If you are in the Armed Forces, you have definitely experienced it.
Here's another one: "with great power comes great responsibility." (Who said it? If you know, just shout it out. You'll impress your classmates, and that's what college is all about, right?)
PowerPoint fits the theme, and is a metaphor for how we use many technologies. We shouldn't wield a technology without learning how to use it appropriately. A hammer doesn't make a good screwdriver.
Sure, the technology we study in here is supposed to make teaching more efficient, but our paramount consideration is that it make learning more effective.
Read this article, inspired by too many clumsily-delivered PowerPoint presentations.
Which techniques suit your style the most?
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29 comments:
I would engage my students with activities because lectures can get boring!
For me I like to keep my powerpoints fun but not overboard. The techniques for powerpoint that work best for me are using bullet points. I like to use points to be clear and concise. I also like to use picture and video files in my presentations to reach out the my visual learners. I find too much animation tedious and annoying so I tend to avoid that.
I would use pictures and video because people respond well to visual stimuli. It would be especially great for those kids who are visual learners.
I've witnessed many different presentations that are uninteresting. People enjoy reading in their spare time, but not when they are also being spoken to at the same time.
Use slides with as few words as possible. Let the audience pay attention to you. Utilize the rest of the space for eye-candy that will activate the audience.
I am unsure of why the "With great power comes great responsibility" quote fits here though.
I would try to incorporate many aspects. I would lecture along with videos and pictures, and some student activities that have them actively participating.
Techniques that suit my style are using a lot of visuals that make the content of my presentations easier to see and understand. In teaching students, creating questions on Powerpoint can engage them to participate during class. Videos and pictures are essential to get your audience to respond to your presentation.
I like a simple approach to powerpoint because so many speakers get caught up in their powerpoint.
I prefer the minimalistic approach that allows for the speaker to hone on his speaking abilities not his Powerpoint abilities. However, rarely do you find one that can do a good speech with a complicated powerpoint. This is worth it, if you can manage it.
I really liked the 9th suggestion of have activities in the powerpoint it self. Having colorful graphics along with animations will help keep the material fresh and interesting. I also liked the suggestion of making the powerpoints easily accessible to be printed.
I like to use Web searches so kids will compete for how fast they can find the answer.
I think I am pretty aware of cliche so I try to stay away from that as well. I would go so far as use ironic themes that contrast directly with the content presented.
-Cormac
I love to use pictures to keep my powerpoints fun and engaging. I also like to use text animations. People always end up laughing or smiling when the text flys in. Keeping the powerpoints simple with bullet points always works for me as well.
Powerpoint presentations can have a lot of potential if integrated and presented in a thoughtful, planned out way. It is important to keep one's audience engaged and this can best be done through interactive activities, question & answer, or simply presenting the material dynamically, such as showing a video, playing a song, or asking the audience a question and getting a response. Powerpoint presentations can get quite monotonous when all the slides look the same and there is no variation in tempo or context. It is important to use powerpoints as a tool for informing, exchanging, and offering information in a way that is dynamic and keeps the audience engaged.
I would use interesting powerpoint presentations with lots of animations and videos/sounds. This keeps even the most boring of lectures interesting!
Since I will be teaching elementary school my main goal is to make my PowerPoint presentations fun. I'm going to put pictures, animations and sound effects. I think little video clips within the presentation will be good to keep their attention throughout the presentation. I'm going to also try and keep the text to a minimum because my students might not all be able to read. I will have to rely on more of an outline approach.
I like that powerpoint presentations allow for explanation and expansion. A slide very few words, and this allows for the instructor to verbally teach the material as opposed to having to read each page word for word. It also allows for the students to be more engaged in what they are viewing, I personally think it's more interesting viewing something colorful and animated instead of just a plain piece of paper with words on it. Pictures are also a great way to illustrate a point.
It would be nice to use the entrance and exit of text and pictures to create suspense and dramatic effect. For example, ask the students a question, let them discuss, take some thoughts about what the answer could be and then dramatically reveal it through the powerpoint. As well, if you'd like to prolong the suspense you could have clues that direct the conversation appear before giving the final reveal of what you were looking for. Tada!
This article addresses my primary concern with technology - engagement of the student. Several of the suggestions including asking questions, pairing presentations with written exercises and group brainstorming sessions, and asking the viewers to anticipate or read slides are fantastic ways to keep the crowd engaged. The idea that technology alone can transmit information magically from the screen to someones brain is a dangerous misconception. Pairing technology with good old fashioned brain power, however could be an educator's dream come true.averyblake1
I think the worst power point presentations are those which are covered in words that the presenter reads aloud. I like when it's a mix of pictures and outlines that keep the presentation flowing. It's distracting when I'm reading along instead of listening, and I think I remember things better if there are just a few points on the screen instead of a few paragraphs.
I like the idea of using questions to keep the students involved and actively paying attention. That way, the PowerPoint is a help and not a bore or a distraction from the lesson content.
I believe that the best presentations make a point to put the questions down in writing in the presentation. You have the visual aid, so why not take advantage of it? Beyond the technical aspect, I also think pausing at questions and giving all students a significant amount of time to come up with their own answer, rather than just letting the first kid shout out the "right" one is helpful. Lastly, I find that including anything that requires the audience to move around during a lecture is a great way to give them a "break", without breaking focus on your topic.
I think the key thing with ANY presentation, whether or not it uses ppt, is to ENGAGE your audience. This usually means eye contact, scanning the room, speaking periodically directly to (or as if directly to) an audience member. Seems to me the key suggestions are #3 (using video and pictures), #6 (NOT READING THE DARNED SLIDES), #8 (checking for understanding), and #9 (integrating activities).
The best power point presentations that I've seen and that I want to emulate are presentations that act as a supplement to the lecturer. That is to say that the presentations are not simply read, but performed. Everything in that article is important to include, but I think it's important not to get too caught-up in the complexities and "flair" of the actual slides. I like concise, interesting slides that the presenter can use to expand upon in a lecture. A great example of this can be seen in most TED conference presentations (check out ted.com and watch some of the more popular presentations).
The best PowerPoint presentations are interactive. Technique #9 suggests incorporating activities into your slideshow. A great example is to show a video or photo in the slideshow and ask the students to discuss it in small groups.
Using Powerpoint as an outline of the topic would likely suit my style as a science teacher best. My experience with the program has largely involved poorly created slideshows which often didn't work well and were dull and no better than reading the information on my own, without the slides. I prefer to present key topics supplemented with dynamic content such as animations, video, humor, and images that will accent the material and make it easier to remember and better understood. Powerpoint has the potential to bring a lecture to life when it is used in addition to class material, not the central focus. When it is heavily relied on and does not work properly, the lecture is lost, it should be used more as a study aid that helps with information absorption.
I think that the point about using bullets and the presenter expanding on the ideas rather than the student just reading what is on the slide is very important. Also, I have often found myself frustrated when the background design interferes with the viewers ability to reading material on a slide. I also plan to have as much class participation throughout a presentation as possible.
I have not had a lot of experience with slideshow applications, but I think it would be a useful tool in certain contexts, e.g. when the material under discussion requires visual elements that would otherwise take too long to draw on a board. Also, the added feature of having all of the content prepared and organized is a plus (as opposed to juggling overheads; ahh, those were the days . . . :)
I prefer for my powerpoints to be clear, concise, as well as entertaining. My style includes use of bullet points to highlight important information and use of video clips for a supplementary experience.
Variety is key, especially due to the modern child's attention span. With on-demand TV, internet, radio, video games and more, the attention span has dwindled dramatically for most children compared to past generations. So using multi-media powerpoint slides can offer variety and !pizzazz!. I think all of the techniques are great, especially when the subject called for can benefit from that technique (such as animation or imagery or video or audio).
I really like the part about having students make predictions about coming slides, and also about performing web searches if all the students are at a computer. I often try to slim down the Powerpoint to have less slides, but if the slides are exciting and move quickly, more slides for questions and prediction stages could be really fun! I'm definitely going to try it out on my homework assignment.
-Robin van Schravendijk
For some reason, since I've transferred to USF, I've given more powerpoint presentations than I've given in my college career. My personal favorite is to have a variety of media in the actual powerpoint, but keeping them very simple. Talking and public speaking are my favorite things about school (which I suppose is why I'd like to be a teacher), therefore I'd enhance my powerpoint with a good interactive, engaging lecture.
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