Death by Powerpoint
It can be easy for an instructor to rely to heavily on the powerpoint. A poorly crafted powerpoint can have catastrophic results. Over the years, I have seen great and not so great powerpoint presentations. The overloaded, unorganized powerpoint will confuse and frustrate students. The use of powerpoints can also but distance between the instructor and the class as the instructor's back is turned to the students and they end up reading each slide word for word. While an effective method of instruction, I would caution the less experienced instructor on the over use of powerpoint.
I agree with you so would you do some teaching from the power point and some from the white board or what would you suggest?
I really get upset and embarrased when a power point has incorrect information. It makes me look bad and I have to further back up or feel I have to prove to the students the information I gave them before the power point was the correct information and the power point is wrong. I believe it is hard for a student to take my word for it when a power point comes from the same company as the book they use is from. I think it makes them question everything they learned.
@Mjacklin,
My first year I would go in with the text-made .ppts and also get so frustrated with typos or mistakes. During my first lecture evaluation, my director observed me "throwing" the book company "under the bus" . . . my director said that I needed to "own" it and really take possession of any and all mistakes. This made me accountable for everything that I presented and really encouraged me to proofread and compare the content to the book. It took a lot more time but it made the entire feel of the class better and reduced my dependence on the PowerPoint.
@rmenke I too found many mistakes in the book PowerPoints, which seem to be made "after-the-fact" by contractors in low cost countries.
I have moved to going through the PowerPoints, using SmartArt to brighten the slides, and reducing the wordiness and correcting the grammar. But, in my IT classes,it si more important to have good exercises than slides.
@SherryErney
I have also found that if the lights are turned out in showing a power point, it can mean instant slumbering throughout the class depending on the time of day that the class is held. I keep the lights on and keep the power points short, interacting with the class with whiteboard notes in between certain power point slides. This helps assure engagement.
I appreciate a well-constructed power point presentation. The recommended 10/20/30 equation is one that I had not previously used, but will going forward. 20 minutes is ample time to spend in class with reduced lighting. I also find that the students sit with minimal movement when watching slide presentations. They lose the element peer- to- peer engagement.
Students have very high expectations of visual material. The things one can see on a smart phone for example has elevated our expectation of video quality, sound and graphic design. Powerpoint lacks any "wow' factor.
@SherryErney
Agreed, The powerpoint should only be used to enhance the lecture and never as a crutch.
I tend to use my power point slides from the book as a launching pad for further discussions. They are not the entire focus of the class, but they do provide the structure.
@justskeit68
I use the white board for class information: date, start finish time, class lecture material, heck I even through in the weather report and some random trivia. I then turn to the power point a tool to convey the class information, and use the powerpoint with lecture /demo to convey information. It can be tricky because you have to keep the students on track, so it just as important to read the class and if they fall off pace, then i have to slow down or redirect them to be successful.
@SherryErney PowerPoints can be useful, however my experience shows that too many people consider the PPT the presentation, rather than a tool to support the presentation.
I personally do not like teaching from powerpoint. I teach adults and sometimes they feel like it is story time. I usually go through the information first and demo whatever needs to be demoed, then I pop up the powerpoint to touch on key points rather than just read to them what they already have in their hands. I feel it also adds credibility to who I present myself as, the students also seem to feel like I am not just a warm body reading to them and that I really know what I am teaching.
I try to use the white board more often than Powerpoint and I do get students coming back to me saying thank you because they are tired of powerpoint for every class they have. I find they tend to take notes better and therefore retaining information more.
I place students in different age and gender groups and have them do up to date research on the powerpoint information from their smart phones. We then have a lively discussion on the pertinent information.
Some of the powerpoint information is outdated and no longer relevant to some of the subject matter. We then have discussions and i feel that the students feel more bought in to the lessons as they can participate in the direction of their education, and participate more.
I also use that discussions for assessment purposes, so that everyone has the responsability to participate in the discussion.
Peter, I think placing the students in different age and gender groups is a good way for students to learn from their peers. Older adults could benefit from the young technically-savvy students and younger students could benefit from hearing life’s lessons from older students. These are just examples of what may transpire with this type of group diversity.
When I was a young woman in college one of my best friends who was also a classmate was about 20 years older than me. She inspired me to continue my educational journey, provided me with constructive criticism and presented stories about some of her life experiences as it related to academia
@SherryErney
I think a power point can be very useful but, I like to teach to all kinds of learning students. Everyone learns differently. You also have to explain the content of the power point as well as, using analagies, props, etc., to make the learning interesting and fun.
Good topic. I agree with you about powerpoints and do think they are overused.
Recently while teaching in a live chat online, I had a student commend me for not using only powerpoints. She said that her previous instructor would just show powerpoint how tos and she really liked the fact that I was adding in live how to actually do something step by step instead of just listing it in a powerpoint.
I think it is important to make sure that we all don't just go through the motions and that we interact with our students. One student told me they liked seeing how I was having a hard time. I was showing them a how to, and purposely added a text tool that I knew if I tried the next step it wouldn't allow. The students were impressed that I kept plugging through and got through it. And I said well it's important to have patience with what you are doing otherwise you will be too frustrated.
Fact is students like to see this interaction. They don't want to be read to daily as they can read on their own.
thanks for your discussion. You bring up a very important topic.
Thanks again,
Kelly
@pgiuliano
I agree Powerpoint lacks wow factor. As instructors/ professors we need to wow students and engage them.
-Kelly
I personally do not like using power points. I like to have students engaged and have found that if they can touch it they can relate better and understand concepts. The hands on approach has always been better.
