A Basic PowerPoint for Learning and Presenting Learning

I have had quite a bit of experience with creating basic PowerPoint presentations in the course of my work. Basic PowerPoint presentations are ideal for presenting information visually and are generally more effective than a lot of text at getting across a simple message (particularly the case for young children). Additionally, they tend to make public speaking easier by providing cues and supporting information (graphs, images etc.).

I spent some time this week helping the Year 3 class (where I am doing my EPL) finalise persuasive texts that they have been working on. I noticed that many of them don't seem to have understood the process of planning their texts, so I thought I'd have a play with PowerPoint to create a brief presentation explaining the steps involved.

Making the presentation was quite straightforward, although it is quite frustrating that .ppt files can't be uploaded directly onto this blog. Instead, I had to create a SlideShare account, upload the file to SlideShare and embed it on my wiki.

Although PowerPoint can make the presentation of information easier for teachers, I don't think this form of PowerPoint enhances learning greatly, given the minimal collaboration afforded and the teacher-centred nature of information delivery. I plan to investigate more interactive PowerPoint presentations soon and will keep you posted.