Assessment One: Embedded Task Four - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... PowerPoint.

Embedded Task Four - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... PowerPoint

    Death by PowerPoint; that's an interesting epitaph to be written on your gravestone - but as far as using PowerPoint in the classroom, it is a sharp point. At what point does trusty, old PowerPoint become a dull, overused tool? And how do we change it so that it becomes fun  and engaging again?

    Answer? Adaptability and creativity. Let's explore that, shall we? At its simplest, PowerPoint is a set of digital pages with which you can relay information to your students - white pages, black words and students taking notes. Death by PowerPoint, indeed. No wonder students are metaphorically giving up the ghost, and engaged learning alone with it. 

    But, through the use of PowerPoint's more technical tools, your PowerPoint lesson can be reanimated to life. Creativity and coding are your only limits in designing, texturing and colouring your slides. Links can be embedded, videos and audio attached to slides and pictures easily inserted for educational or aesthetic purposes. The standard bold, italics and underline font apply, as well as shadowing and strikethroughs. Charts, ClipArt, WordArt, transitions and animations add flair to an otherwise dull presentation.   
   
    However, PowerPoint's tools can be abused. Imagine the cringe-worthiness of badly placed pictures and audio, not only for you, but for your students - it's almost like telling a joke and not receiving a single laugh. One I distinctly remember - and not for a good reason - is the awkward, 70's television show reminiscent clap track. Bright and bad clipart, sharp background colours and illegible wording -either because of colour or size - are the bane of both the teacher and the student.  

    Therefore, overall, if the capabilities of PowerPoint is not abused, the low-level technology can become another tool in your arsenal. However, I must reiterate it is low-level and does not rank high upon the SAMR scale. But, in using this in conjunction with other higher ranked activities, helps support the learning of your students.

    For this task, I created a hypothetical lesson plan for an English class and the PowerPoint I would use. This PowerPoint, hypothetically could be used for either a grade 9 lass first learning the subject matter or a grade 11/12 class re-learning the subject matter for assessment. Keeping in mind the ability to abuse the technology, I used simple transitions and clear lettering. Activities are included in the PowerPoint.
PowerPoint Demonstration - Literature Lesson

    Students are often tasked with creating a PowerPoint to supplement their orals for assessment. However, like teachers, they have the ability to abuse the technology. Either through laziness or ignorance, students often simply pick a design, write on the slides, perhaps place a few pictures and think they are done. Finished. A+. That is not the case. Rather, we need to teach students the same - the correct use of PowerPoint.  
    
    In the end, PowerPoint remains the trusty, old Microsoft presentation tool that every 90's kid used to mess around with in accordance to Paint. But with the new decade, it has the ability to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and become much more at our hands.

Also, apologies for all the death puns. They just... fit.