Power Points Verses Writting On The Board
I am a fairly new instructor. I have always taught from power points with short videos to keep the students attention. I thought about changing to only teach by using the white board. After this lesson I am no longer sure about that. The reason im considering the change is I have a problem with the student getting sleepy as soon as the lights go off. Any Suggestions!!!!
Don't turn the lights out. Most projectors work with lights on. May want to only turn some off. The youngest ones are from a tech environment (smart phones, ipads, ipods and "i" everything). Short videos help but I also do use the marker board especially to outline what their notes should be from the video if they were supposed to be taking notes.
Never been a big fan of power points. Students stare at the screen and forget you're there. I use the white board to clarify my lecture material. In my hands-on classes, I put the days' activities on the board prior to start of class.
I have PowerPoint ready for students to download before the class.
It helps them to 1) prepare for the class, 2)get an overall view of the topic and 3)helps them on taking notes.
Yes I agree with Robert Walker, Don't Turn the lights out and the short videos match the short attention spans of the "i" generation! I also post all of the power points for the students to access anytime they want and I concentrate on helping them on their projects when I am in class with them. I found that they need help with their homework and their projects. I let them read what is on the power points on their own. I highlight the important points that need to be shared with them. I try to keep them engaged when they are in class instead of just reading the power point presentations.
@justskeit68 - I use PPTs (not ever lesson, because that is a big complaint students have), but when I do use PPTs I make sure to make them available to the students from home. I tell them not to stress over writing down what the PPTs say, but to focus on big concepts (that I point out) and to ask questions. I also use a lot of short videos to keep their attention.
Good luck.
Jason
@glin23
I am an online instructor. I use a combination of PowerPoints, websites and whiteboard in my chats with my students. I find the opposite to be true of sharing PowerPoints. I find that if I post my presentations to the students, I then receive less participation in chats. I use the PowerPoint as a supplement to my discussion with my students. You also have to be careful with sharing your PowerPoints. If you are not using an original creation you cannot post a book generated presentation because of a copyright issue.
I am an on-line instructor and I use Power Point for my introduction slides, reviewing Rubrics and showing examples of students work. I found it is fine in small doses and it I invite students to respond to questions. The remaining part of my “Live Chat” is demonstration on how to use the software. WL
Use both, definitely but I suggest keeping PPs to a minimum!
Powerpoint presentations as well as the use of white boards both can be effective visual aids as long as the presentation and/or white board info doesn't turn into a book. Too many details can lead to information overload and you can quickly lose your audience. Also I've found that inserting a video at the beginnining of my powerpoint serves as a good "lead in" to the lesson or a video at the end serves as a good wrap up.
