Barry Westling

Hi Sari:

There are many great FREE websitesout there that describe a more effective approach to PPT. One thing that I've always noticed that makes for a more effective presentation, is NEVER to read the slides to the students, but instead, expound on the key points and let the students absorb what they think they need from the rest of the information.

Regards, Barry

Barry Westling

Hi Rebecca:

If using PPT, one general, all-purpose guideline to remember about using power-point is this – don’t read the slides to the students. Unless you’re deliberately trying to make a point, reading slides is the quickest way to have students tune out during the lesson.

Instead, it’s better to cover the main points on the slide, and have the students refer to the notes on their own.

Regards, Barry

Barry Westling

Hi Jeff:

If using PPT, one general, all-purpose guideline to remember about using power-point is this – don’t read the slides to the students. Unless you’re deliberately trying to make a point, reading slides is the quickest way to have students tune out during the lesson.

Instead, it’s better to cover the main points on the slide, and have the students refer to the notes on their own.

Regards, Barry

Barry Westling

Hi Al:

If using PPT, one general, all-purpose guideline to remember about using power-point is this – don’t read the slides to the students. Unless you’re deliberately trying to make a point, reading slides is the quickest way to have students tune out during the lesson.

Instead, it’s better to cover the main points on the slide, and have the students refer to the notes on their own.

Regards, Barry

Sari Bailey

This is a good point that Power Point presentations should outline the discussion. When I have highly technical material, Power Point is a great way to present the material. I print out the presentation for students with 3 slides per sheet so they can take additional notes to the side. To encourage discussion, I will type the heading on the slide and then leave the slide blank (maybe with numbers or bullet points for the points of discussion). This way, the Power Point keeps me on track, but I'm not just reading the slides. The students fill in the points as we discuss them in class.

John Brantley

I agree that power point loses its affectiveness when over used.

Rebecca Lloyd

I think you are right that PP is sometimes a crutch, but it can be a good crutch in that it will keep an instructor on point--and prevent them from going off on an non-related tangent.

Jeff Euteneier

I like to use powerpoint as the outline for my lecture and then give students a hard copy of the PPT to encourage note taking on the margins. I teach many students with limited academic experience and this approach allows them to worry less about "writing it all down" and instead put more effort into listening to what I am actually saying.

Al Sharon

I agree. Powerpoints should outline the discussion, not supplant it. Get to the main points and keep them interested in the topic through discussions, stories, examples, and dilemmas. Overly complex powerpoints are mind numbing and detract from the learning environment.
Al Sharon

Barry Westling

Hi Richard:
To facilitate learning, a teacher ought to be able to use all available resources to make that learning interesting, applicable, meaningful, and useful. Media resources are likely to be a component to assist presenting the lesson, PPT might be among them.

I think PPT can inhance lessons, but as you indicate, it can be an unfortunate crutch that does less for the student than other avenues could achieve with proper planning.

PPT is great for displaying charts, graphs, pictures, diagrams, photo's, or key ideas that can foster discussion. It can serve as an outline for learners to follow, whether that's self-paced or guided. Reviews or worked examples of equations might also be suitable.

I might offer this as a suggestion: Every slide should include a question, not necessarily one that is asked, but at least implied. By creating slides in this manner, original thought and critical thinking would more likely result. If that happened, the PPT experience would contribute more to the learning process.

Regards, Barry

Richard Newton CHEP

It seems that too often, especially in adult-based, career-focused education, PPT has become the instructor's crutch. For all the right reasons, a SME volunteers to instruct/teach/educate, but then becomes the lecturer (previous lesson on instructional style) rather than the educator. The PPT presentation becomes the instructor's notes, a common reason for reading the slides, and the rationale for uni-directional teaching. Students rarely use the last slide, 'Questions' to ask questions. By then they just want to take a break. Instructors feel that if they created X slides, then they students need to see X slides in the alloted time period, no matter if a discussion is enhancing the learning or not.
It is interesting to note student reactions when an instructor teaches from a different part of the classroom, away from the screen, and using whiteboards or flip charts. The students wonder wonder what is going on and then realise they have to participate and will not be pressed into PPT induced numbness. (Yes, I am anti-PPT.)

Barry Westling

Hi Timothy:
PPT can be very effective when used in an appropriate manner. Appropriate would imply properly fomatted, assisting instruction (rather than dominating it), and providing meaningful data in a useful fashion. It would also mean used in conjunction with other media to inhance or facilitate instruction.

Regards, Barry

Barry Westling

Hi Barbara:
PPT is a tool, has a purpose, and therefore can be used appropriately or inappropriately. The design and formatting of information on a slide can be one factor. Microsoft has provided so many options, some think that all the "bells and whilstles" should be used. Just like Word, just becasue it's there doesn't mean every dynamic has to be employed.

Also, the content in the slide is critical. My preference is to use PPT as an adjunct to a lecture/discussion manner of delivery, with PPT as as a guide to keep on the the general themes.

Other times, more information has to be included if the student is relying on the content from the slide as opposed to the teacher or textbook. For instance, in an online delivery format, many lectures can be made more interesting by creative formatting and delivery content.

I rarely use the publisher supllied slides. They seem to be simple outliunes of chapters and not attention-keeping at all. The image library is probably the PPT resource I use most from publisher-based resources. I try to visualize how my students viewing a lesson for the first time will likely receive the material (that's where my editing begins!).

Regards, Barry

Timothy Dowell

I agree with you. I prefer to use power points as a recap or review of the material already covered. This gives students an opportunity to reflect and ask questions.

Barbara Raichle

I wholeheartedly agree with your statement re the misuse and overuse of PowerPoint presentations in the classroom.

PowerPoint can be a very effective tool when used properly. The creativity that is behind the slides is something that student enjoy and want to learn about. However, when instructing a class, and your daily routing involves showing a presentation, it becomes boring.

Students need to be involved in the class - participate to their highest potential.

The basic of rule of PowerPoint has been minimal slides. I've been witness to a PowerPoint that is like reading a book.

If students are truly involved, the questionnaire is an excellent option; so, too,is a pop quiz.

With all the capabilities of media (sound, color, animation), it can certainly engage the students and be a positive; not a babysitting technique.