The zombie PowerPoint

While working through the ideas and content that are to be part of a new course, I casually asked the question as to how content was going to be presented to students. Along with several other media, PowerPoint came up. This did not surprise me until I realized that, like many other courses, .ppt has become the defacto presentation standard. This, as much as anything else has led to, if not the stagnation of teaching development, the complete boredom of the student population. But what is the alternative?

Well, you could put content online. Static pages that are available to the student right away can deliver information just as easily as ppt can, but often without the “art”. Wikis are another variant on this idea, having the advantage of allowing all those who are interested to contribute to the notes.

Unfortunately most, if not all the tools that we would use tend to linearize the content that is delivered, and especially when a slideshow is used, the content becomes set in stone, not able to take advantage of any ideas that students may come up with. The use of a wiki or other networked/mapped/hyperlinked resource helps in this regard, though only if the instructor has put effort in preparing such a resource. As we all know that time is a luxury that many are not likely to have, here are some points on PowerPoint, or any other presentation software that one might want to use:

•  less is more – don’t abuse the power that you have to create slides. Yes, slides can incorporate visuals that aid memory, but without some effort, slides can start looking ugly and complex very fast.
• it robs time, control and attention – before the presentation, a presenter can waste hours filling out slide on slide with material, it often forces a specific format for a presentation and when in a presentation, it can become the focus for the presenter as opposed to the content and the audience.
• it does not handle text well – try to limit the number of words on a slide to 15-21. There should be no more than three points, with seven words per point (or some similar combination). This way, the presentation allows for some structure as well as some flexibility

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but the highlights of what I have picked up an advised people with over the years. There are many other resources that I’ve found online, but, this is one of the better ones if you want to read more. I’ve got a copy of the page if the site is not available.