delayed posting due to technical problem--received by mg-ed-dv 6-4-01
From: Fornaciari, Dr. Charles [mailto:
cfornaci@fgcu.edu]
Hi Everyone,
I've been following the PowerPoint conversation with quite a bit of interest
and believe that a number of excellent points have been made concerning its
use as a pedagogical tool. It's given me a lot to think about and I
particularly think that William makes an excellent point concerning the type
of material that we should consider placing on a PowerPoint slide. For items
like graphs and charts, PowerPoint is often unbeatble while for simple lists
it can put even the most attentive student to sleep. At my university we
call it the "click-thud effect": click, the lights go out, thud, the
students' heads hit the desks.
Further, when it comes to effective presentations, I routinely see basic
rules of presentations (and these are rules that I was taught before
PowerPoint came out) being violated at my university and at the annual
Academy meetings. These are rules such as no more than 5 or 6 lines of text
with no more than 5 or 6 words per line; make sure it passes the back of the
room test (can everyone in the classroom read the overhead); and the length
of time that the slide stays up (10 seconds is too short, 30 minutes is too
long; 1-2 minutes is standard); and of course, the slides must illustrate
the main points rather than actually being THE ENTIRE PRESENTATION put onto
a screen. To top it off, many textbook publishers now include PowerPoint
slides as part of their instructor's kits, and I have generally found these
to be of poor quality, e.g., 70 slides for a 35 page chapter meant to be
covered in a 1 hour course, and each slide has 60-80 words on it...caveat
emptor!
I think another issue that we have not discussed is rhythm of the classroom
and PowerPoint's rule in enhancing or detracting from the rhythm. Further,
all classroom time can be broken down into two components: time where
learning is taking place and time where it is not, and I've always sought
ways to maximize the learning time.
Most of us know the basics for maximizing learning time through techniques
like showing up to class 5 minutes early and taking attendance as students
show up vs. taking 5 minutes at the start of the class to take attendance.
PowerPoint, and most technology, can be some of the most effective killer's
of learning time and rhythm if not used properly--some of that is within our
control and some of it is not. For example, at my university, most
classrooms are equiped with a teaching podium that is often placed into the
front corner of the classroom. To change the PowerPoint slides, you have to
walk behind the podium to access the keyboard--besides the fact that there
is now a BIG bulk podium separating the professor from the student it is
generally not the place that any teacher would choose to stand to conduct a
class. So, if we're going to do a PowerPoint enabled class, the rhythm
becomes: talk, walk to podium (while putting our backs to students and
probably not speaking or speaking to a wall), look down at keyboard, change
slide, look up at monitor in podium to make sure it worked(still not making
eye contact with students) walk back to front and center, talk, walk back to
podium. In the process of a 1 hour course that winds up with a LOT of down
time and a very fragmented rhythm.
Of course, one common result is that many faculty often stay behind the
podium for the entire class (with all of the psychological implications of a
large physical barrier between the professor and the student). A natural
response would be to use an air mouse, but at our university they are
unreliable at best and you still have to be in a certain physical position
to use it: "Wait, hold on a second, the mouse will change the slide. Oppss!
It went forward 3 slides. Hold on a second while I try to move it back. One
slide back. Two slides. Come on, one more slide. Ah, there it is. Okay, now
what was I saying?" The net result in the above example is that not only
have we destroyed the rhythm of the class discussion, but we've also created
a lot of non-learning time (downtime).
I've been through a number of training seminars as a teacher over the years,
including receiving quite a bit of instruction as a technical trainer. I'm
surprised at how little we consider learning time and rhythm in the
classroom. Adding PowerPoint and any other technology to the classroom makes
the issue all the more critical, IMO. My example above is only one way in
which technology interacts with our learning time and rhythm (I can think of
many others: "I have this great Web site that will illustrate this point,
but it appears to be down right now"; until recently we had to completely
turn out the lights in the classroom order for the PowerPoint presentations
to be visible--classes in the dark!), but I guess my intended contribution
to this thread would simply be to suggest that these items become part of
our thinking when we begin to consider adding any new technology to a
classroom session.
Have a good one,
Charles Fornaciari, Ph.D., MCP, MCT Department of Management
Assistant Professor of Management College of Business
(941) 590-7384 Florida Gulf Coast University
E-mail:
cfornaci@fgcu.edu 10501 FGCU Blvd. South
http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/cfornaci Ft. Myers, FL 33965-6565
"He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars. General
Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer. " William Blake