Using PowerPoint in Class
I like to use Powerpoint on a smartboard because it makes the class more interactive and lets you edit or write on the fly which also explans certain situations and examples to students.
Amy,
I too use comics in PPT slides, most often to open a new segment but also to make a point. It's amazing how political cartoons can lampoon an individual, organization or issue in such a succinct way, capturing the essence of the message in a single pane. This demonstrates the effectiveness a little humor (via comics) can make to a presentation.
Barry Westling
I tend to be a more fun personality and I like to put a few comics in my power point presentations so the studentts feel a little more relaxed and I think it helps them to refocus.
Misty,
Both of the techniques you suggest add a bit of flare and can potentially add to the instructional value of the material being presented. Care has to be taken to avoid adding in too many "bells and whistles", as that can be a distraction and really not contribute to instruction. I like to think of formatting this way: "Does it help and add?" or am I just adding it to make it more flashy?"
Barry Westling
I do find making PPT presentations interesting can be a challenging task. I like the ideas of using clip art and addding videos.
Stephanie,
Very nice. It would seem that these add some variety, help keep interest, and perhaps make a more lasting point or teaching moment.
Barry Westling
I like to add video clips and exercises to my power points to make them more interactive and engaging. It also allows for an opportunity to apply concepts being discussed and the videos allow students to see examples of the concepts being applied.
Lillian,
Good practice. Too much of anything is probably not good, so limiting too many pictures or too much text, or too much color, or too small font...all these "too's" tend to diminish the presentation. PPT is a great tool, but we want the the focus on the information, not the medium. I think viewing other instructors PPT's can give ideas about what is interesting and what is too much.
Barry Westling
Yes I agree. I use powerpoints. It took awhile for me to perfect them. I love pictures. I use clip art. It is fun to get pictures that match my discussion. I prefer pictures than just the plain text. I am still learning.
Yolanda,
This is good, especially if the students are the ones at the board making the colored images. More senses, active engagement, and participation like this gets students to retain information much more readily.
Barry Westling
I enjoy using power point on the white board. I teach dental assisting. I place anatomy drawing of primary teeth and permanet teeth, we write on the board with different colors marker, name of teeth, surface and structures. Of course, we do this several times, so they can master this skill. This exercise is done at the end of the power point presentation. More like a summaries with interaction.
Tony,
Great. Where possible, I have my students come to the white board to highlight something from a PPT slide, write a definition, or sometimes, just rotate who is at the board writing information I tell them to, like an assistant of sorts.
Barry Westling
In my class using powerpoint on the white board is alot more productive. We use alot of schemics and blueprints. It is alot easy to write on the board then to print everything on the power point. You also get more class involement, instead of them just sitting there reading something.
Lisa,
Making PPT slides interesting is definitely a task, and one that all do not do well without some tried experience. Adding video clips is a help. Keeping slide font large and information condensed to bullet point chunks of information is good too ((i.e., 5-7 bullet points per slide). PPT is a tool, and we want student focused on the information, not the tool providing it.
Barry Westling
I enjoy PowerPoint in class because it helps outline the days subject and also helps the students to take notes. If I just lecture they tend to "zone" out and not pay attention. Also I use video from You Tube to drive home really import thingsl. Seeing something tends to committ it to memory and not just "pump & dump".
Rosa,
Embedded video's seem to add a lot to an otherwise static presentation. Biggest problem I've encountered is when video's are longer than a couple of minutes, students can zone out, exactly the opposite thing I'm trying to prevent. So by keeping slides interesting and video's shorter, student tend to stay more focused.
Barry Westling
Terry,
This is good, although when I've done that, sometimes students complain about the glare. Smart boards allow instructors to do exactly as you do, combining electronic images, PPT and board markers that make for very cool discussions. That said, I have experienced a lot of technical snafu's with smart boards (seems they're kinda touchy). So I tend to stay with the white board, flip chart, and PPT.
Barry Westling
I use Powerpoint as well. My students enjoy it. I make copies for my students with room to write notes near the slides. I really enjoy adding videos or images to my slides.
I like to use power points on my white board , as an instructor of electricity , I can use the PP to start the schematics , and then, I just use my marker to make alterations, additions etc. Then I erase the white board and move on and do it again.
Dustin,
Smart boards are cool. Especially for students who can relate to interactive training or presentations, this media merges multimedia information in way unlike most other methods of presentation.
Barry Westling
