POWERPOINT as a review tool
I love using Powerpoint and my students have expressed their appreciation of it as a tool for review and for learning in the classroom. I use engrade and attach my Powerpoint to the lesson for the day. Students may then look at the Powerpoint to review for a class exam. Exam grades have gone up and I have noticed more higher order thinking skills being used in the classroom.
While they still will take notes in class it's a great way to refresh your memory from your lecture (much like recording it). In addition, if you use some excellent images/audio/video to enhance your PP students are able to retain information even better. It also does well for students who have been absent (especially out for several classes due to illness) providing information so they don't feel so out of the loop.
Anybody else have some similar experiences using PP has a review tool?
Hi Christopher:
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
Hi JoAnne:
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
Hi Ralph:
To reiterate one of your comments here, an instructor really ought not to "read" the slides to the student, but instead (like you have described), focus on the main points of the topic.
Regards, Barry
Hi Cheri:
As a general rule, most agree that "reading" a PPT slide is a bad idea, because most students will be able to do that for themselves. Instead, it is better to expound on the main ideas or key points.
Regards, Barry
Hi Rebekah:
PPT can be very effective when its balanced with other ways of presenting information.
Most agree for example, it is ineffective to just read slides to students. Instead, point out the main ideas and elaborate.
Regards, Barry
I have yet to use powerpoints in the classroom but would look to use them as a summary or review process.
I agree with you. PowerPoint presentations are excellent because you can spend as much time on the review of the material in each slide as necessary, and skip ahead as needed. The PPs with audio are also good.
I agree that Powerpoint is great in reviews, but should not be used solely for teaching skills.
I beleieve powerpoint presentation can be great and a disadvantage as well. Powerpoints can be used for reviewing materials. However, teaching new material is easier for me to breakdown things on a black or white board.
I use "Jeopardy" to review for the final. It is fun plus a good review technique. I divide the students into teams and they play each other. The winning team gets a "prize"
I always use power points, but I know them well and don't read them, I review also from them.
It is nice for absent students to get just about everything they missed with such ease. But I would use it sparingly because you lose eye contact and you are less available to the student when you have low lights and all eyes focused off of you.
All 'tools' are good as long as you aren't soley reliant on the one tool. PP is good for visual and it's easy to take notes from but as a teaching tool it must also be viewed the same as a presentation tool. You don't want to focus on the slide but the content- so the instructor must relay the information and use the other 'tools' like asking questions, etc to stimulate the students' learning process
Powerpoint can also put them to sleep. Powerpoing has made instructors quite lazy.
At our school we have some blank powerpoint game templates that can be filled in for review sessions. For example, "Jeopardy" and "Hollywood Squares". I'm not savvy with PP enough to tell you how to develop these, but I'm able to fill my info into the blank templates. These make the review games run very smooth and also include some of the sounds/graphics that make them more fun and real.
Power point keeps the students awake but personal eye contact is to me the best tool
