Finding Common Ground

Cross posted at Thoughts From Krill

I have to agree with Jim Gates in his Everyone’s a Critic post over at TipLine. I mean, that’s not to say that I haven’t been tortured with a PowerPoint presentation that was too wordy, too flashy, too hard to read, etc… I hear alot of moans, groans and complaints when it comes time to do a presentation. Someone is bound to say (begrudgingly), I guess we’ll use PowerPoint. But, come on everyone uses presentation software - without PowerPoint or Keynote, what else is there to use? If no one is using PowerPoint or it’s not needed, then why did Slideshare show up? And look at this - a slideshare about blogging over at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog.

Maybe the problem is that it’s so easy to use anyone can do it…should the program force the user to complete an orientation about the most effective color schemes, font sizes and animations before the program will let them continue? Isn’t that why the program comes with built in designs - for those people that don’t realize how to create an effective presentation? Seems that like with most issues related to the use of technology, lack of training is the issue here.

I think the message we need to spread is that PowerPoint is not a teaching tool - it is presentation software. Teachers should NOT be presenters in today’s classrooms. Teachers should NOT be using PowerPoint to teach students. Students CAN be using PowerPoint if they’re preparing a presentation. The teacher should be educating those students about effective presentation techniques - think about your audience, don’t fill your slides with text, monitor your message, maintain a consistent appearance, etc…

When it comes time to prepare a presentation, I will continue to use PowerPoint and Keynote, even if it’s a presentation full of screen shots. They may be 20 slides or it may be only one
slide. Do I have to join PowerPoint Anonymous?

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