Powerpoint is the new and improved version of the good old Over Head Projector (OHP) which replaced the blackboard. During my school days the blackboard was the tool which teachers used to display all information. When I started my career as a fire fighter all lessons were displayed on the OHP. I thought this was fantastic and a big leap forward in technology. Later on in my fire fighting career I became a trainer and taught all my lessons using powerpoint presentations.
I find that powerpoint presentations are my favourite of all the ICT tools, this tool not only allows you to display written text but the ability to imbed digital images, movies, graphics, animation, and figures. I find by using these in the presentation helps keeps students engaged especially visual learners like myself. The other advantage of using powerpoint is the ability to print out the lessons before you have delivered it. I found this of great benefit when attending university lectures, as I would print out the whole lecture before attending with the remarks columns next to the slides and make my own notes next to the printed slides.
The only negative I can find and it is a big one is people tend to put too much text onto the one slide, this then becomes death by powerpoint. I have attend many of these types of lectures (manly in the fire service) and find myself starting to fall asleep or day dreaming.
Below are advantages and disadvantages when using power point in the classroom according to Teachnology (2010).
What's Good About PowerPoint?
1. PowerPoint is fun to watch and fun to make.
2. Used correctly, PowerPoint can accommodate all learners' needs.
3. It has a spell-check function! Something our black boards and overheads lack.
4. It motivates students when used in moderation.
5. It motivates staff.
6. PowerPoint allows you to reflect on your lesson and correct any needed changes. Finally, you can create the perfect lesson!
7. Imagine to be able to print out what you did in class for students that were absent. Better yet, turn the accountability on to students and post your presentations on-line.
8. PowerPoint is not hard to learn. Our technology staff rates it a "B+" for ease of use. It should take about one hour to learn the basics.
What's Bad About PowerPoint?
1. Content can sometimes take a back seat to flash. Watch-out for triple "P."
2. Computers crash, networks go down, viruses can plague computers! Always have a back-up plan!
3. Overuse can bore learners and diminish PowerPoint's effectiveness.
4. Classrooms need large monitors or projectors to display presentations. Make sure your technology plan furnishes this. With simple TV-out cards or VGA-TV converters, this can be easily accomplished.
5. A successful presentation can take several hours to develop. (Teachnology, 2010).
References
Teachnology. (2010). What’s good about power point? Retrieved 10thNovember 2010 from http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/powerpoint/
Simon
ReplyDeleteI like the points you have made about ppt as it can have a negative effect towards learning. As I find that all teachers will be using ppt in the future I believe it is important for teachers to learn how to make slides effective and serve a purpose. :)
Hi Simon,
ReplyDeleteI like your analogy of Power Point replacing the OHP and blackboard :)
On my last prac there were students from another university who constantly referred to their lessons as "presentations" and this really bugged me. They were planning and implementing each lesson just like it was a presentation to the students, and I believe a lot of this attitude comes from the use of Power Point. Teachers get caught up with using this technology and needing to present something fun and exciting to the students, but they miss that they need engaging content. Without the content, all they are doing is using the new version of the blackboard/ OHP.
Thanks,
April