Standard power point lectures
Do people still do traditional teaching by power point?
Yes, but we also do videos and lab/hands on training in conjuction.
Some institutes use power point but usually mix that with interactive demonstrations and informal discussion. and the power point is as much a back drop and guide rather than lesson material
I get occasional comments for being old school but I use PowerPoint (or other) often. And, they are not just backdrop images to make a TED style lecture palatable. I include pics, bullets, embedded videos, review questions, etc. These are my reasons and benefits:
- They keep me on track. I tell a lot of techncial war stories, which while interesting, are sometimes diversionary, and can eat up a lot of valuable class time. Slides keep the students and myself focused on essential coverage in a highly orchestrated manner.
- For technical courses, slides are wonderful for displaying sequencial screenshots that illustrate exactly how a complex procedure can be done.
- Yes, you could just present those steps in a text lab document. However, by having students do the steps concurrent with the powerpoint presentation, I can tell them why a particular step is being performed and point out the pitfalls and places where labs sometimes go awry. In essence, it kills two birds with one stone. They are engaging hands-on exercises and learning why at the same time.
- I can deviate from the slide and show a live demonstration at any time.
- This approach can also work for online students, as long as the student is able to manipulate one screen/window while working in another.
- It keeps all the students in the class conceptually 'together' so that weaker ones are not being left behind and quicker ones are not too far ahead.
- And finally, in spite of the 'death by PowerPoint', I get high scores from students for my classes.
Is this spoon feeding? Yes it is. It is aimed at an audience that is experiencing some complex technical concept for the first time. But it leads to later being able to successfully navigate higher level case studies and projects.
In sum, all tools have their place. Just because a blackboard/whiteboard is old school does not negate its magical ability to engage. Likewise, a slide show, properly created and used in the right context is also still magical. Sometimes, we are too quick to throw them out, just because they are old tools. On the other hand, most videos for education are poorly done. Often, they are way more 'boring' than a mediocre live teacher, lacking studio quality sound, lights, and, transition imaging. The teacher 'actors' are novices when it comes to knowing how to be in front of a camera and project vocally, move around properly or even use background tools. We are just not there yet and until we are, making use of familiar, time tested tools, can provide surprising results.
Yes I use power points, videos, and hands on in skills lab asoociated with the topic/lecture
