PowerPoint Presentations

Using PowerPoint in the Classroom

Ah, good old PowerPoint.  I was relieved to see that the next task we were set was to create a PowerPoint presentation for use in the classroom, because I've used it many, many times.  The beauty of PowerPoint is that it really is a simple program to learn and use.

I created a PowerPoint presentation that gives students a very brief overview on reptiles.  Please note that if I was to actually use it in a classroom I would put a lot more effort into the presentation.  But as these tasks are set mostly so that we can demonstrate to our lecturer that we know how to use the various ICT's tools, as well as the fact that I'm jacked up on cold & flu tablets because I have managed to catch what I can only assume is the black plague (or possibly the lady version of man flu), my presentation is very basic.

I did learn a couple of new things when completing this task; how to embed YouTube videos into my presentation, and how to embed the presentation into Blogger.  I used a program called Freemake Video Converter to convert the YouTube videos into an AVI format which is supported by PowerPoint and was able to embed the videos into my presentation.  I then created a SlideShare account, and used that to get an embed code to put into my blog.  My marvelous slideshow can be seen below:

Reptiles ppt from Marina Waddell

Thrilling, no? (For some reason the videos won't play within the blog.  I am simply too exhausted to try to figure it out, but they definitely play in PowerPoint).

It's clear that PowerPoint is a great way to present information; I see my wonderful, talented, brilliant lecturers using it all the time (*see what I did there?*).  In terms of using it in the classroom:  

Pluses:

• Easy to use program, can be used by both students and teachers.
• Allows clear organisation of information; is great for summarising main points of a lesson/presentation.
• Presentations when done properly can be attractive and engaging.
• Is able to incorporate different types of media including pictures, video and audio files.

Minuses: 

• Not a collaborative tool; presentations are designed to be made and presented as is.

Interesting:

• Ideal for teachers to use during lessons to summarise main points.
• Students could create a PowerPoint presentation for a class project and in turn develop their ICT skills.
• Having a PowerPoint presentation running on a loop could be useful for reinforcing prior learning (eg. having a presentation on sight words in a Prep class; students could look at it in their spare time or in passing).