Week Three.

powerpoints.

Attention lecturers, powerpoint doesn't have to be as boring as you make it.
This is what I learn when I futher explored powerpoint this week.

O week left me with a slight dislike for powerpoints after term one of a particular subject (not lm or poul btw) I can say that I hated powerpoint but after learning a little more about the program I'm now open to a number of possibilities for its use in the classroom without boring my future students to death.

My university experience of power points has basically been a white slide with black writing. A visual aid? More like a visual bore. After my first couple of weeks of prac and also not leaving school too long ago I know that boredom is definately an issue that needs to be combatted in a classroom and using an unformatted, monochrome slide isn't going to achieve this.

Powerpoints aren't meant to be basic slides, the ability to incorporate links, movies, pictures and animations support this. Backgrounds, fonts, layouts and colour can be easily manipulated to create an aesthetically pleasing slide. Powerpoints can be intereactive. Utilising links can create a quiz for students eg. on one slide have a question and multiple answers that are linked - if the answer clicked on is correct a slide with positive feedback comes next, if the answer clicked is wrong a message about why it is wrond and a try again link can be clicked. Interaction!!

Visual learners will receive most benefit from a powerpoint, as it is a visual aid in the classroom. However powerpoints should not be set up and let run without further explanation or reinforcement from the teacher. The teacher's job is to further explain and extend on the notes or media presented on the powerpoint. Therefore the correct use of powerpoints will also benefit auditory learners, because it will allow them to see and hear the information.

As always there is a time and place for powerpoint to be used in the classroom, and that's not everyday for every subject but utilising this form of teaching taking into account the issues mentioned before will have a positive effect on learning. So now we know it's not powerpoint's fault that it is a bad reputation amoung university students, its due to the constant use of it and the lack functionality we see in our lectures and tutes.