Teaching with powerpoint
Posted: February 11th, 2010 | Author: Ron Bronson | Filed under: Higher Ed, Ideas | Tags: powerpoint, teaching | 4 Comments »You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Teaching with powerpoint”.
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I think there is something about PowerPoint presentation that makes the pupils lazy/lazier. Usually this is because the presentation is available online on BlackBoard or some other online course facilitation tool. The teacher has to be very well prepared to use the presentation in order for it to be effective. Increasingly I have seen instructors use slightly customized presentations that have been shipped with the course text by the publishers. This might be where the problem is. The presentation in such cases is not in line with the teaching style of the instructor, and hence is pretty useless.
True. In my case, it might explain why I find it easier not to use the Powerpoint since all of my material is customized and not factory shipped.
Thanks for your thoughtful response to my blog entry. I find it interesting that you note that you prefer PowerPoint because it helps you. I’m wondering what exactly it helps you to do. If it helps you to remember your lecture points and keep you on track, I would question that decision. One of my complaints about PowerPoint-driven lectures is that they can make the professor seem ill-prepared for class. One of the common themes I’ve been getting in response to my blog post is that a presenter who knows his presentation well can go on just as easily with or without slides behind him.
Well, part of my issue is the way my class is structured. It’s not entirely in-classroom, it’s primarily online with class meetings online once every other week. As a result, I only have a limited time to cover things that I want to follow up on. I talk really fast, so for me, the powerpoint actually ensures I cover precisely what I wanted to cover with the class. I always veer off and there are things I follow up with them on, so it’s not entirely “lecture by powerpoint” and the whole thing doesn’t last the entire session.
I think it’s really aimed at my speaking style more than anything else. It’s still horribly unnatural for me, because I’ve been speaking publicly since my early teens and I’ve almost never been able to speak using notes, because it just doesn’t work, especially in a dynamic setting like a classroom.
I’ve had a classes through the years where powerpoint is the crutch of the year, so I’m with you and agreed. It was juSt funny to me, after reading your post, how I still managed to use it, despite my loathing of it, because it tended to help. That said, I don’t need powerpoint to function and for a whole year up to now teaching this same class, I never used it. But I’ve seen some benefits for both sides this term and I think it directly relates to the material I’m presenting and my own personal teaching style. So for other, their mileage may vary a great deal.
Thank you for the reply!