Power to PowerPoint

[Herb Coleman]

Subject: A nice piece on pros and cons of powerpoint
From: "Annette Taylor, Ph. D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon,  6 Jan 2003 17:55:02 -0800
X-Message-Number: 13

From our departmental secretary, I forward this on:

This is a [VERY] long, but good article on the pros and cons of PowerPoint...


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/chi-0301050396jan05.story

I worked my way through this article and was reminded by some of my early teaching. Apparently the author did not have enough time to make the article shorter. In many ways, this article belies it's own argument. Had the author had used a program like PowerPoint (or Aldus Persuasion), she could have better organized her thoughts and made more concise points.
The point the article misses is the one I constantly fight for and that is the APPROPRIATE use of technology. While it might have been appropriate for Martin Luther King, Jr. to use PowerPoint to prepare for his speech (had it been available in 1963), it it wholly inappropriate to use PowerPoint in the manner the author suggests to present a poem.
I would suggests that presentation software is merely a tool. Unfortunately if people rely too much on the templates and do not customize them to fit your presentation then they will fall into a stilted form of presenting (and possibly way of thinking).
The final thing the author leaves out is the other applications of of PowerPoint. By simply starting with an outline an individual can create a web page or a completely interactive web site. Aside from presenting text and graphics, PowerPoint can present audio and video clips as well as link to the World Wide Web. This can make for an interactive learning environment and provide quick access to many types of information.

Personally, I use PowerPoint whenever I need to post a quick flyer either promoting my course, announcing changes in office hours or seeking student workers.

But that's just my opinion...or is it?
--

Herb Coleman
IT Manager, Rio Grande Campus
Adjunct Psychology Professor
Austin Community College
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
512-223-3076
******************************************
* "I wish none of this had happened." *
* *
* "So do all who live to see such times. *
* But that is not for them to decide. *
* All we have to decide is what to do *
* with the time that is given to us. *
* There are other forces at work in this *
* world,..., besides the will of evil." *
******************************************
A conversation between Frodo and Gandalf
from the motion picture "The Fellowship of the Ring"




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