Death by PowerPoint
Admit it, we've all been there. A tool that is supposed to help us understand material suddenly turns into something that you dread. Is it really the tool though, or its use? I am inclined to say that it is the latter, which is really unfortunate. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we should eliminate the use of PowerPoint all together because it truly is an effective educational tool, but what I am saying is that we should revamp our usage. PowerPoint was not designed so we could put all our information on slides and then sit there and read for hours on end. Instead we should use the slides as a conversation/lecture guide. Additionally, the presentation is there to simply present information that we as humans cannot orally. By this, I mean that the tool can present visual and oral stimuli such as pictures, videos, and sound clips that will enhance student learning. Overall, the main message that I intend to give with this picture is that we as future teachers should use technology in positive manner to teach students by engaging them in the content, not to bore them to death.
Thanks for the laugh, I definitely needed that! Sadly so many people really are clueless as to what PowerPoint is really for - even at MSU, a lot of our classmates have no idea. So many of them use the slides to drive a speech or a presentation instead of having it supplement the material they're presenting themselves. In the worst cases, the slides are merely word-for-word copies of what the presenter is saying. We all need to take care in our future classrooms to have expectations of how slideshows should and shouldn't be used when our own students are making their own.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. Powerpoints should be used to supplement lessons, and not be at the center.
ReplyDelete