Powerpoints...

I love doing powerpoints it helps me organize my information and be able to do an "oversee" of what information I am trying to convey to my audience. I think for those students who are visual learners a power point could help, if it is done in a manner that catches their attention and is not to 'wordy' or overpowering. Powerpoints could have both positive and negative benefits to education, as I stated it could be an aid for those visual learners and it could also help to just highlight the most important items in a subject matter. However, it could have a negative effect if the powerpoint is too overly broad, doesn't necessarily highlight the important information or is too 'wordy'. Overall if done in a 'fun' manner for students it would be a benefit.. This is a website that I found which was very informative and showed alot of different ideas and tips, http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/classrooms/Classroom_Presentations_and_Lesson_Plans.htm and this article, http://classroom-audio-visual.suite101.com/article.cfm/power_point_presentations_in_the_class_room shows the difference between the proper use and the improper use of visual technology. One statement that was made in the article, which I thought was very interesting was, "Too often, the power point becomes a poor substitute for instructing. In many ways, the power point has replaced the endless mimeographs and later worksheets duplicated on Xerox machines. Yet the results are often the same: instruction is depersonalized and student interaction is limited."

Teachers have to make sure that if they are using a powerpoint that it is as an aid and help as a tool to enhance the curriculum and not to mainly teach all of the curriculum.