Are your PowerPoint’s Pointless?

Are your PowerPoint’s Pointless?

1. What do you think the author means by powerpointlessness?

Often the use of technology, especially that of PowerPoint’s, becomes a means to itself. Instead of the student or the teacher using technology to enhance the lesson, it becomes the focus of the lesson or detracts from lesson. Some common pitfalls are: too many bullets, too much clip art, simple thoughts, one liners, lack of flow and an inability to grab the audience through presentation and etc... One author called it “Death by PowerPointing.” This is ultimately seen when there is a PowerPoint with a weak presentation.

2. Have you ever witnessed powerpointlessness? How then, according to Jamie McKenzie, can we teach students to learn to think and communicate thoughtfully with PowerPoint?

I have never noticed “powerpointlessness” but that probably was because the presentation in general was pointless or did not grab my attention. The author challenges teachers to help instruct students on how to “think and communicate thoughtfully with PowerPoint” through many means. Here are a few ways:

a. Provide Examples. From childbirth people learn by mimicking others. One great way to help students become more affective presenters with PowerPoint is to show them examples of other student’s work. This will give them a model to follow.

b. Provide a Rubric. Another way to help students avoid the disease of “powerpointlessness” is to provide them with a rubric. One of the reasons that students often do not present well is because they struggle understanding what the teacher is really asking for. Give them a rubric stressing the main emphasis’s such as: presentation ability, creativity, eloquence and etc...

c. Concrete Research. Stress the need for concrete research to be presented in the PowerPoint. Too often students display one liners or incomplete sentences without any indepth research. One author said a PowerPoint should be “80% research and 20% flash.”

d. Make it appealing. Though the emphasis should not be on flash, a little flash always helps. Students should be cautioned against too much clip art and to use digital cameras when possible to deliver “more punch and power to their presentations.”

e. Teach them to present effectively. Students must master presentation strategies such as: maintaining eye contact, speaking fluidly, grabbing the audience, avoid reading slides aloud and etc…

f. Reference. Students must learn to give credit where credit is due. References, quotations provide evidence and give credence to ones presentation.

g. Be succinct. PowerPoint’s are meant to be an outline of the presentation. Avoid putting to much information in them; reserve that for the “speaking element.”

h. Consider the audience. The formation of every presentation must begin with the consideration of the audience. How old are they? What are their interests? How can I grab them and keep their attention? These are relevant questions and should be considered when developing any presentation.

Resources

http://www.fno.org/sept00/powerpoints.html