Exploring the Issues Pertaining to the Effective use of PowerPoint in the Classroom
Over the past decade or so, PowerPoint has become a dominant media tool for use in the classroom. Where in the past teachers would write notes and draw diagrams on blackboards or overhead projectors they now click from slide to slide and include clip-art pictures to display principles. According to their study, Birnbaum and Frey (2002) found that students “preferred PowerPoint lectures over traditional lectures using a blackboard or whiteboard” (p.3). And, to be sure, PowerPoint has many practical advantages for use in the classroom. That being said, it is important that a teacher consider how to use this technology so that it is a great benefit for students. After all, “The primary goal of a teacher is to create conditions in which young people can learn successfully” (Naested, Potvin, & Waldron, 2004, p.180). A teacher must determine whether PowerPoint does, in fact, enrich the learning environment for the students and, if so, how to make optimum use of this technological medium.
In their investigation into the value of using PowerPoint, Carrell and Menzel (2001) conclude that their “investigation finds no proof that the new technologies (including PowerPoint) offer anything to the educational process to warrant the time and expense that conversion to these technologies require” (p. 238). Despite this result, many teachers see considerable value in the use or PowerPoint. For some teachers, the problem is that they do not feel comfortable using PowerPoint or even computers. In an attempt to remedy this, many school divisions send teachers for technical skills training on computers. While this instruction provides a measure of competence, teachers who learn about the technology in this way rarely have success integrating the technology into with the curriculum. According to de Wet (2006), “This focus on skills training … results in the concentration on the on the creation of an academic product: presenting the lesson in PowerPoint, for example. The result is the separation of technology and curriculum” (p. 31). In all the confusion, teachers often focus on the technology or the presentation itself and lose the attention or engagement of their students. The instructional process can then suffer and, along with it, the human element that had been present between the teacher and the student.
PowerPoint can also lose its effectiveness if it is relied upon too heavily. The teacher who reads bullet after bullet from a slideshow is no more engaging than the one who writes page after page of notes on the overhead and blackboard. In both of these practices, the job of the student is reduced to “rote learning, imitation, repetition, memorization of facts, and alleged truths emerging from the expert teacher” (Black, 2005, p. 23). Here, higher level thinking is neither encouraged nor achieved.
But just as there are consequences to the improper use of the technology, there are also many benefits to using PowerPoint properly that render it a wonderful tool. PowerPoint is a medium in which teachers can organize, implement, and then revisit lessons with ease. This allows teachers to manage class-time more easily and prepare appropriate assessments for students.
A teacher needs to be able to focus on the curriculum and strive to maintain the interest of the class. In pursuit of this, PowerPoint can be a good tool if the teacher uses the slides to guide the class through the various topics and ideas that will be discussed throughout the lesson. This can focus students on a general topic without restricting their thinking unnecessarily. Students are then able to explore and reason - asking questions and wondering about the topic at hand. When a teacher’s lesson has this sort of flexibility, students are more likely to actively build meaning from the material and apply it to their lives. Teachers need to remember that “teaching is about fostering student connections to content, not just presenting content to students” (Hlynka and Mason, 1998, p. 42).
Another great benefit that PowerPoint brings to the classroom is that it opens the windows of the classroom to the outside world. A teacher can incorporate pictures and illustrations frequently to allow students to witness the reality of the topic and connect the information to their lives in a real way. A teacher can also use hyperlinks to incorporate videos, music, Internet sites, and other files with ease. The use of these functions addresses the students’ desire to perceive the world instead of simply being told about it.
Clearly, PowerPoint can be an excellent teaching tool when it is used properly. However, when considering the use of any technology in the classroom, teachers need to consider McLuhan’s first principle (McMahon, 2002). PowerPoint should only be used if and when it will enrich the learning environment for students. In order to use PowerPoint effectively, a teacher needs to be competent with the technology but that is not enough. Students will only benefit from the use of PowerPoint in the classroom if the teacher uses it to connect students with the topic being discussed and to guide a thoughtful learning process. If this is done, PowerPoint can be a very effective tool that will help make the classroom an engaging place for students to actively learn.
Works Cited
Birnbaum, D. J., & Frey, B. A. (2002). Learners’ Perceptions of the value of
PowerPoint in Lectures. Retrieved
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01
/0000019b/80/1a/43/f5.pdf
Black, J. (2005). Art Education and Constructivism: A Compatible, Natural Fit.
Journal of the
Carrell, L. J., & Menzel, K. E. (2001). Variations in Learning, Motivation, and
Perceived Immediacy between Live and Distance Education Classrooms.
Communication Education, 50, 230-240.
de Wet, C. F. (2006). Beyond Presentations: Using PowerPoint as an Effective
Instructional Tool. Gifted Child Today, 29, 29-39.
Hlynka, D. & Mason, R. (1998). ‘PowerPoint’ in the Classroom: Where is the
Power?. Educational Technology, 38, 42-45.
Naested,
Teaching.
McMahon, K. (director). (2002). McLuhan’s Wake (motion picture).
National Film Board of
