Nicole, As for PPT's I've found them as a visual guide for my discussion works much better than supllying all or most of the key information they should know. There are better ways for students to read material than to try to condense it to a PPT. But for illustrations, diagrams, photgraphs, charts and graphs, there's nothing better as a way to explain an idea to students. PPT can also bring procedural, instrumentation, geographical, or technical information to the classroom that does not normally have these resources available to them. Finally, embedded video's can enhance a presentation very nicely. Barry Westling