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PowerPoint In the Classroom

What's All the Hype?

Seen as the industry standard for delivering interactive multimedia presentations, Microsoft PowerPoint, almost a decade old now, is beginning to pop-up in classrooms of all levels across the nation.

PowerPoint is a wonderful tool for learning in both a student and teacher-directed situation. It can add a new dimension to learning allowing teachers to explain abstract concepts, while accommodating all learning styles. Used properly, PowerPoint can be one of the most powerful tools for disseminating information ever known. Employed inappropriately, PowerPoint could potentially confuse students and make learning a difficult process.

Set the scene: Early 90's, Corporate America. A top-level executive begins to assess his/her underlings not only on their ideas, but also on their Arrangement of graphs and funny sounds that are integrated into their PowerPoint presentations. The executive pays special attention to colors, sounds, and movies being presented, all the while letting the content escape.

Set the scene: The New Millennium, Digital America. The once top level exec.- now middle manager, looks back and wonders where the innovation went in the organization.

Another victim of triple "P" (PowerPoint Paralysis)! Triple "P" can be defined as the over zealous concentration on the utilization of PowerPoint, while concurrently disregarding the content being exhibited.

Our staff agrees that triple "P" is not uncommon in the business-world. Our goal is not to allow this practice manifest itself in the realm of education. As skilled-educators, before we employ this tool in our classrooms we must realize our susceptibility to triple "P."

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