Digital Pedagogies - Powerpoint as a learning tools...

(Moodle, 2011)

This You Tube video is great, it highlights what NOT to do when using a PowerPoint (PP) presentation.  

• PP is used to support oral presentation
• Shouldn't be a stand alone teaching technique
• Supports embedding of text, links and interaction 

According to Fisher (2003) PowerPoint presentations can easily be used for whole class learning, reviews, generating posters, interactive tests and presentations.  Studies (Susskind, 2004) have shown that learning with PP has been linked to more positive attitudes and a greater self-efficacy towards a subject.

Some examples to use in an educational setting would be:

• Introducing a unit of work
• Making boring lessons interactive with sound and animation
• Presentation assignments
• Interactive quizzes
• Storyboards
• Timelines

I always thought PP was quite linear however once I started researching classroom uses of PP I was amazed.  This activity has broadened my knowledge.  The use of such ICT promotes students to think outside the box, instead of just writing an assignment they can plan it and design it on PP and present it to the class in a different way.  This type of activity promotes higher order thinking.  PP presentations can also be embedded onto the interactive whiteboards in classrooms.  


When using PP I looked at adding animation, sound, design layouts, fonts, moving slides, visual graphs and more.

Using PP is a constructivist activity and it can help scaffold learning through the use of graphics and visual aids which can help students understand more complex ideas.

This is a quick PP that shows you what TO DO and what NOT TO DO when designing PP:

     Fisher, D. (2003).  Techniques.  Using PowerPoint for Teaching.  Retrieved March 27, 2011  http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Fisher-PowerPoint.html

      Susskind, J., (2004).   PowerPoint's power in the classroom: enhancing students' self-efficacy and attitudes.  Department of Psychology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls IA