Power Point Presentations in the Class Room
Proper Versus Inappropriate Use of Visual Technology
Dec 25, 2008
The advent of the “power point” has greatly benefited classroom instruction but has also led to widespread misuse. When the classroom lights go out or are dimmed and the power point comes to life, students begin text messaging, working on other teacher’s assignments, and passing notes to each other. Power point limits good classroom management and, if used as an end to itself, may actually hinder solid instruction.
Proper Use of the Power Point
Power point presentations represent one tool teachers can use to improve learning and instruction. Too often, it becomes the only tool. Good power points should enhance and complement classroom instruction. They work well with charts, maps, and other visuals used to illustrate lectures and discussions.
Power point use assists visual learners and helps teachers stick to a schedule or lesson plan. Through the use of key words or phrases, power points reinforce important concepts. Since the best student recollection of learned material is tied to short term memory “clues,” power points can provide those mental sign posts, enabling students to better recall the parts of the “bigger picture.”
Student generated presentations are also enhanced with power point as long as students are discouraged from reading their frames. Teaching students the art of creating meaningful power point presentations builds upon on-going technological expertise that is becoming more important in careers following high school or college graduation. Teachers that use power point should model this.
Improper Use of the Power Point
Too often, the power point becomes a poor substitute for instructing. In many ways, the power point has replaced the endless mimeographs and later worksheets duplicated on Xerox machines. Yet the results are often the same: instruction is depersonalized and student interaction is limited. The constant use of power point presentations also tempts teachers not to vary instructional goals from year to year, despite the fact that objectives and outcomes may change based on curriculum reforms.
Teachers that use power points to project their notes will find that rather than listening to the accompanying drawl of information, students are too busy writing down the outlines or paragraphs. If this becomes a daily ritual, who really needs a teacher in the classroom? Outlines are a helpful tool for all students, particularly those with organizational deficiencies or learning differences, but there are better ways to post or disseminate them. The power point should not be used for this purpose.
Constant use of power point devalues instructional time. Like teaching to a test, intellectual curiosity is stifled and there is little room for rich interaction, discussion, or analysis of the concepts under discussion. Additionally, students use these periods, when the lights are dimmed, to engage in activities they normally would not in a classroom situation where the teacher is able to move among the rows of students.
Power point usage on a regular scale, when used as a panacea for lecture/discussion, inherently draws attention away from the teacher. This should be the true test of any education tool or “gadget.” To what extent does the technology deprive the teacher of student interchanges? Does the technology address all learning styles?
Vary the Use of Power Point
While power point presentations can be extremely helpful, using them on a daily basis can lead to stale and sterile instruction. Teachers blessed with technology in the classroom should vary the use of many different types of instructional enhancers such as Smart boards, LCD projectors, computer projections, DVD, and video. Too often teachers elect not to use particular technologies because they may be untrained in their use or, as one teacher stated, “I am the only visual aid in my classroom.”
Common sense should dictate that power points work best when they complement instruction, not supplant it. All technologies should be used wisely, but power point presentations are at the very top of the list of cautious usage.
 |
