Here's the thing about PowerPoint. It is incredibly overused! Here's an instructional PowerPoint on the matter. View by clicking here. I rest my case.
I couldn't agree more with the comments about overloaded slides! Why put your entire talk/lecture/speech on slides? I am the person who reads the slide before you finishing speaking. I am the person who is not listening to you because I am reading the slide. I am the person who is listening to you but not bothering to read your slide.
There are also so many alternative presentation methods (that I am just beginning to learn about). Kent (2009, p. 7) states, "...if a teacher simply turns their overhead transparencies into a PowerPoint presentation they are probably gaining very little pedagogically. If this teacher then asks students to make their own PowerPoint, based on the information that was presented to them, we discover where the terms 'death by PowerPoint' and 'PowerPointlessness' come from." Now I really do rest my case.
I had never actually made a PowerPoint before this course. I never had the need to before starting university last year. My first assignment required me to present 'My Journey Through Art' using electronic media. I was assured that PowerPoint was a very simple tool and had instructions provided. They didn't work! Needless to say, after much frustration I explored MovieMaker myself and found it a fairly self-explanatory tool which met my needs! The PowerPoint instructions I was provided with were for PowerPoint 2003. I was using PowerPoint 2007.
I was quite keen to 'have a go' this time around. I actually feel embarrassed as my son was learning PowerPoint in Year 3! The PowerPoint instructions on Moodle were fantastic. The only trouble I ran into was finishing the PowerPoint using outline (again, as I was using PowerPoint 2007, not 2003) but 'lurking' around the forum quickly solved my problem, when an enterprising student with the same problem asked for instructions! The finished products are below. Somewhat lacking in creativity...but still...it was my first go...
The first PowerPoint is a continuation from my wiki. This is how the students may choose to present their information (research project) to the class for discussion.
Here is a PowerPoint presentation I made. View it here.
Here is a PowerPoint presentation I made, using the outline method. View it here.
References
Kapterev, A. (n.d.). Death by PowerPoint (and how to fight it). Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/the croaker/death-by-powerpoint
Kent, P. (2009). Learning with ICT. South Yarra, VIC, Australia: Macmillan Education Australia.
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