Teacher's guide for How to Avoid PowerPoint Poisoning

by Art Wolinsky

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Introduction

Use this WebQuest to help various Interdisciplinary teachers learn about technolgy enhanced presentations with the empahsis on presentation rather than PowerPoint.

Overview

Main Topic:	Presentations
Subtopics:	PowerPoint, Oral Presentation, Evaluation,
Grade Level:	various
Subject(s):	Interdisciplinary
Learning Goal:	engaging in critical thinking

Vision and Reality

If the learning goal were achieved in the most ideal of perfect worlds it would look something like:

Teachers will focus on oral presentation skills as an product of student research or project work. PowerPoint will be a tool used by students who understand that it should be used to do what the oral presentation can't do on its own and that the planning, content, message, organization, and delivery of the material is the key consideration. PowerPoint is just a tool to help in the process.

However, what I anticipate probably looks more like:

Most teachers don't have focus on oral presentation skills and end up with the creation of a PowerPoint presentaion as an outcome. Students have little or no experience in oral presentation. They have little or no idea of how to use PowerPoint effectively and fall into the PowerPoint trap that turns mediocre presenters into terrible presenters.

The What - If Inventory

To give the activity its best chance at helping students learn, I assembled this list of possible resources:

PowerPoint software
Wordprocessing software
Computer labs
Classroom computers


PowerPoint Tutorials
Tips on presenting
Wide range of rubrics

Standards

These activities meet many of the ISTE NETS and TSSA standards such as:

NETS
4.engage in ongoing planning of lesson sequences that effectively integrate technology resources and are consistent with current best practices for integrating the learning of subject matter and student technology standards (as defined in the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students).

11.guide students in applying self — and peer-assessment tools to critique student-created technology products and the process used to create those products.

12.facilitate students' use of technology that addresses their social needs and cultural identity and promotes their interaction with the global community.

TSSA
II. Learning and Teaching - Educational leaders ensure that curricular design, instructional strategies, and learning environments integrate appropriate technologies to maximize learning and teaching.

II.a. identify, use, and evaluate appropriate technologies to enhance and support curriculum and instruction that lead to high levels of student achievement.

II.d. facilitate the use of technologies to guide and support instructional methods that promote higher-level thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.

II.e. assure that quality professional development opportunities exist for learning and teaching with technology.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that this activity is just one small piece of a much larger picture. This represents an activity that is the culmination of other activities designed to put students at the center of their own learning.

Regardless of how good a public speaker a student may be, regardless of how skilled she may be with technology, the presentation will fail unless it was preceded by quality activities that involved information literacy skills and higher order thinking.

Library media specialists, technology teachers, and classroom teachers can join forces to create activities that have all of the ingredients needed to put students in a position to craft new knowledge and move forward with confidence into the 21st century.

They can only do that with the support of administrators, board and community that understand the need for change, and who foster collaboration and innovation.

Activities such as this will work most effectively in a district where they have put the System back into the School System.

created by Art Wolinsky email: awolinsky@adelphia.net http://www.web-and-flow.com/members/awolinsk/pptpoison/webquest.htm