I have just completed my first techno powerpoint.I included my gingerbread man on each slide to provide humourous sequencing and jazzed up a pretty boring 'Healthy Living' powerpoint I had created for Year 8 Home Ec. students Using the animation tool and the sound tool makes the experience much more interesting. Unfortunately 'Powerpoints' have become so commonplace in presentations that they are often disengaging and can promote a message of 'generic' education to the students/audience. This sends a message to the clientele which screams impersonal. When powerpoints are used as the teaching tool and not as a support, then the presenter could be a robot! If powerpoints are used as support and reference then that is beneficial. Overuse of any medium creates a situation of disengagement, so I think it is important not to overuse the tool and this way its vitality can be maintained.
However, encouraging students to use this tool to display their findings after researching a topic is creative, hands on and can be either collaborative or individual. Using the tool as both formative and summative assessment provides opportunity for diversity.
Personally, I enjoy a visual summary on powerpoint not the whole topic and will definitely be using this tool as a support and also as a learning design element for students.
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Hi Sue
ReplyDeleteYou've put forward some enlightening points here. I agree with you that teachers should be using powerpoints as a support tool. If the teacher isn't "teaching" the students then what is the point of them? Especially with technology growing at an increasingly rapid pace, I can get all the information I need to complete a subject using the various tools available through the internet.
Given this, I in no way underestimate the need of teachers in the education system, but I do think they need to develop and utilise effective teaching methods. Powerpoints are obviously a great elearning tool used to engage students for longer periods of time. When they are done well they can be very engaging. Those that incorporate video elements are extremely effective in this respect as they can break up the monotony of the "lecture" of the teacher with a visual, out-of-the-classroom experience.
Regards
Lyneale
Hi Sue and Lyneale,
ReplyDeleteI actually just finished leaving a message on your slide show congratulating you on it and that fact you hadn't overdone the text on it. I think that is the area people all down and perhaps that is a good teaching point for students. How to clarify and shorten their key points for maximum effect in a power point.
I do hold slightly different views on one point Lyneale made although I certainly understand that she has a relevant point as well.
"If the teacher isn't "teaching" the students then what is the point of them?"
I think we need to revisit the notion that we must always be passing on knowledge. As teachers we can simply be a support for students and allow them to learn at their own pace and through their own mistakes. It is a very strange feeling the first time you let loose the reins but I do think being able to has its advantages.
Hi Ladies and thanks again for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas enmesh and highlight the fact that 'teaching' is a multifaceted profession which requires both, and not exclusively, instruction and support for discovery learning.
Too true about powerpoints with too many words in them, you may as well read the book!
cheers
sue