PowerPoints Digital Tool 5

PowerPoint
PowerPoint is a presentation tool that is part of the Microsoft office package. PowerPoint is a visual or graphical ‘slide show’ style presentation that can be used as a stand alone presentation (with audio) or to assist in the delivery of an oral presentation by individuals or groups. It has wide ranging uses in the educational, business and recreational areas. The important thing to remember is that although wide ranging in its uses, its value in a presentation is only as good as the information that it contains. In an educational setting, a student may present a PowerPoint that is well put together, and is aesthetically pleasing, but may contain little or no information related to the research or outcomes of an investigation. In a business setting, a presenter may present a PowerPoint that contains valuable information that is imperative to the core workings of a business but may be presented in too many bullet points, with no other images or visuals to engage the audience. Both of these criteria are important aspects to think about when a teacher or educator uses PowerPoint’s as a teaching tool in education.

PLUS:

1. Ensures consistency with information to all students. Effective reflection tool.
   Support basis for learning support lessons.
2. Stimulus for visual learners.
3. Can be developed by any computer literate person of any age. Content will depend on requirement/purpose.
4. As a presentation tool it is unlimited as to range and style of use.
5. Can include images, visuals, hyperlinks, photos, graphs.
   Screens can be printed out for handouts.
   

MINUS:

1. PowerPoint presentation is only as good as the research and information that it contains and how it is presented to the target audience.
2. Can be time intensive for a one-off presentation.
3. Can be a time intensive for students whilst they are trying to make it ‘look good’ for assessment. Focus is removed from the content to the visual impact.

IMPROVE IMPLEMENT INTERESTING
In schools/education environments PowerPoint can be used as an assessment tool for students, either as individuals or groups.

1. It can be used to present consistent information by educators to a number of different classes.
2. Can be used as a resource for students for reference or for clarity in assessment or assignments, due to its consistency.
3. Can be printed out for students who require learning support or who prefer a hard copy of information.
4. Can be used as a web Quest starting point.
5. Can be added to or changed to modify for learning styles, student reflections etc.
   

WHAT I THINK
I personally love the ease of PowerPoint’s. They can be visually stimulating and provide consistency as a resource to go back and read clarity on an area. They are a powerful tool that I enjoy using through flex education. To me they are a briefing paper on what I need to learn.
The only thing that I would love to be able to do is have a program where a PowerPoint can be used like a wiki and others can add input. Robyn Petersen demonstrated a similar technique in a web conference for e-Learning on 19/07/2007 through the elluminate (http://www.elluminate.com/) program. This is something that I would enjoy learning more about. I have only listed a few positive aspects of PowerPoint, and could only think of a few minus. I believe that the adaptability of the program in an educational setting for use by teachers and students is immeasurable and ICT developments will only add to useability.