I didn't want to count the words, but I knew it is 10 times too many. Then when adults show a PowerPoint to adults, and they are not professional speakers, they read the PowerPoint almost word for word (third mistake).
I recently used a 17 slide PowerPoint that didn't have a single word on it, all images. I know that is not what they are trying to ban. They are worried about lecturing, which they are already against for some reason, and think the PowerPoint are lecture notes.
From the Texas Collabrative website, we find this quote "Active Learning is, in short, anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture". A peek at other web references includes other definitions that include classroom discussions. So if a teacher is lecturing, seeding questions, answering questions, then it is active learning. PowerPoint provide content the whole class can see, including visuals, and the teacher can 'point' and ask.
In Texas, ELL (English Language Learners) are in high quantity in many classroom in many districts, big clear letters (not sloppy teacher hand writing) are known to benefit students, a task PowerPoint does so well.
This is definitely a case where a non-generic term, "PowerPoint", is being used in a generic way, and used incorrectly. I am sure they surely don't mean a presentation using PowerPoint is frowned upon, but one using "Keynote" software is somehow acceptable.
As teachers, when you hear someone slam 'PowerPoint in the classroom', put them on the spot, ask them to elaborate, justify and explain themselves (higher order Blooms questions, bad joke, I know it) - show them they aren't saying what they think they are saying!
I enjoyed watching the short video, it is educational and practical.
ReplyDeleteThis will be good to show a science class after teaching the theory of particles.
Powerpoints to me is being faced out gradually although it is a powerful program. New software is being put out daily and sales and marketting personel are pushing it, trying to outdo powerpoint.
Yoofi
When chalk board started fading away, powerpoint was the coolest teaching tool.
ReplyDeleteI think powerpoint is not the problem, is the improvement on technology and the changes that came with it, and also the needs of our students today determine the pace/style of instructional delivery. Interactive teaching and learning is highly on demand now.
Instead of using powerpoint which tend to make teaching boring(lecture), administrators expect to see more hands-on activity in the classroom, to meet the needs of student today.
I believe that PowerPoint presentations do have a place in the classroom sometimes. I do agree with you that ESL learners do benefit from them since they can read it easier than a teacher's bad handwriting and you can incorporate images to help them further understand the lesson.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sub, I am kinda confused in what direction education is going in this area. I love hands-on activities, but principles in this area prefer the quiet/lecture type classroom where you can hear a pin drop. So, PowerPoint presentations are still very popular in the classrooms I am in. They do, however, limit the amount of text on each slide and limit how many slides per presentation, which helps with the attention span problem.