I agree 100%, Shana. Many times, PPTs do become the teacher. But when used in moderation, I have found that students seem more eager to take notes. Plus, PPTs make it harder for students to take a picture of the lesson. In case you don't already know, many students are now refusing to take notes. Instead, they wait for the instructor to move out of the way before they take a picture of the board! As we all know, taking notes helps the students retain information.
Shana,
In every class lesson I try to think about what would be the best way to present material. PPT is great for displaying photos, graphs, charts, illustrations -- visual images that would difficult to display in other ways. It certainly should not be the ubiquitous overused tool that many instructors rely on for almost everything. Variety rules when it comes to keeping the attention, focus, and retention of key course material.
Barry Westling
