Job Discussion Forums

[mcloo7]

For those of you who work in universities or other places without pre-made lesson plans, do you ever use power point for your lessons? If so, is this something you could use everyday, instead of writing on the board? Also, if so, do you recommend buying power point before you come to China?

[Guerciotti]

I use powerpoints every day for subject classes, and sometimes for English classes.
A PPT can make the class more interesting, which causes conversation, which in turn facilitates conversation. Anything for conversation!
PPT is part of Microsoft Word Suite. If you have Word or Excel on your computer you already have it.
One way to see if you have PPT: download any PPT from the web and open it.

[dean_a_jones]

I use it quite a lot, as it allows me to display pictures, vocabulary, pre-prepared discussion questions, instructions, homework etc. I find using the whiteboard uses up too much time and is less clear, and the students tend to understand tasks a bit better or are more focused in group work when they can refer to things rather than just hear instructions/questions once. It also helps save on paper if you use it instead of handouts.

However, I will say that you have to be careful not to overdo it. Powerpoint presentations in general are quite boring, and people tend to have a habit of writing ugly, dull slides with far too much text (and this is true back home as well). They should be supplementing the actual information and interaction you are having in class, they should not be the main show. If you wanted an idea of how it use it, feel free to PM me.

In terms of buying it, will you school provide you with a laptop or computer? If so, it will probably have it on there, hopefully in English. If not, you might want to pick up a copy. Office was also at one point available for online use for free--not sure if that is still the case.

[Shroob]

If it doesn't have powerpoint you can just download Open Office.

[doogsville]

I use PPTs on occasion, but I think you can become too reliant on them. Always write out what's on the PPT in case the computer is broken when you arrive and you have to improvise. Always remember to save in 2003/2007 mode or whatever version your school is using if it's not the same version you are using.

Keep them simple and use as many pictures as possible to illustrate your point, rather than putting the whole lesson on the PPT in text form.

Always remember to randomly include at least one picture of a man or women naked or in swimwear just to see if they're paying attention.

The last one is optional.

[it'snotmyfault]

I've found using PPT and multi media in general to be counter productive a lot of the time. If I only need it for a small part of the lesson I'll look at some alternative such as print outs or board work (as old school as that sounds).

The students seem to instantly lapse into passive learning mode when the computer fires up, curtains closed and the usual calls of "watch movie teacher".

I guess they're so conditioned into spending 90minutes "observing" the Chinese teachers PPT style lessons they think every lessons going to be the same!

[chinatimes]

I use wordpad instead of the chalkboard. I will explain something and then quiz the students. They will obviously not remember, so all I have to do is scroll up to where we were. You can add vocabulary words (the smart ones often try to add some you forgot).

With a chalkboard, you have to erase when you finish one part so the class can still see. Writing on the sides of the board makes it hard for those on the other side of the classroom to read. The wordpad idea allows you to go up and down instead of left to right. If the projector screen is in the center, this is ideal. Everyone can see.

2 things about powerpoints. Nothing wrong in general, but students don't really retain the information. You have to go over it again. The other thing is that when older students give presentations they either copy someone else's powerpoint or they do too many special effects.

I had one student download a powerpoint onto his cell phone and then bring it up to me claiming he made it. When I enlarged it on the screen there was a logo of the site he took it from on each page at the bottom. The class got a nice chuckle when I pointed this out.

When you design powerpoint files, make sure they can be presented on your computer, or else it might not work. By having pictures and a word document you can be sure each computer you use will be able to load the file. There might be times the text size is too small or the font you chose isn't there, but keep it simple and chances are you won't freak out.

Another tip, put your questions in one color and then make the answers white. You can simply scroll over the answer area marked in some way *booga booga* (<----try it).

[rogerwilco]

The Chinese teachers use PPT's so often that the use of them sometimes tells the class that "it is time for a nap".

[likwid_777]

In my course they call that "death by Powerpoint".

Openoffice is awesome. And free. And thanks to Shroob, because I never even knew it had a Powerpoint style program. That is, until he mentioned it in this thread. Freeware, yeah!

[sharpe88]

Prezis (prezi.com) are superior to powerpoint. Though they can be abused as well.