Powerpoint Presentation Analysis

COMPARISONS BETWEEN A CLASS WHERE POWER POINT PRESENTAION IS USED TO PRESENT THIS LESSON AND WHERE IT IS NOT

The implications of interposing a PowerPoint presentation between an instructor and students and one taught without PowerPoint or led a case discussion without PowerPoint or acted Socratic-like without PowerPoint, our relationship with students was unmediated and more human, more direct, less pre-meditated and less structured. The pedagogy involved depended on the particular situation, the process of interchange, the verbal and nonverbal communication, the repartee, the facial expressions, and the multitude of things that unfold during unmediated human relationships and dialogue.

These were all “immediacy behaviors” which include such

These problems, of course, are not specifically associated with PowerPoint use but it does have a tendency to make some practitioners feel that the improvements offered by PowerPoint are sufficient to make their presentations more effective. When used appropriately, it does encourage staff, for the sake of a relatively shallow learning-curve, to improve the professionalism and quality of their didactic sessions and facilitates the development and evolution of more interactive and flexible practices. It soon becomes obvious that didactic use represents only a very basic level of practice – PowerPoint is much more powerful and flexible than that and alternative activities can be facilitated by its use, limited only by the creativity of the user. Consider combining media where necessary although you should use multimedia from within PowerPoint cautiously. Use PowerPoint to provide a transparently structured presentation and associated handouts – but don’t include too much detail. Encourage annotation of any derived handouts by students. Consider providing access to files in advance of sessions and encourage preparative viewing, reading, and then annotation of handouts by the students during presentations; this should be in the context of learning to prepare before coming to particular classes rather than only reading material afterward. Emphasise the dictum “Failing to prepare is preparing to