Power Point in the Classroom

As identified on the Microsoft Office Online website (2009), PowerPoint enables users to quickly create high-impact, dynamic presentations which present information in an easy-to-understand manner. I think that this is an adequate summation of the benefits that PowerPoint offers as this particular tool is my most frequently used ICT of all the proposed technologies. PowerPoint presentations are easy to create and you can choose to make them as basic or as fancy as you like.

Whilst I was already familiar with creating slides, editing, adding images and charts and adding motion and sound, I had no idea how to take a PPT with you in terms of sharing over the internet and embedding it into a blog so this activity was worthwhile just for that! The tutorial offered additional tips in regards to timing and custom animation that I was previously unaware of. I went back and edited a PowerPoint that I am planning to deliver this week to my 11 Geography class regarding Sustaining Communities. Hopefully these changes will add a bit of extra spark to my presentation and the students will engage more so as a result.

In terms of using this activity and technology in the future, I will use this tutorial as the key focus for one of my Business Education lessons when teaching students how to use PPT effectively. I will also most likely refer back to the website for the tutorial (http://www.actden.com/pp/) for my own personal use when I want to ‘jazz up’ a tired presentation. I would also like to see my senior Geography students use PPT to present their findings on their chosen alternative green technology (next term).

As iterated by Oliver (1999) for ICTs to effectively enhance students' learning, the technologies must be incorporated into the learning experience so that they support what is being delivered i.e. they serve a purpose and are not merely being used to make it look better. I think that this is an important consideration when using PPT in learning experiences as PPT is often used to simply replace the tired old Overhead Transparencies.

Here is one of the PowerPoint presentations that I have edited and uploaded.

Introduction To Sustaining Biodiversity And Biomes

View more presentations from Hanselearningjourney.

References:
Microsoft Office Online 2009, Office PowerPoint 2007: 10 Reasons to Try, viewed 2 August 2009, http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/powerpoint/HA101650281033.aspx.

Oliver, R 1999, Learning Design: The Learning Design Construct, viewed 9 August 2009, http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm.