Hi Group,
This week we looked into the use of PowerPoints as an effective tool in the classroom. I think that there is alot of potential for its use and I look forward to learning more in the future.
This semester, I have decided to use PowerPoints in a single section of A&P 1. To "get my feet wet" and to save time (to be honest) I decided to use the premade slides that are provided by the textbook publisher. It is working but it just doesn't feel natural to me because it is not my lecture. Also, it seems a bit rigid. However, over the summer, I plan on creating my own lecture online, when I have time, and include the features we learned in Computing 1 as well as the quiz show templates we are now using.
My main goal is to improve student teacher interaction with technology and I don't want it to become me reading off of the screen and the students following along on the printed handouts.
Thanks,
Ken
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2 comments:
Hi Ken:
I agree with you totally about using someone elses materials for your lectures. It robs you of your style and voice. The content of the publisher's slides is probably decent and will serve as a great scaffolding for you to make a slide deck of your own. It just takes a lot of time to make the slides and tweak them just right. I just talked about "consistency" in slide design on my blog. Choose a format that works for you then stick to it, it will make designing a lot of slides for many lectures much easier if you start with the right template and ideas.
Definitely check out Kevin’s blog with great points on consistency as I agree that consistency is important. I have never been impressed with PowerPoint templates that are prepackaged with the software or those provided by publishers. They are often not very good. It is best to make up your own template and then use the same template for an entire course as the student becomes comfortable with it.
Other basic design tips are not to use overcrowded slides with too many effects. I have been to many talks and lectures in which the presenter spent more time on transitions and sound effects than the actual content of the talk. This is very distracting to the audience. It is also important to think carefully before using animations, sound and video. It’s best to use those effects sparingly as they’ll have more impact. You want the audience to focus on the content of your presentation and on you as the deliverer of that content.
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