PowerPoint - Spring 2007
PowerPoint… Evil?After reading the article by Tufte and listening to the NPR segment on PowerPoint, what are your reactions to the opinions expressed? Are teacher-centered uses of technology more or less effective as student-centered uses of technology?
Please click on the "comment" link below to submit your thoughts
posted by Elizabeth Langran @ 4/03/2007 08:59:00 AM
31 Comments:
Let's try to have more of a dialogue this week - post early in the week and then check back to respond to the comments of others...
By the way, please note PowerPoint is one word with two capital letters.
I only partly agree with The “PowerPoint is Evil” article. The author is pointing out what is more a problem with the intellectual level of the audience than what is directly related to PowerPoint. Both the article and NPR PowerPoint story look at the software as a replacement for discussion. I see it as only a tool to aide discussion – not the discussion itself. PowerPoint can be adapted to any level of presentation and it depends on what the presenter is trying to get across. Sometimes it takes more effort to get a lot of information into the fewest words possible and still get your point across – sometimes that’s appropriate. PowerPoint can be a powerful tool for that. However, a tool like that isn’t really appropriate for say a meaningful literary discussion of an analysis of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. My parents are both in psychopharmacology research and I spent quite a few of my childhood days falling asleep in the back row of a lecture symposium watching paper presentations on things like L-dopa and dopamine receptors. Back then (prior to the PC), everyone hired artists to do their slides. These slide presentations were limited in what they could achieve compared to today’s advances in technology, including PowerPoint. These talks now have become more entertaining (due to better graphics), but the core of the presentations hasn’t changed. I guess what I’m trying to say is that PowerPoint is just a tool and shouldn’t take the place of the effort involved in putting together a meaningful presentation which is still the responsibility of the author. Technology should enhance – not replace thinking!
Sania,
I would argue that he is not attacking the intellectual level of the audience, rather, he is attacking the use of the tool PowerPoint as it often allows the audience to function at a lower intellectual level. I think you hit his point when you said that "I see it as only a tool to aid{e} discussion - not the discussion itself." It seems to me that this article is more of a caution than an attack on powerpoint.
One of the things that I noticed in my own classroom is that when I have all the bullets of a slide appear at the same time, the students lose their focus. They begin to write down everything on the board instead of part-taking in the discussion of class. This is the problem that Tufte is warning us of. He is warning us to remember that PowerPoint is a teaching tool rather than a lesson itself.
As a true Libran, I agree with both of you! When done well, a ppt slide can be a very useful crutch to guide the speaker and the audience. Isolating those few key themes and highlighting them as the discussion progresses signals where you are and where you’re going. In this way it can actually focus a discussion. But as Kaltieri said, having too much on a slide can distract attention from what is being said.
From a student’s point of view, crafting a good ppt presentation is not so unlike bubbling a good Inspiration diagram. Bubbles or bullets, the shorthand is a test of whether the main ideas have been captured. I could see it supporting literary analysis – establishing the main events, the key characteristics, the timeline, etc (not all on one slide, of course). For teacher and student, the well-crafted slide reinforces understanding. Instead of index cards, the student presenting can share the scope and direction with the class and aid the audience’s own note taking. Graphically, you can show key points and their relationship to each other and to the overall discussion. But it is shorthand. And as Tufte said, it is not a substitute for good writing or good presenting. Instead, I see it more as a skeleton to which the flesh of expression and explanation must necessarily be added.
The problem, as Sania already pointed out, is the person creating/using the ppt. Allowing the tool to determine the content is the proverbial tail wagging the dog. Just because it has all the color and dynamic graphic treatments doesn’t mean you should use them. That is Tufte’s point about “format over content.” And sometimes, a particular subject may not fit neatly into a bulleted slide format, and that’s when you look to alternative approaches. PowerPoint isn’t necessarily evil; it’s just not for everything.
I agree with Sania's last point that "technology should enhance - not replace teaching." However, I tend to see PowerPoint, as it is often used, does get in the way of not only teaching, but learning. Having majored in English in college I remember the least meaningful and usually most sleep inducing lectures being based in PowerPoint. When teachers or students break books down into basic points and details students learn to read efferently rather than aesthetically (Rosenblatt). Basically, I think that discussions and more interactive opportunities produce a higher quality of learning.
One other point I connected with from the "PowerPoint" is evil article was the author's issue with presenters who read every word of their slides to an audience that can clearly read. This brings up the subject of using the program successfully, to present basic points that can then be expanded upon, if it fits content and style of learning. My major problem with PowerPoint is that it's not the most apadaptable software and the audience does not get a chance to interact with the material, which seems to be a major part of including technology in education.
I definitely agree with what everyone has said so far. I believe that Powerpoint can be a useful tool when it is used in the right context and this is something that I feel is true for most technological tools. However, I don’t agree completely that Powerpoint is an evil tool. I feel it can be truly valuable when used correctly and for a certain purpose. I do agree with the idea that “rather than supplementing a presentation, it has become a substitute for it.” At times, Powerpoint slides have more animation and graphics than are needed to make simple points. This is where the presentation can become distracting to students and the lesson being taught can be loss. That is why I think it is extremely important to use Powerpoint in the class as a means of presenting information in a simple manner.
While I think it is great that more and more schools are requiring students to use Powerpoint to present research projects or other assignments, I do think there is a danger in doing this all the time. Right now in the middle school where I work, the 6th graders are working on a research project on Ancient China. They are required to present their information to the class and cannot use any type of technology. Because of this standard, the projects are extremely creative from posters to travel brochures. If the students were presenting through Powerpoint (as they have done in the past), the time spent working on the project suddenly turns into playing with graphics and sounds through the program. In addition, their writing skills are shortchanged as they become accustomed to short notes and bullet points. I have no problem with using Powerpoint in the classroom yet it is something that needs to be used carefully as with all technology.
Hi - The article and the NPR story made me think about PowerPoint and its use in the classroom. I thought about the times when I had used it and the times when I was in the audience. I do not believe PowerPoint is evil, because it is a visual demonstration of what the presenter has depicted as the most important. However, I have seen some wordy PowerPoint presentations which made me and the rest of the audience bored. The worst scenario is when the presenter reads out of the PowerPoint as if s/he has no idea what to say without looking at the screen. After all, it is a “tool to aide” the presenter, as Sania mentioned, not a digital book to be read for entertainment.
In the past, I have used PowerPoint for: case studies, science projects, book analysis, etc, and I always made sure I put only the most important. I cannot stand when people copy and paste chapters or whole paragraphs which I do not consider a learning process. Thus, for my future students, I would emphasize that the use of PowerPoint is to guide them throughout their presentations and not take over what they want to convey.
I can see both sides of the argument as well. I have been in the presenter side where I have used PowerPoint to help organize my ideas and keep me on track. One very helpful use of Powerpoint for me is on Back to School Night each year. I am given 45 minutes to review the entire curriculum with the parents in my classroom. Without PowerPoint, or some other presentation tool, I would never stay on track and could easily forget to include something. However, I have also been on the audience side of a PowerPoint presentation and given all 175 slides printed out with neat little lines on the side for me to take notes as the speaker puts me to sleep.
I agree with Kate when she says that PowerPoint can be a useful tool and is not an Evil tool.
I loved the ending of the NPR segment "The question is whether a teacher will ask his/her students to think beyond the next bullet point". Don't all good teachers do this?
I can completely relate to Kristen’s notion that in PowerPoint in college English courses can be extremely sleep inducing. I believe there is a time and a place for PowerPoint, but when it is relied on in the classroom on a regular basis, it takes away from the quality of the discussions, and the participation of the students. I too have noticed that students will stop listening to the teacher the moment the bullets are displayed. It seems that they rush to write everything down, rather than take the time to learn about each one of the concepts being displayed. I also find that the setting of the classroom during PowerPoint often time doesn’t foster discussions; usually the lights are turned down so the screen appears as clearly as possible. A dark room not only shuts down conversation, but allows for students that aren’t engaged in the lesson to become distracted by other things with being noticed.
When it comes to students creating PowerPoint presentations, I can appreciate botht eh positives and negatives. Often times I see the actual material, the important facts, theories and interpretations are being lost in the graphics, and transitions. Kids goes crazy for all the flashy fonts and animations, often times forgetting to include quality material. I’ve even noticed that there seems to be a problem with kids checking their spelling when it comes to PowerPoint assignments. As Kathy pointed out, Tufte’s comment on “format over content” is very relevant. Allowing the PowerPoint format determine what material is included rather than letting the content direct the presentation that is being created is a major problem that I’ve seen regularly with the 7th and 8th graders I’m working with.
Is PowerPoint bad? No, I believe it can be a useful tool to help enhance teaching. The slides can be used to illustrate the major points in a lesson and motivate the learner. The slides can be used to convey new information in a variety of ways other than with words. The slides can contain graphs, data, photographs, etc. Powerpoint should add to the presentation not distract from it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I agree with the commentator that said that power point can be good for the disorganized student who needs to highlight points in order to give an oral presentation. However, students need to be well trained in how to effectively use this tool. If the student starts reading straight from the slides instead of informally presenting his or her topic, the audience will become bored and disconnected with the presentation. Young students need to be taught to use power point presentation as a bench mark to lead them throughout the topic. Everything needs to be well balanced in order to provide children with a good education. In my opinion, the same is true with technology.
Sania,
I strongly agree with you. Power point can be a great tool, as long as it does not replace discussion. I have to say that it is very hard to watch a presentation where people read slide by slide. That is no connection with the audience whatsoever. If it is hard for me (an adult) to focus on someone who is reading off the slides, imagine for children...
Hello everyone!
Before I read through the class blog postings, I was upset that I waited so long to post; however, I am now happy that I was able to see so many people's point of view before posting mine. I was originally going to say that Edward Tufte needs to chill out; I could not relate to the negatives of PowerPoint before reading some of your comments.
To begin with, Sania, I only knew that PowerPoint was meant to aide discussion. Kathy West, I think you made a good point when you said that it helps teachers see if the main points have been captured.
I can see how, after reading Kristen and Jodi’s comments, PowerPoint can be “evil.” I personally never knew what PowerPoint was until I began working at a middle school. My college English degree was centered only by class discussion about thick heavy books of poetry. I never had a teacher who lectured to me with a PowerPoint presentation. Perhaps this is why I never considered doing so myself.
I think of PowerPoint as a tool for students. I can’t imagine I would ever use it as part of a class discussion. I can see using it in a presentation to adults, as Nicole described her parent’s night at school. In my experience thus far, PowerPoint has been a great way for students to gain independence and have a discussion among their peers.
I actually got the idea of using PowerPoint for a research assignment from the health teachers at school. I saw some of the student’s drug research presentations, and I was really impressed. It was clear they had done research and used their own words. At the end of the slide show, the health teacher required them to include questions for the audience to answer. The students were truly teaching their peers! Only at the very end of the students’ discussion did the teacher step in and make a few comments.
I have a group of seven special education students in a “learning strategies” class. The kids are awesome, and they almost never question not doing things that other kids on the team are doing. However, after the first term, I realized they needed a little something more then just a period of reviewing concepts they had learned that day in their academic classes. I instituted a marking term project. The first time we hand wrote and illustrated story books. After watching some other classes in the building, I really liked the idea of doing a PowerPoint. However, I allowed them the choice, and two kids chose to make hand written and hand drawn comic books.
I think it’s like Luz said, that the student needs to be well trained to use the tool effectively. The students researched a culture of their choice, had their notes and sources checked from this research, and then went on to make the PowerPoint. On the day of the presentation, they brought in food traditional of their culture, and presented their findings. I was so impressed; this was finally an opportunity for them to gain a little independence. I believe PowerPoint can be effectively used in the classroom by students.
“PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a school play -very loud, very slow, and very simple”
I agree with this statement about the use of PowerPoint presentations in the classroom, however, I do not agree that the use of PowerPoint in the classroom detrimental to student learning.
In my limited experience of teaching I have seen very few student presentations constructed on PowerPoint. Maybe it is due to the fact that I teach in a high school, but I can not say that the presentations that I have seen have been too loud. I am sure that in the hands of younger students. PowerPoint can be a distraction. Students may be more focused on the pictures and backgrounds than with the content of their presentations.
The presentations that I have constructed, or assigned my students to construct, have been slow and simple. However, I do not necessarily think this is bad. To present a new mathematical concept I believe that the best way to go about the lesson is to be slow and simple.
After listening to the NPR story on PowerPoint I am reassured that my use of PowerPoint in the classroom is not what is being attacked by experts. I agree with the comments made about the negative effects that PowerPoint can have on the presentation observer, if that observer is at the beginning of his/her schooling. If a student has relatively rudimentary reading and writing skills PowerPoint would negatively affect his/her progress. I agree with one of the final statements of the broadcast; that teachers need to be concerned with teaching beyond the next bullet point.
I have used a K-2 version of PowerPoint called MaxShow with my students and I really like reading about the project that Elizabeth shared with the health teacher. I believe that PowerPoint can be one resource that students can utilize to synthesize their research and present to the class. I think the idea of adding questions as Elizabeth mentioned is a great way to encourage discussion during the student's presentations. I also believe that students using PowerPoint to teach each other content is an effective use of PowerPoint in the classroom.
I agree with Sania and Luzia that it is very hard to watch a presentation when the presenter only reads from the slides. The information being shown should result in discussion with the audience. The audience or learners will get more out of the presentation if they are more involved in the learning of the new information. If the presenter can find a way to involve the leaners in the presentation they will be more interested and will learn more.
I’ve been thinking about the good/bad uses of PowerPoint in the classroom. My first reaction is to say that PowerPoint reduces the amount of information students are required to relay, and in many ways I think it can take the importance away from the facts and focus all the attention towards the showy “effects” being used. On second thought though, there certainly are ways that PowerPoint can be helpful and effective. I do think, if cleverly used, the program can help teachers relay needed information in a way that students will find interesting and engaging. While a lecture may reach certain students, others who react to visual tactics will be more readily involved in the classroom learning process when PowerPoint visuals are utilized.
In a Language Arts classroom PowerPoint is an excellent way to discuss an author, or any background information that is needed before diving into a text. I think the genre becomes less effective in the Language Arts arena when students are required to produce PowerPoint presentations as a final project on a text. I don’t think the presentations allow for the depth of writing or thinking that other assignments require. Granted, I’m only speaking about the Language Arts classroom. One of my concerns is the fact that I’ve seen students put together PowerPoint presentations that are 90% information that has been cut and pasted off the internet (a whole different issue, I realize). Perhaps this genre is a wonderful way to prove comprehension of Math or Science materials? I know we’ve all expressed our likes and dislikes for PowerPoint; how much more or less effective is it when we focus in on particular subject areas?
I personally never really liked powerpoint. I always felt it was an easy way to quickly come up with a "good looking" project. However reading previous comments i can see how if powerpoint is used only as an aid in a presentation it is useful. Also i do agree that powerpoint is a good way to organize one's thoughts especially for students who have trouble with this for any reason including disabilities. However, with that in mind i wish powerpoint would be somewhat of a staging ground or like Jodi and Luz mentioned not used as the final project or presentation but rather a step or piece of the final product. Powerpoint left to it's own devices (haha, that sounds funny)can be very evil because it really does foster that lower level (on Bloom's Taxonomy) thinking instead of the higher level thinking. I feel it's also dangerous because the presentations can turn into a "dictatorship" where discussion and deep critical thinking is limited to a bulleted presentation usually with a time constraint.
I have no experience with students using PowerPoint and I appreciate everyone's perspective that has worked with PowerPoint in the classroom. As long as students' keep the emphasis on the substance of the presentation, not on the bells and whistles of the PowerPoint program, then it is a beneficial tool. I think it is also important that students learn how to put together a powerful presentation in todays world. By powerful, I mean the emphasis on the substance of the presentation and graphics second to the topic. Technology is part of todays working world, regardless of the industry and good skills are needed. This is the teacher's job and not the programs job. PowerPoint isn't capable of teaching this.
I agree with Laura’s comment that Powerpoint can foster lower level thinking especially when the slides just present students with information instead of having them think or discuss the information being illustrated.
One example of this can last week when I was observing an 8th grade Social Studies class. The teacher regularly uses Powerpoint as a way of showing the day’s notes yet always begins the day with a slide that has a question on it. The question relates to the new information that is being taught that day and the students take about five minutes to respond to this in their journals. By the end of the class period, the students not only have their own opinion on the question but all the material that was recently learned. Therefore the discussions that follow are usually very interesting and though provoking. I found that this was a great way of incorporating Powerpoint into the classroom by instilling a higher level of thinking compared to just taking notes off the slides.
After reading the blog postings as well as the “PowerPoint is Evil” article and the NPR story, it’s interesting to think about the variety of opinions people have regarding PowerPoint. While I’ve never really thought about the program as being an “evil” tool, I can see how it has the potential for making work easy or fostering “lower level thinking.” As a 7th grade English / Special Education teacher, I have seen it assist students in presentations and projects; however, many children spend more time designing slide templates and transitions than actually organizing ideas and utilizing important details and/or facts. Rather than providing structure and teaching students how to turn research into educational PowerPoint presentations, I think many teachers assign projects without specific instruction regarding how to use information. Whereas teaching students how to develop effective slides should not replace lessons about the writing process, it is important to recognize the importance of these tools and help students to use them as effectively as they can.
I like how Kate F. mentioned that she saw a class that started the day with a powerpoint question. In this regard i can see how powerpoint can "tap into" that higher level thinking. Maybe brainstorming more ideas like that could be a good way to keep powerpoint from being used as a replacement for critical thinking. Kate Kelleher mentioned that many teachers seem to assign powepoint presentations without specific instructions and this may be part of where the "evil" powerpoint problem lies.
I thought Kate made a good point in her latest posting about ways to raise the quality and quantity of learning that happens around PowerPoint. When students view one slide after another a rush through to copy everything down they will not be taking in the meaning of the words or the images in front of them. It's as if they have to process the same information multiple times because the first few encounters were meaningless. However, when using PowerPoint in the way that Kate described, where students use the information in the slides to answer general and thematic questions, the students are synthesizing the information as it comes in instead of just copying it down.
My main belief is that PowerPoint itself provides a passive learning experience. However, when in the hands of the right educators and used in related content areas, the program can enchance learning.
I think I am more concerned with the way that students are using PowerPoint presentations rather than the way teachers are using it. I think good teachers are able to use PowerPoint to be thought provoking and stimulate discussion much as Kate mentioned she observed. Bad teachers can use it as a crutch, but since they probably fail at stimulating discussion anyway, at least the information they present is in a clear organized slide.
Students, on the other hand, are done a disservice when they use PowerPoint. As the article and many of the other commenters from class have mentioned, presentations become all about the flash and the bang of the presentation and loses touch with the importance of the content. Presentations with weak information content are essentially a waste of time for the audience, as there is nothing they can learn from it. However, PowerPoint offers the presenter of such weak information to trick their audience into thinking it is worthwhile using sounds, colors, and images.
I am not sure that I ever really want to use PowerPoint in my classroom, but if I ever do, I will be sure to stress to the students that the content of their presentation is what is important.
I LIKE PowerPoint. I use it frequently at work for a publishing company; we've used it for several different things. We use it to present information to clients and to sales people; we use it to demo electronic products when the internet is not working at a conference. It is hard to squeeze all the information we need to present into a slide. We have added in our own sounds, like speech clips, videos clips of authors talking or giving a lecture, and post images of the book jackets. This is a very visual, powerful way to get our message across and distinguish our products.
From the articles, it sounds like the authors have seen poor examples of this technology. I just don't like the tone presented. Using technology for technology's sake isn't a smart use of anyone's time. But if a student or teacher can employ and create - use the technology as a vehicle instead of a crutch, then it becomes a learning tool. If using PowerPoint helps students learn a skill, whether it's how to take notes or handle public speaking, then it becomes useful.
Perhaps Tufte has seen too many bad PowerPoint presentations in his lifetime and that is why he is so against it? I have never been a great fun of PowerPoint and I have experienced many uses of PowerPoint presentations that were extremely boring! Although Tufte's point of view seems extreme, I understand his frustration with abusive and ineffective PowerPoint presentations. For instance, I have taken a psychology course with a teacher, who used PowerPoint in every class that semester! It seemed to me that my professor took an easy way to present the material without making much effort to encourage discussion and learning. I agree with Jodi that PowerPoint is "sleep inducing." I believe that there are many good uses of PowerPoint but students and teachers rely on it too much.
It seems as if many of the comments about PowerPoint in the classroom have this overhanging theme of uncertainty. It doesn't appear that anyone is extremely experienced in using the tool in a classroom, rather that we are all trying to feel it out. I can see both sides, if there are only two, of using PowerPoint. Perhaps after the class tonight, we will have a different opinion. I personally think it stems back to the idea that many of you have insinuated; whether the PowerPoint is being used in a classroom by a good teacher who knows how to teach his or her students to use it effectively. I believe PowerPoint can have a powerful and positive impact on the classroom if this is the case. If it isn't, then perhaps it could become evil.
I also think its important to use teacher-centered PowerPoint as a jumping off point, depending on the lesson. For student-created PowerPoint presentations, depending on the age level, it might be impressive that they can simply learn the technology in a lower grade but employ it in a more teacher-like way. However, that is where the presentation could get really long or boring!
After I posted earlier I kept thinking about how I was wary of PowerPoint, but began to regret that I will never use it. Karin's last comment really summed up what I think I may use it for, as a jump off point/intro to a lesson. In many ways I geuss it could take the place of the black board when establishing a timeline, vocab, and important historical figures and their backgrounds. Other than that though, I am still going to steer clear of the PowerPoint presentations in my class, as I feel it turns the students into notetaking drones.
Hi it is me, Luciana Machado
The NPR and the article did make me think about PowerPoint and its use in the classroom in a different way!
I agree with Sania and Katieri that PowerPoint is a great tool to aid discussion; not the discussion itself. As Katieri mentioned, I have also noticed that when you present the PowerPoint with all the bullets showing at once, you do loose some of the students. It is better to display one bullet at a time. As Sania mentioned, please, PowerPoint is great! Remember years ago when the teacher would just lecture all the time with out any technology to aid her in her presentation? That used to be so boring!! Now adays, studdents are not only paying more attention and not folling asleep, but they are participating more in discussions!
I also agree with everything that KZW said (well put!)
Ther is one point that I agree with the "PowerPoint" is evil article. I also have an issue with presenters who read every word of their slides to an audience that can read. PowerPoint should be a tool to present basic points that can then be expanded upon by the presenter.
Post a Comment
<< Home