Week 4: Presentations for the Classroom

Presentations that use a powerpoint format can be very beneficial in the classroom.  However, in some cases, they are no different to the over head projector sheets teachers formerly used when presenting topics.  This happens when teachers put massive amounts of text onto a slide and expect the students to read it and/or write it down.  Although this is using technology, it is very boring and involves very little if any student interaction and involvement.  Some try to add sound effects and/or clip art, but this is does little to make it any more of a valuable learning tool.

A better way to teach with this technology is to add important topics or text to each slide and then the teacher discusses freely.  By doing this, the students don't have to sit and look at a screen full of words.  They can get involved in a conversation that goes over the important topics.  From there, they can write down what the message is that the teacher is trying to get across along with the many other things brought up in the conversation. 

This technology can be very complicated though. I had a difficult time trying to get my presentation to be exactly how I wanted it.  Specifically, I was not able to figure out how to add a spreadsheet I currently have to one of the slides.  Instead, I had to find a picture on the web that somewhat resembled what I was trying to show.  In cases like this, I feel teachers could get extremely frusterated with the process and just resort to what they are comfortable with.  Workshops or a faculty member to help teachers with this technology would be beneficial.