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[ABC KID]

Powerpoint is an overrated teaching aid. Discuss...

[HalfJapanese]

Well there are proper ways and improper ways to use any type of tool, whether it be for teaching or not.

As for MS Powerpoint, some people tend to write everything they are going to say on the slides and just say it verbatim during their presentation/lecture, which is kind of pointless since the students themselves can read it. (Well not for a class full of students that are not fluent in English perhaps). Plus having to much text will draw attention away from the speaker, b/c the class will tend to read the slides and ignore what is being said.

Some people suggests that the Power Points Slides are to help the presenter keep track of what they are going to talk about and help the viewers see the outline of what is being presented.

Use improperly though, power point slides seem to be used as a crutch to makeup for the lack of presentation skills and talking in front of an audience.

There is also the issue with using proper colors, usually the basic rule is either use dark text with a light background, or light text with a dark background, otherwise the text will be hard to see b/c it blends in with the background.

If the power point slides where going to be given out as notes to the students then having each slide filled with text and graphs wouldn't be such a bad idea if it were to summarize the important parts of the textbook and giver extra examples.

All and all, it really depends on the situation and usage.

[edwardcatflap]

I remember this article coming out a few years ago

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html

To me it's just a medium. It's like saying books or flashcards are overrated. It's how you use it that counts.

[NYC_Gal]

You can make some great games on powerpoint. My kids go nuts for the games, so I make them a treat that they need to earn.

I also set music to them and teach them songs with hilarious pictures that I find online.

It also saves me from having to write the same dialogues on the board for every class. I type much more quickly, and we have huge screens. Sure, I write a lot on the board, but if I know I'm going to have to write a series of dialogues for them to rehearse (per my coteacher) I type it out and add some funny pictures to engage the kids.

It's how you use them, just like it's how you use a board and maker. I can make the same sort of game analogue style, but it's just easier to have everything ready.

[Caffeinated]

Agreed about the games.

Saves me from having to print out cards, laminating etc.

[seonsengnimble]

Power point can be pretty useful, but I generally prefer a whiteboard and marker. I like to use power point for short lectures, but for most lessons, I need the adaptability of a marker. If students don't understand one description, with a marker I can draw or demonstrate in countless ways what something means or how to do something.

That being said, I hate powerpoint for a completely different reason. I really really really hate microsoft office. They come out with a "new and improved" version every few years which isn't compatible with older versions, so people need to buy the latest version to view a basic document just because it's in the .docx format instead of .doc.

I would be fine with this except for the fact that each newer version is much more of a pain in the neck to use than the last version. They keep adding more and more autoformatting bs which just takes more and more time to get around. If I wanted the next line to be indented, I would have just hit tab. Instead, I have to spend time disabling autoformatting and fighting the program over a few spaces.

Also, for those of you out there who love Office 2007, for the love of God, don't save your files as .___x. Save them in a reasonable format. No one should have to spend $200 to read a word document.

Anyways, I'm quite happy that open office exists.

[kprrok]

[seonsengnimble]

[ThingsComeAround]

[eljuero]

Let me start off by contradicting myself. I use powerpoint as someone else was mentioning - to eliminate repeatedly writing the same thing on the board. I agree with the other poster that a white board can be just as good.

There's a real advantage to minimizing your reliance on technology however. No computer crashes, viruses on usb drives, mixing up file formats etc..

The biggest confirmation for me was in the beginning of this school year when I passed out strips of words for kids to match up with definitions. Yeah, it was more work in terms of cutting things up, printing etc. but by putting actual materials in kids hands it allowed them to mix them around and discuss the materials - something that powerpoint totally takes away from them. I think giving kids a hands on experience is good for them as people and is another (tactile) way of learning.

You may want to look at the recent article from the NYTimes on the negative impact of powerpoint on the US military.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/27powerpoint.html?hp

[winterfall]

Depends on the lesson. I don't support using it all the time. Think it dulls your teaching skills and awareness. Not to mention setting up a figurative wall between you and your students.

Traditional teaching you can walk around the room, interact with the students, and add on new material on the fly. Takes ALOT more lesson prep and creativity on how to make stuff work. But, if your doing task based stuff, it's better if the kid's have something they can feel then a picture slide show asking them to blurt out vocabulary words.

But with power point, its MUCH easier to make lessons and material and teach certain things like Past, Present, and Future. Verbs and the Continuous if you've got the animations. Though it's a lot harder to make adjustments on the fly like, adding more pictures. And for the most part, unless you've got those nifty little controls. You'll be standing in a corner of the room the whole class working your mouse.

[PigeonFart]

This link is hilarious. It's a comedian giving a powerpoint presentation on how people do bad powerpoint presentations. It's really funny...and true!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck

[HalfJapanese]

^
Thanks for sharing, I laugh so hard and learned some tips and things to avoid for my next power point presentation.

[jvalmer]

I used to like the chalk and black board approach. But now I'm in the process of converting them to PP. However, my lessons are always paper based. There are numerous occasions when the computer goes bad, so the paper is right there and you can go to the blackboard if it happens.