Scoring Power Points

Article in reference: http://fno.org/sept00/powerpoints.html

When it comes to power point presentations, students have experienced a range of boring to overstimulating presentations. In her article, Jamie McKenzie clearly states her belief that there exists a balance between overcrowded pages, excessive animations, and one-way thinking.

When power points began their climb in popularity, presenters jumped on board. They saw the benefit of presenting information quickly as well as reaching visual and auditory learners. As McKenzie states, I agree that power points have become over-saturated with information and animations. Ultimately, this takes away the potential that this tool possesses. I also agree that many presenters put too many pieces of information on a single slide. This does not allow the audience to participate in critical thinking skills. McKenzie did not mention this, however I believe that critical thinking is the way for the audience to retain information. This is critical for educators to keep in mind while creating presentations.

One of the points McKenzie makes that I do not agree with is the idea of not reading the slides out loud to the audience. Yes, it can be assumed that the audience is capable of reading for themselves. However, it is more difficult to begin the process of elaboration without knowing where your audience is in their train of thought. Also, in education, it is dangerous to try to input two pieces of information at the same time. If a student is reading the new information on a slide, the educator should not be talking over his or her internal train of thought as this new information processes. This in itself is an over-stimulation that McKenzie heeded against earlier on in her article.

Overall, I agree that a lot of damage comes as a result of overcrowded power point presentations filled with flashy animations instead of content-rich information. Power point needs to retract as the role of the teacher or presenter and resume its place back as a tool for presenting.

Lindsay Young
2/12/14