Microsoft Powerpoint has become synonymous with presentation for many persons. We hear it all the time " are you doing powerpoint?" When we really mean," are you doing a slide presentation?". In CUTL 5106 I included a You Tube video called "Death by Powerpoint" to highlight some of the ways we use the software, that really affects our presentations negatively e.g. too much text on a slide, too many colours that don't blend, slides that are too busy etc. These are pointers we should all keep in mind.
Another point to note is when you are doing a presentation and using powerpoint to support, objectives always keep you on target and make it clearer for your audience. Your audience will know whether the session is relevant to them.
Good graphics and photos can enhance a presentation and expose students to so many experiences that may not have been available in a classroom before. On the other hand, irrelevant or poor graphics and photos can be downright annoying.
If you feel you don't have the skill or resources to use graphics and photos appropriately, it's probably best to keep your slides simple. However, no graphics at all in a slide presentation may suggest that little effort was spent in making the presentation visually appealing so you need to do a bit of a balancing act.
One thing to always keep in mind is never, ever fill your slides up with a whole lot of text and then turn and read these slides word for word. That would indeed result in "Death by Powerpoint".
The photo used above was captured from http://hubpages.com/hub/Amazing_Presentations_Keyword_Clouds_PowerPoint
Amazing Presentations, Key Word Clouds and How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint (ppt)
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As I continue to struggle with my power point presentation due on Friday, 25th February, 2011, I will bear in mind this, Doc. Thanks. You did mention it before in the MHED class but I guess as the time draws closer for the presentation it makes it more relevant. I believe that even after this assignment, I don't think that I will be a fan of power point presentations. I will though have a better understanding and appreciation of how to create an excellent one that maybe beneficial to the different VARK learning styles in my class. Thanks
ReplyDeleteWell, time for public confessions. I made these mistakes even though I did read the guidelines on using PowerPoint. Although I've included learning outcomes in some PowerPoint slides I've done for my lectures, I forgot to include them for the assignment; I still have issues of clutter which is one of my major weaknesses in using this medium (even though, believe it or not, I'm improving); and I still don't know yet how to use certain graphics and other visuals, etc, in the presentation. I admit I have some learning curves to climb before mastering PowerPoint.
ReplyDeleteClimb those curves! You will feel great afterwards!
ReplyDeleteA good balance is very important especially in the use of graphics, especially in my field. In my field, it is important to explain a lot of concepts, biological pathways and processes which may involve a lot of small molecules moving from one point to another and then a new molecule is made which then moves to another point, activating another molecule downstream, and so on. It is usually easier to explain these with animated graphics. I have attended some conferences where I have attended some really interesting presentations at conferences where little molecules fly all across the screen, back and forth. I have watched with so much fascination to the point where I actually was not paying attention at all to the actual presentation but just enjoying the fascinating display of graphics and wondering “how I am I going to try and create anything like that……!” To be honest, I suspect that if I could create such fantastic graphics, I would go overboard!(Sacha)
ReplyDeleteA good balance is very important especially in the use of graphics, especially in my field. In my field, it is important to explain a lot of concepts, biological pathways and processes which may involve a lot of small molecules moving from one point to another and then a new molecule is made which then moves to another point, activating another molecule downstream, and so on. It is usually easier to explain these with animated graphics. I have attended some conferences where I have attended some really interesting presentations at conferences where little molecules fly all across the screen, back and forth. I have watched with so much fascination to the point where I actually was not paying attention at all to the actual presentation but just enjoying the fascinating display of graphics and wondering “how I am I going to try and create anything like that……!” To be honest, I suspect that if I could create such fantastic graphics, I would go overboard!(Sacha
ReplyDeleteI have been tortured a couple of times by some power point presentations that did exactly what the presenter warned against. As a result, I am always conscious of not falling into the same traps (although I must admit that I have been found guilty a couple times, as we do tend to get carried away in the moment sometimes). Nevertheless, I think that it is a good start to be conscious of what could go wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs I did my power point, I thought I had covered all bases, but alas I did not. Like Geraldine, I have some curves to climb. I think in my quest to make it fully comprehensive I could overload my slides, I will have to be more mindful of this in future.
ReplyDeleteI'm a PowerPoint fan, Dionne. How can I ever teach without it! However, my presentations tend to be simple and I employ Smartart graphics to give them a visual lift. To anyone who is artistically challenged like I am, the Smartart graphics tool(check the PPt tool bar)is a life saver. I introduced it to my students and they have a field day employing all the various design options.
ReplyDeleteI found this video very entertaining. I am guilty of putting too much information on one slide. I will have to change this habit, I think as I become more familiar with the course content it will get easier to make more concise powerpoint presentations.
ReplyDeleteShari
Gemma like most teachers like to use power point presentation to bring their lesson to life in the classroom but not me. My use is limited to teaching only about three session per semester. I find it is too time consuming.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting facts:
Microsoft Powerpoint
Advantages:
Can easily input images
Templates are built in for different appearances
Can add notes pages
Can easily add media and recordings
More exciting than a simple word document or hand written presentation
disAdvantages:
Some features such as animations and backgrounds can distract the audience from the actual information in the presentation
File size can become quite large on medium to large presentations
Some of the features can be quite complicated to use and even the simple features require some getting used to
When at work, you cant rely on someone else's computer or laptop to run your presentation, there are too many software conflicts and disk space barriers.
Takes quite a bit of time to create a complete presentation
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_Powerpoint#ixzz1GqRvZwSs
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_Powerpoint#ixzz1GqRd7za1
Me too get annoyed when happen to see such awkward PPT slides, like dull background, poor selection of fonts, font size, too much of writing, particularly as a paragraph/complete sentence, lack of pictures/visuals, too many slides, end to end writing (many of our projection screens are small or always some object would be there to hide/swallow a part of the projection).
ReplyDeleteI see this often with many of my own colleagues. That's why I suggest you to run at least every year some workshops on PPT so that everyone is trained on the right use of this important tool.
I take time to prepare each slide and review till the day before uploading. I normally do not show a video in my classroom PPT presentation, cause its often troublesome (won't open) and also time consuming. I would rather give that as a home work and ask questions based on that show.
-Jaya
Balance on a powerpoint slide is definitely important. I loved the death by powerpoint clip. It had so much truth to it. Having to create a powerpoint for a grade made me reconsider many things in particular the number of slides I currently use for many of my presentations. Some are way too long and I am giving my students too much information in many instances. I am better embracing and appropriately adapting to the fact that less allows for alternative activities that are more student centered and less spoon feeding in essence.
ReplyDeleteInappropriately created and used powerpoints seem to be commonplace in our society. For the learner (audience) it is very distracting and time consuming listening to a presentation and having to spend so much time trying to decipher the pictures etc. that are to complement the audio.
ReplyDeleteI think at times,some presenters tend to get caught up with creating their presentation and end up incorporating a lot of diagrams and and they forget that it should be easy to read and understand.
Additionally some presenters tend to have very good presenations but they do not have additional information to supplement the slides, so they end up reading exactly what is on the slide, which tends to be just as annoying.
I think sometimes we generally expect individuals (our students) to know how to create presentations without actually teaching them, thus we are responsible for perpetuating the "awful powerpoint problem".
I think we all need reminders of the characteristics of a "good powerpoint" from time to time to ensure that we are displaying appropriate powerpoint etiquette.