Powerful Points of Contention

What's the point?

A question often asked by many students and teachers when working with the myriad of technological tools available to "enhance" their teaching or learning. There are many that have infiltrated the educational system with promises of greater student achievement, higher test scores, or making learning "fun". Perhaps no other has elicited as much praise and scorn as that ever ubiquitous and often overindulged of presentation tools...the all knowing, all powerful...Powerpoint!

It slices, it dices, it juliannes...(Is it made by Ronco?)

Its flashy, exciting, and "fun"...(Is it a carnival ride?)

It slides, transitions, uncovers, plays multi-media in multiple-modes...certainly, something like this will undoubtedly serve as a wonderful tool to enlighten and inspire the next generation to think greater thoughts...or will it?

Now, to come clean up front, I must admit that I use presentation software like Powerpoint often, but I also cringe a bit each time I use it and ask myself a few questions. What am I really trying to teach with this "presentation" or Powerpoint project? What do I want students to really learn by creating something using it? What is the point?

Perhaps we should begin by examining what these types of software do well: They can present multiple forms of media in a concise and easily accessible format for the audience/class; they can serve as a platform for organization of presentation portions of projects for students; they can provide a sequential interactive experience for a learner as well as a possibility to create a "web" of sorts of information screens (like a web site) with content that is enhanced with layers of (hopefully) useful information and data. Truly, this software does have some powerful features.

However, in a recent article in Learning and Leading with Technology, "Is Powerpoint Crippling our Students?", a comparison between two educators and their uses of Powerpoint software sheds some new light on this debate. One educator bemoans how she may be the distributor of "mindless media" through use of this software, while the other touts the software's ability to motivate and bring together students for greater collaborative learning. Both views have merit, yet both are also colored by the USER of the software and how well the TOOL is being utilized to empower students into positive COGNITIVE growth patterns. Years ago, a hero of mine, George Lucas, when asked about his ground-breaking special effects in Star Wars, responded as follows...(paraphrased) A special effect is just a means for telling a good story--without a good story, a special effect by itself, is a very poor thing indeed. His comment seems to resonate especially well in the light of the Powerpoint "moon." Mr. Lucas pointed out, that the STORY was what broke box office records...not just the special effects...I would place Powerpoint in the same light. It is a "special effect." It provides many "bells and whistles", but unless these special effects are used appropriately to tell a good "story" and elicit higher levels of student learning and involvement, they are just another form of "eye candy"...

So, should you abandon the use of Powerpoint in your class? Not so fast...For presenting images or certain types of multi-media, it can be a very useful and powerful tool. However, proceed with caution, for one should note that the traditional "lecture" is quickly disappearing from the realm of proper educational practice, and thus any use of technological tools in this same realm will similarly fall short of producing the high levels of cognitive growth intended. The old set of "snooze graphs" from the overhead projector moved over to the powerpoint screen will serve only to encourage more of your students' eyelids to close...Instead, it would be better to use this software tool as a way for students to generate and share their own interactive content (like games), or to provide a digital platform for showcasing their own original artistic or imaginative content. Indeed, many conversations with colleagues over the years have included discussions about how students get "stuck" in the "box" of such software and have a much greater difficulty in creative or imaginative thinking because of being "Powerpointed" in mis-directions. What is the teacher to do?

THINK! BE CREATIVE...HAVE A DEFINITE objective that will be better met through the use of this software as a COGNITIVE tool.

Don't let your students touch the software until they have GOOD CONTENT and a PLAN on how they will use the software to meet specific learning goals.

Ask yourself this: If we did not have ____software to use, could students still accomplish the learning goals in other ways? If the answer is "yes", then most likely, you need to re-think your use of the software.

Don't get "powerpointed" in the wrong direction. Remember, you and your students should be in control of your own destiny and feel the actual "power" that comes from being "pointed" in a positive direction for growth. The "force" is with YOU...stay "on target".