Let's talk about Power Point

One article mentioned how the misuse of computer resources could be a black-hole. I completely agree with this sentiment and one of the biggest wastes of time can be powerpoint presentations. You've all seen them. You know what they look like. And we ALL know that many presenters are HOOKED on power point. They use it when it is not necessary, they break all the rules (text too small, too much text, talk to screen, read their own slides, distracting animation, clutter, noise, etc)
In many circles it is an expectation that powerpoint is a necessary part of a presentation. This is patently silly. A decent power point, with animation, some colour, a few pictures can take hours to make. The investment in time is rarely worth the effort to create it. Some teachers require students to prepare presentations on power point and this costs the students hours of time. Sadly, often teachers themselves misuse the program and so are not really in any position to lecture students about its proper use.
A friend of mine who is a surgeon at Kingston General hospital told me that powerpoints are banned from all staff meetings. They take too long to make, they (often) add very little to their professional discussion. They require expensive equipment and time to set up.
Now there is a time and a place for power point. If used properly it can be a powerful tool. I use it for art history lessons where I want to put up slides of vases and Roman temples. But the presentation has NO text. I do all the talking and control the pace of the presentation.
I do a hieroglyphs presentation using powerpoint because it would be too time-consuming to draw all the hieroglyphs on the board during a lesson.
Sometimes, using some animation, I can piece together a puzzle or show how things should be assembled like sentences, clauses etc. But honestly, powerpoint slides full of text are not the best way to go. The technology is excellent, but as many of us have already said, we need to use it properly or we will waste our time.
On one of my last army courses we were encouraged to use powerpoint to show battle maps. So students spent hours putting military symbols onto maps. I accomplished the same amount of clarity using a white board and about 2 minutes of drawing. Pretty is not always better. Fancy is not always clearer.
There is a video of a stand-up comic who mocks powerpoint and all the misuses that people succumb to. Go to youtube and type "how not to use powerpoint" It is hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cagxPlVqrtM

Cheers,
Dan