Advantages of PowerPoint
Posted February 24, 2013on:
A hot discussion topic in various work places is how effective and useful is PowerPoint. What makes a good PowerPoint? What should be included in a PowerPoint? Why should we use PowerPoint? According to www.garrreynolds.com there are ten rules to follow when creating a PowerPoint:
1. Keep it simple: Do not write you whole presentation on your slides, as a matter of fact a presenter should never read of the screen and/or turn their back to the audience.
2.Limit bullets and text: When creating slides just put the main point(s). Use short statements and limit the amount of info on each slide, less is more!
3. Limit transitions and animations: Try not to use a lot of transitions from slide to slide or animations, they can distract the audience from the purpose of the PowerPoint.
4. Use high quality photos or graphics: A presentation looks more professional when high quality photos or graphics are used. Try to stay away from clip art.
5. Have a visual theme: Create your own slide theme, everyone has seen the typical templates that come with PowerPoint. Creating your own will gain audience attention.
6. Use appropriate Charts: When showing data, a table side by side with a chart/graph has proven to be the best method. When deciding on what type of chart/graph to use stick with bar, line, or circle.
7. Use color well: when deciding on color, take into consideration where the presentation is taking place. If in a dark room, a dark color background with a white or light-colored text would work best. If in a bright room, a light background with a darker font would be more appropriate.
8. Choose the right font: The ability to read what is on a PowerPoint slide is important. Sans Serif is the recommended type of font to use as it is easiest to read on a screen from a distance.
9. Use video or audio: The use of video or audio is one way to change the pace of a presentation, a way to grasp audience attention.
10. Spend time in slide sorter: Look at the PowerPoint in slide sorter mode. Look at the presentation as a whole. Does everything flow?
PowerPoint can provide structure to a classroom and help a teacher organize lessons. PowerPoint is also a way for students to model
what they have learned. The advantages of using PowerPoint all comes down to the fact is that it is a visual. PowerPoint can be useful in classrooms, when used correctly. One big advantage of using PowerPoint is how it can be used with other programs like SmartBoard and Turning Point. Presentations made in PowerPoint can be opened and manipulated in SmartBoard. A quiz can be created in PowerPoint and opened using Turning Point, which takes the quiz and allows students to use clickers to answer the questions. Another advantage is the handouts that can be created. In high school and college, the handouts that PowerPoint create make it helpful for students to take notes with. The handouts also provide information to those students who were absent and missed class.
M.D. Roblyer and Aarom H. Doering. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
squidoo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2013, from squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/cc-flickr
Teachnology Tutorials. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2013, from Teachnology: http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/powerpoint/