PowerPoint in the classroom

Hi Everyone,

I can remember PowerPoint being a vital tool used in the classroom when I was a little girl and still believe it has a place in our classrooms today. Although I have used PowerPoint before, I found the PowerPoint tutorials offered in week three of Managing E-learning very helpful as I was introduced to some new and easier techniques of using PowerPoint. The first step during the scaffolding process was to create an organizational chart in word to map the plan of the presentation. I had never done this before but in reflection believe it is a very important step and I will encourage my future students to do the same. The next step of the scaffolding tutorial was to design the outline of the presentation in a word document and send it to PowerPoint. Once again I had never done this before and can recognize the benefits of this scaffolding process. By approaching PowerPoint through this scaffolded design approach, one will reduce the risk of overemphasizing gadgets and keep the focus on the target content. I have identified some positives and negatives of the PowerPoint tool.

Positives
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 and can be edited
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.
7. PowerPoint can be accessed and reused at a later date to revise concepts.
8. You can print out what you did in class for students that were absent. Or one could turn the accountability on to students and post presentations on-line.
9. PowerPoint is not hard to learn and there is a help tab available on the tool.

Negatives
1. Content can sometimes take a back seat to gadgets and “tricks”.
2. Computers crash, networks go down, viruses can plague computers and a back-up plan is needed.
3. Overuse can diminish PowerPoint's effectiveness and become boring for students.
4. Classrooms need large monitors or projectors to display presentations.

Overall PowerPoint is a wonderful tool and for learning in both a student and teacher-directed situation, as it can add a new dimension to learning. It allows teachers to explain abstract concepts, while accommodating all learning styles. PowerPoint is also an achievable task for children to produce to demonstrate their understanding of the topic. As future learning managers we must just be aware of PowerPoint Paralysis. Triple "P" can be defined as the over use of gadgets and effects that prolong the PowerPoint experience and as a result distract the learners from the key concept being taught.

Nevertheless there is great potential for PowerPoint in the classroom such as:
- general overviews of the topic avoids note taking
- lively games/ quizzes for students (like million dollar question)
- Interesting visual aids for oral presentations

This list could go on. I recently used PowerPoint to design a Deal or No Deal game for a subtraction lesson with my students. The students were engaged by the different medium and seemed to enjoy the game. This just goes to show by using a PowerPoint correctly one can make a somewhat dry and mundane topic engaging for the students. Let me know what you think about PowerPoint and what examples you have seen in the classroom contexts.

Regards Pauline.