As a student, there have been times when I have wanted to run screaming from the room upon realizing that I was about to sit through yet another PowerPoint presentation. Sometimes they are incredibly boring and its use does not seem to add any value to the class and often, distracts and detracts from it. In the past, I thought it was just me. PowerPoint presentations are so common that I was starting to believe that perhaps I was just envious of the technology since I do not feel quite as comfortable with it as some of my classmates and therefore, have rarely utilized PowerPoint myself. Thus, it was with great relief and interest that I read Edward Tufte’s article PowerPoint is Evil in which he articulated much more eloquently my discomfort with the wide use of this program. He writes about form taking precedence over the content of what the speaker is attempting to convey which I have found to be true and very distracting. Occasionally, I find myself reading the slides and noticing something irrelevant such as the font, the color or heaven forbid - a typo – instead of paying attention to what is being said.
Another point Tufte makes, which I had not thought about until I read this article, is the “relentless sequentiality” of the slides and how the linear nature of the program is sometimes not appropriate to the material at-hand because it is difficult to make connections several slides down the road. That being said, there are times when I really appreciate PowerPoint and these can serve as a model for me in my pedagogy. For example, in a Spanish language class when the professor is presenting complex content orally, having the slides outline what she is saying supports my second language learning visually. After this experience, I can see using this technique as a TESOL teacher. The NPR story, Educators Question Power Point Usage, includes comments from Tufte and others who raise similar questions about the use of this tool in the classroom. However it does point out that, according to Microsoft, it can be an “open-ended creativity tool” which I believe is true. The challenge is to find a way for teachers and students to use it in the classroom to enhance their work by adding value to it rather than replacing the opportunity to explore and discuss the material thoroughly with beautiful, but empty bells and whistles. There is an amusing spoof of PowerPoint presentations by Don McMillan called Life After Death by PowerPoint on YouTube that sums up many of the mistakes presenters make.
A more positive take on PowerPoint can be found in Victoria Brown’s article entitled, The Power of Power Point: Is it in the User or the Program? She reminds us that “a program is a tool that is limited only by our imaginations” and that PowerPoint simply delivers the content and does not produce or create it. Therefore she suggests that, in fact, this program can be exploited in creative ways that will increase learning. One of the ideas I especially liked was the use of PowerPoint to create an “electronic portfolio” as a way to showcase student work. Also, I am thinking about her ideas for using it as a tool to individualize instruction or to deliver directions to students, for example, when starting a new unit or a complicated project. While Tufte has a valid argument about how PowerPoint is often misused, Brown gave me a clearer picture of the positive contributions it could make to the classroom if employed thoughtfully and inventively.
References: Edward Tufte. PowerPoint is Evil. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html
Morning Edition, NPR. Educators Question PowerPoint Usage. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1467589
Don McMillan. Life After Death By PowerPoint. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cagxPlVqrtM
Victoria Brown
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