjoy powerpoint presentations in learning new material because it is more engaging and visually enticing, as Professor Stowell pointed out. As a visual learner, powerpoints allow me to "visualize" the information I'm learning, especailly with your ideas about bar-graphs, animated images, and the actual text and proper spelling being presented to me upfront. However, if a teacher goes overboard with text colors or animation on an instructional powerpoint, it is distracting and sometimes hard to read (see AP European History powerpoint). Professor Stowell's top ten tips instruct an educator on properly formatting an informative powerpoint that is both engaging to all types of learners, while presenting a lesson in an efficient manner. Great tips for success!!
I feel that these are really good points when your giving a lecture using a power point. I feel like it gets people's attention more then just writing on a board. When there is color to the background and designs it makes it more fun then just plain white and text. I think just saying word for word what is on the power point is boring but at the same time I think it could be helpful for the students in case they wanted to write it down. I know in the past that teachers would go to fast so that I couldn't write the information down. I think that you do incorporate a lot of what you have said in your article. There is always class participation and there are is always something that is on topic but doesn't necessarily have to be just facts like videos and pictures.
I agree with how you believe powerpoints should be interesting and exciting. That is an essential piece to make technology effective. If the powerpoint is simply words, following the exact words that the instructor would be using without technology it kind of defeats the purpose of having a visual aid. Visual aids should be just that, visual. It helps people learn any type of information through pictures, clips and keeps attention by having the lecture consolidated into a visual presentation. Therefore, powerpoints should be engaging, visual and interesting, or you really have wasted your time.
I think that the article about PP is really useful and I wish more teacher would lessen to it. way to often teachers use PP just to use it not because it is adding anything to the class. I this class I think they are used really well because it actually adds to the class with pics and movies (when they work) that help get the point across.
I liked the article on the ten tips for powerpoint. I agree with the pointers an effective powerpoint is difficult to make right. I think that you do a good job in class. My favorite part about your powerpoints are the interesting links we can explore. I think a powerpoint needs to have colors, animation, not too much text, and interaction. Without this the powerpiont can be bland and uninteresting wich doesn't make the informatin any easier to absorb. However too much of this can also be a problem. I really enjoy powerpoints in class as well as creating them to show information.
I agree with your ten tips when working with PowerPoint, especially with your fifth and sixth points. As a student, it is more exciting to listen to PowerPoints in which the person presenting isn't simply reading each slide word for word. This is why I believe you practice what you preach. You don't simply read directly from your PowerPoint, but you give insight and make comments about each bullet point/slide. Also, I agree that adding pictures and animations makes a presentation more interesting. This is because, looking at a screen full of words might be boring, but adding animations or different colors to it allows the viewers something new and more appealing to look at. Ultimately, PowerPoint acts as a means to a more enriching, interesting, and learning enhanced technique of teaching.
I think that your power points seem well planned out and tend to keep me very interested. You can tell that you have fun making them, and even though this class isn't about the most interesting subject, you keep us engaged. Good work, and yes, you do practice what you preach.
Powerpoint presentation, if used to thier full capacity, can be the perfect blend of modern technology. With the potentiakl incorporation of music, sounds, animations, pictures, text, and links to websites directly, almost all types of information can be transmited through a slide. On top of that, it is all presented in a way to be presentable and easily comprehended. Teachers must remember to use all the tools in the powerpoint program to shift his lecture from a monolouge to a visually interactive learning expereince. For the visual learners in the world, the power point is the answer with bars and graphs. The powerpoint also has the ability to outline lots of information in a presentable way. Powerpoint is for dummies, that want to become smarties.
These are really good points for a presentation! I definitely feel that in this course, PowerPoint presentations help us learn in a fun way. Different pictures, fonts, and animations all help to make it exciting to learn and get the students involved. Also, by asking the class to read the different bullets out loud really helps to get the students even more involved which is great!
I feel the tips you included in this article are very important to a teacher or presenter. It's important to pay attention to how you are presenting the information to people or students so that they do not become bored, and are actively listening and learning. You do a good job of not reading your slides word for word, and stopping mid-presentation to see if it all is sinking in. I agree that when teachers or presenters are reading something straight from the board, it seems as though you could have done it yourself. Paying attention to how your audience is reacting to your presentation is a key part of presenting.
I thought the article was very well written and had a lot of key information that i feel a lot of people tend to forget. I agree with all of your pointers you give throughout the article. All powerpoints are different, but what makes a good powerpoint from a bad one is a variety of different things. Not only are the things you put into your powerpoint what makes it exciting, but also how you present it. In order to make your powerpoint amazing you need to be able to include the audience so they are more interested in what is being shown. That was one of they main points i found to be true. Overall the article was very good and had many key points about powerpoints.
Ali McMahon
I agree that a PowerPoint presentation should be interesting and fun to look at. There are so many possible ways that technology can make presentations informative and creative at the same time. I also agree that including visuals such as graphs and pictures offer something different. Spitting out information is tedious and boring. Teaching through PowerPoint is effective because students are more alert and interested. They are more willing to listen to the presentation.
I think you definitely utilize all of the graphics and animations that Powerpoint has to offer. I've sat in classes before that have all of the notes on a slide, and students scribble those down furiously while they tune out everything the professor is saying. I really like how you link to useful sites like YouTube, BrainPop, and so on.
I do however, wish that lectures were a bit more interactive. For example, having us perform web searches or adding mini quizzes throughout (not for credit) to review what you have covered so far in lecture would be beneficial.
Overall, though, I really enjoy class and your presentations!
The fact that PowerPoint presentations are meant to bring material to life is very true, and often times presenters don't achieve this by overwhelming slides with information or providing slides that are too plain. Point blank, they don't utilize the software's tools to their advantage (ie: animations, graphs, font variations, etc.), which makes for a dull presentation. By knowing and implementing the right tools, anyone can very much make an effective powerpoint presentation, which in turn can cater to all learning styles (visual, auditory, etc.)
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