i dislike powerpoint
i feel that interacting and writting on the board is more effective in teaching.
The nice thing about powerpoint, is you can create slides that show the material you plan to cover during the class, and print and hand out those slides. Then students can SEE what will be covered, and can also take notes on the page and keep those notes.
I also dislike it. Part of my reason for this, I'm sure, is that I have to attend lots of workshops to support my license-- and virtually all of them consist of powerpoint stuff that goes on for five or six hours, with always an associated stack of pages on which all the slides are reproduced. I prefer to write as I talk: for one thing, it makes it more likely that I will vary my approach to material from one time to the next-- in other words, it allows much more spontaneity.
One way to make powerpoint more interactive is to have it open on a smart board without running the slideshow. Then you can edit information, often replacing predictable information with more pointed information, which allows your students to feel like the information is current and evolving.
I am not a big fan of power-point. Most presentations that I have attended, where power-point is used, the presenter reads each slide. I beleive some power-point presentations make the presenter look under-prepared.
So true. Leave the lines blank on the PowerPoint presentation and you can fill them in as you have the discussion. I have found this works great.
I feel that the course material dictates the method of presentation. PowerPoint presentations may not be the best approach for all courses. For example some computer application courses have the information right in front of the student on the computer application screen. It may be more beneficial to lecture using the actual application. In other courses I find that a PowerPoint presentation is a good complement of the material that is in the text book and I use them I feel very effectively in a number of my courses.
I agree with that ..I took a course about 2 years ago in teaching methods and one of the concepts is that Power Point is not really that helpful ,because is the easy way out.Mostly put people to sleep and they actually do not learn anything significant.
I can agree with this depending on the subject matter. Power point is a great tool for the start of class when you are going over the syllabus and course requirements. Power Point is a nice tool to have in your multi-media bag, but certainly can be over-used. Better to keep the students guessing on what media tool you will use each class.
Games on Power point can be fun -
I found as a student that Powerpoints were boring and not very engaging. It is easy to skip over material when using a powerpoint, and when you have to backtrack as an instructor, you lose credability.
For me, it depends upon how it is used. If you follow the instruction from the course, I think you might think otherwise. I put bullet points, and key info only. That way I can use it as a reminder for the information I wanted to convey.
I'm not a huge fan of power point presentations either. The text I use has PP presentations for each chapter. I utilize them by printed out the slides for myself, then when preparing my lecture, I jot little notes in the margins of the printed pages, and use that during my lecture. It helps me to not just read right from the book, and jotting notes reminds me of little anecdotes I can tell students about from working in the field in which I teach.
I think power point can be effective as one of several methods of instruction. However, before jumping to power point consider the subject, the composition of the students/audience in class, and the learning situation.
Phil
i agree. if you give the student a copy of the slides i have found too much that they just read ahead. i have also seen instructors not answer questions because they have beconme too reliant on the power point, and just read whats on them. if the answer isnt there for them, they dont know it
Hi Mark:
PPT is a tool, and like any tool, has a purpose. Too much reliance on a single tool, or innappropriare use can lead to less than wonderful outcomes.
Some teachers will make two sets of notes, one for the students, and one they use for their presentation. Another technique is to give the notes after presentation. One other variation is more like a handout with with important categories to review, based on the presentation just viewed. Often times, ythe choice to give out handouts or not has to do more with the subject matter more than a fixed policy or practice.
Regards, Barry
What subject do you teach? Does this work for every topic? I think in some cases PPT can be effective, but it depends on a lot of factors.
I agree to the extent that Power Point becomes a crutch if you run the Power Point and read from the screen for most of the class period. I teach accounting and personally I prefer interacting while working problems on a whiteboard or on an Excel spreadsheet on the overhead.
Ugh! I couldn't agree more! When the presenter says/reads the script that's on the slide, I wish they had just handed me the hard copy at the door to avoid wasting both my time and theirs. Pity the poor presenter when they want a survey filled out afterward! I like to hear fresh info to scribble in on the notes sections which encourages me to review and compare the material afterward.
Hi Albert:
You're correct - if used effectively, PPT should never be read to the student. Unless you have a class where there are several people with reading disabilities, most can read for themselves. It is considered more effective to comment on the main ideas presented in the slide.
Regards, Barry
Hi Ryan:
That's a fun way to also bring the student up out of their chair and have them participate with an activity in the midst of the learning process. Some students actually learn better by using their hands in such a way.
Regards, Barry
