PowerPoint Presentations

I usually hate Power Point. I avoid it at all costs because I think it often makes a really good presentation boring. However, I can totally see how it works in an educational setting for visual learners. I might actually use it for that reason. And just being able to show pictures is key to any lesson. It would also be good for changing things up once in a while and making things more interesting. Problems arise when you use Power Point in place of note-taking. Two things occur here: 1) students don't take any of their own notes, even when it would be useful, 2) students don't pay attention when they know they'll receive notes later. Also bad is when the Power Point is covered in words instead of used for pictures or to get main points across.

Powerpoint don'ts: ...
-use black font!
-use more words than pictures--blah.
-talk to the screen.
-use notes section as a script.
-put dark fonts on dark background.

Powerpoint do's: ...
-use more pictures than words.
-include pictures of primary sources that you might not otherwise be able to obtain or bring in.
-use PPT as a visual, not as a lesson in itself.
-use big font.
-make videos full-screen, or close to.
-use arrows or circles to emphasize.

Best item: Paul's bird pictures and few words except for bird names. Paul's birds running across the screen. Also, circles on important ID characteristics.

Item to improve on: Make things as big as possible, if there's room. This includes fonts, pictures, and diagrams.

After watching all the presentations, I have a few improvements for myself: I will try to use LIGHT animation if I can. I'll use sound to reinforce topics. I'll use Power Point sometimes simply for showing pictures. For this particular presentation I'd fix my sound and make it not loop (although I know I did that in the preferences--hmmm...).