PowerPoint in the Classroom

As an educator I like PowerPoint, it’s a great way to present material and bring it alive in class with the ability to embed or hyperlink to YouTube videos. Also, the presentation can be saved and uploaded so students can refer back to it or the presentation can be printed off and be given out as handouts.

PowerPoint gives the creator a great deal of freedom, which is great but also, can be a downfall. The slides need text but not too much text; the background needs to be eye-catching but still readable. Moreover, the content displayed needs to be relevant. However, the ability to engage students lies solely on the shoulders of the presenter, as they need to be both enthusiastic and well informed on the content. Creating an engaging PowerPoint can be difficult and time consuming.

I first used PowerPoint over ten years ago in 7^th grade technology class. At that time I didn’t know much about the software or how it could impact my educational journey. For the better part of the last ten years every single presentation I’ve witnessed has been created on PowerPoint, I’ve seen some really good ones and some really bad ones along the way. With that being said, PowerPoint is slowly dying as other software is taking over. Software such as SMART Notebook and Prezi has started to make their way into the classroom as another way to engage students with technology.