Slide presentation softwaresuch as PowerPoint hasbecome an ingrained part ofmany instructional settings,particularly in large classesand in courses more gearedtoward information exchangethan skill development.PowerPoint can be a highlyeffective tool to aid learning,but if not used carefully, mayinstead disengage studentsand actually hinder learning.

Potential benefits of using presentation graphics include:

Engaging multiple learning styles

Increasing visual impact

Improving audience focus

Providing annotations and highlights

Analyzing and synthesizing complexities

Enriching curriculum with interdisciplinarity

Increasing spontaneity and interactivity

Increasing wonder

Although there are many

potential benefits to

PowerPoint, there are

several issues that could

create problems or

disengagement:

Teacher-centered. Students

often respond better when

instructors have designed

sessions for greater

classroom interaction, such

as the use of student

response clickers,

designing PowerPoint

to facilitate case studies, or

use the slides as

a replacement for paper

worksheets.

Lack of feedback.PowerPoint-based lecturestell you nothing aboutstudent learning. Designthem to includeopportunities for feedback(not simply asking if thereare questions, but moreactively quizzing yourstudents). This often takesthe form of listingquestions, not information,on the slides themselves.

Student inactivity. Slide

shows do little to model

how students should

interact with the material

on their own. Include

student activities or

demonstrations to

overcome this, either

before or after the

slideshow presentation

Potentially reductive.

PowerPoint was designed

to promote simple

persuasive arguments.

Design for critical

engagement, not just for

exposure to a “point.”

Presentation graphics

should be about learning,

not about presentation.

PowerPoint presentationsshould help studentsorganize their notes, notjust “be” the notes. This is aparticular danger withstudents who grew upaccustomed to receivingPowerPoint notes to studyfrom. Some may requireconvincing that notesshould be taken beyondwhat is already on theslides.

This single presentation

about the anatomy of the

human eye has been

rewritten in three different

ways:

this version offers complete

phrases and a comprehensive

recording in words of the material.

The text-heavy version can be

used as the lecturer's speaking

notes, and doubles as student

notes that can be made available

for download either before or after

the lecture has taken place.

If the information can be accessed

elsewhere, such as a textbook, it

may be preferable to avoid a text-

heavy approach, which many

students find disengaging during

the delivery.

this version sacrifices some of the

completeness of the material to create space

for accompanying images. The mixed

approach appeals to more visual learners

while keeping some lecture notes visible,

though perhaps in a more abbreviated format.

This is a common mode of delivery in large

classes. However, there are still some

challenges. There is enough material already

present in text format that some students may

feel obliged to write it all down in their own

notes, thus paying less attention to the verbal

lecture.

Conversely, if the slides are available for

download, some students may be able to

eschew note-taking in class, yet be tempted

to consider these fragmentary notes sufficient

for studying for exams.

this version relies almost exclusively

on images, with little text. The image-

heavy approach signals to students

that they will have to take their own

notes, as these are plainly insufficient

on their own for studying.

However, lecturers often need more

than visual clues to remind

themselves how to propel the lecture

forward, and separate notes may be

required. One elegant solution is

to use "Presenter View" on the

speaker's screen (which displays the

notes only to you) and project the

slides without notes onto the larger

screen visible to the audience.

Elizabeth Rash (Nursing) provided this sample

iterative case study (where parameters evolve

over time) given to a midsize class. Students are

required to come to class prepared having read

online resources, the text, and a narrated

slideshow presentation that accompanies each

module. The classroom is problem-based (case-

based) and interactive, where students are

introduced to a young woman who ages as the

semester progresses and confronts multiple

health issues. Since the nurse practitioner

students are being prepared to interact with

patients, some slides require students to

interview another classmate in a micro role-play.

Problem-based lectures frequently alternate

between providing information and posing

problems to the students, which alters the entire

character of the presentation. Rather than

explain and convey information, many slides ask

questions that are intended to prompt critical

thinking or discussion.

Classroom response systems canimprove students' learning byengaging them actively in thelearning process. Instructors canemploy the systems to gatherindividual responses from studentsor to gather anonymous feedback.

It is possible to use the technologyto give quizzes and tests, to takeattendance, and to quantify classparticipation. Some of the systemsprovide game formats thatencourage debate and teamcompetition. Reports are typicallyexported to Excel for upload to theinstructor's grade book. Learn moreabout how to use this system in yourown classes.

Instructors who do not havesufficient photocopying opportunitiesin their departments may be lesslikely to use paper worksheets withtheir students, especially in largeclasses. PowerPoint offers theability to approximate worksheets toillustrate processes or to provide"worked examples" that showsproblem-solving step-by-step.

One valuable technique is to firstdemonstrate a process or problemon one slide, then ask students towork on a similar problem revealedon the next slide, using their ownpaper rather than worksheetshanded out.

The PowerPoint software itself includes built-

in functionality to record your audio

commentary. In this fashion, instructors can

literally deliver their entire lecture

electronically, which can be especially useful

in an online course. The resulting file is still a

standard PowerPoint file, but when the

slideshow is "played," the recorded

instructor's voice narrates the action, and the

slides advance on their own, turning

whenever they had been advanced by the

lecturer during the recording. Click here to

see a sample.

It is also possible to use AuthorPoint Lite, a

free software download, to take the narrated

PowerPoint presentation and transform it all

into a Flash video movie, which plays in any

Web browser. Here is a sample. To create

such a video, you must first record a narrated

presentation, and then use AuthorPoint Lite to

convert the file. Our tutorial explains the

process.

Using this mode of PowerPoint, yourslides are projected as usual on the bigscreen and fill the entire space, but thecomputer used by the lecturer displaysthe slides in preview mode, with thespace for notes visible at the bottom ofthe screen. In this fashion, lecturerscan have a set of notes separate fromwhat is displayed to the students, whichhas the overall effect of increasing theengagement of the presentation.

This example of "Life in ElizabethanEngland" shows how to structure apresentation with nothing but imageson screen, using the Presenter View tohold the lecturer's notes.

Microsoft's tutorial explains how toconfigure the Presenter View.

1. Avoid reading: if your

slides contain lengthy text,

lecture "around" the

material rather than reading

it directly.

2. Dark screen: aneffective trick to focusattention on you and yourwords is to temporarilydarken the screen, whichcan be accomplished byclicking the "B" button onthe keyboard. Hitting "B"again will toggle thescreen back to yourpresentation.

3. Navigate slides smoothly:the left-mouse click advancesto the next slide, but it's morecumbersome to right-click tomove back one slide. Thekeyboard's arrow keys workmore smoothly to go forwardand backward in thepresentation. Also, if youknow the number of aparticular slide, you cansimply type that number,followed by the ENTER key,to jump directly to that slide.

1. Text size: text must be

clearly readable from the

back of the room. Too

much text or too small a

font will be difficult to

read.

2. Avoid too much text: onecommon suggestion is toadhere to the 6x6 rule (nomore than six words perline, and no more than sixlines per slide). The"Takahasi Method" goes sofar as to recommendenormous text and nothingelse on the slide, not evenpictures, perhaps as little asjust one word on each slide.

3. Contrast: light text on

dark backgrounds will

strain the eyes. Minimize

this contrast, and opt

instead for dark text on

light backgrounds.

Combinations to avoid, in

case of partial color

blindness in the

audience, include red-

green, or blue-yellow.

4. Transitions and

animations should be

used sparingly and

consistently to avoid

distractions.

5. Template: do not

change the template

often. The basic format

should be consistent and

minimal.

6. Use graphics and

pictures to illustrate and

enhance the message,

not just for prettiness.

Change font

Shapes

Clip art

Images

Charts

Tables

Transitions

Animations

Animating text or chart

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