How to Avoid PowerPoint Poisoning
by Art Wolinsky
Introduction ·
Question ·
Background Info ·
Individual Roles ·
Group Process
Rubric ·
Conclusion ·
Teacher's Guide
Introduction ·
Question ·
Background Info ·
Individual Roles ·
Group Process
Rubric ·
Conclusion ·
Teacher's Guide
Introduction
You have just learned the basics of PowerPoint and want to have your students use it in the presentation of the results of their latest project.
Fortunately for you, you just read a national education journal article that named PowerPoint as the most misused and abused piece of software in schools today.
They cited visits to schools in which students created presentations that were more like a 1960's acid trip than a presentation.
The poor use of colors resulted in residual images burned on retinas. Sound and animation took the audience's attention away from what little message there was in the presentation and had all the impact of Chinese water torture.
The article said that the only good thing about the use of sound in the presentations it that it prevented the audience from falling asleep as the students mumbled, stumbled and read the presentation to the audience.
The article ended by saying that even though it is called a PowerPoint presentation, teachers and students need to put the Presentation before the PowerPoint.
The Question
The main question you will be asked to find an answer for is:
How can you use PowerPoint to put the presentation back into PowerPoint? Your job is to develop material, that with the help of PowerPoint that will teach students about the characteristics of a good presentation. A big part of that material will be a rubric that will provide students with a way of determining whether they are on track and have met your objectives.
In other words, you must create a lesson that models what you want your students to achive and give them what they need to duplicate your example.
Background Information
Before becoming an expert in one aspect of this topic, we'd better make sure that everyone on your WebQuest team knows the basics. Use the links below to answer the six general questions: who? what? where? when? why? and how? Make sure everyone on your team can answer all the questions before moving into your individual roles.
Also included in the background links is a hotlist that contains all of the links in this WebQuest along with many that are not in it. They are provided as optional resources to be used by any member of the team at any time.
Creating Classroom Presentations
Comprehensive Presentation Tips 45 excellent tips
PowerPoint Poisoning Blues Hotlist
Individual Roles
Now that you have some overall background knowledge, it's time to return to the main question for this WebQuest. Questions this big and important are better answered when a few people are working on it at one time. Things work even better when a group of you decide to look at the question from different perspectives. This way team members can become experts on different aspects of the question and then come together to poll their learning. This is where team work pays off. So are you ready to divide and conquer this question?
Technology Teacher
Use the links below to learn more about your role. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:
1)What are the essential features students must use to create a quality presentation.
2)Are there features that should be avoided or used sparingly.
3)What are the best resources for students with a wide range of PowerPoint skills?
4)How can you develop a rubric that will provide students with a vision of what constitutes a good PowerPoint presentation from a technical perspecctive?
5) What must the student accomplish and consider BEFORE starting any presentation?
- PowerPoint in the Classroom
- PowerPoint Basics
- Quick Start PowerPoint
- PowerPoint 97/98
- PowerPoint 2000
- Creating Online Presentations - Microsoft in the Classroom
- Presentation Resources
- ClipArt, Templates, Sounds, Links
English teacher
Use the links below to learn more about your role. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:
1) How can I get students to focus on the PRESENTATION aspect rather than the PowerPoint aspect?
2) What are the characteristics of a good presentation without the use of technology?
3) What can technology add to a quality presentation?
4) How can a rubric guide students toward the importance of oral presentation skills?
5) What must the student accomplish and consider BEFORE starting any presentation?
- Speaking tips
- Presentation Tips
- 21 Tips for Spellbinding Speeches
- 7 Aspects of a Dynamic Presentation
- Designing an Influential Presentation
Group Synthesis
By now you should have a clear picture of the technical and oral delivery skills that combine to make a truly effective presentation.
Your WebQuest team should now create lesson or presentation and a rubric that will be used by students in the creation of their presentations.
If done right, your presentation to the students will serve as a model for the type of presentation you want them to deliver, and the rubric can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of your presentation.
Just so you don't have to reinvent the wheel, here are six rubrics created by other teachers. You can use them as resources and practice as you develop your own.
Presentation Rubric I
Presentation Rubric II
Presentation Rubric III
Presentation Rubric IV
Presentation Rubric V
Presentation Rubric VI
Real World Feedback:
Conclusion
At the beginning of this activity, you were asked about the truth. Did you discover it? Was there only one? Did everyone on your team think so? How did you answer the main question for this WebQuest? Have you checked the evaluation rubric to guide what you did?
You deserve a lot of praise for all the work you've done. And so does your brain. You've sure put that gray stuff to the test. You gained background information, developed expertise in one particular area and got into some pretty expert analysis. At times, you must have felt confused with ideas spinning every which way. That's normal when you're building new mental connections. It's funny, with each link between what you already knew and the new learning going on, you broke another different kind of link, remember the intellectual slavery we spoke about earlier? You're free! How will you use these ideas and strategies as you continue to grow and learn? It's all up to you. Good luck.
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created by Art Wolinsky email: awolinsky@adelphia.net http://www.web-and-flow.com/members/awolinsk/pptpoison/webquest.htm |