The document discusses the pitfalls of using PowerPoint in teaching and offers advice for creating effective presentations. It emphasizes avoiding text-heavy slides, excessive bullet points, poor color schemes, and animation overload while highlighting the importance of clear and engaging communication. The author advocates for concise information, the use of images, and checking for spelling errors to enhance student engagement.

1. Q. What's worse than a boring lesson, filled with PowerPoint slides?

2. A. A VLE crammed with PowerPoint slides from a boring lesson.

3. *sigh*  Posted by Sarah Horrigan at 9:45 AM http://kindalearning.blogspot.com/2009/05/boredom-x-2.html

4. STOP Killing Your Students with PowerPoint

5. can be highly boring for your students and should only be used by authorised PowerPoint Teachers

6. Warning

7. PowerPoint

8. It’s my duty to warn you

9. How to avoid

10. a Slow Death by PowerPoint

11. (No students were harmed during the making of this presentation)

12. The Top Cardinal Sins

13. Cardinal Sin 1

14. The Script

15. The problem is that most people speak at

16. 150 WPM

17. Yet most people read at

18. 250 WPM

19. 1. Some teachers like to put every single thing they are going to say on their slides. Although this means that you do not have to remember what to say on your slides. This makes your slides boring, text heavy and causes your students eyes to glaze over, the mobile phones come out and the fidgeting begins. They begin to wonder why they are even listening to you as they have already used up all their brain power reading ahead and drawing their own conclusions. All this before you even reach the bottom of your. . . Common PowerPoint Mistakes

20. 1. Continued - first slide Common PowerPoint Mistakes

21. Cardinal Sin 2

22. Dodging Bullets

23. Example

24. This is a Very Important Slide In case you have not understood the fact that this is a very important slide from the heading I am going to make sure that you read the information again in many different ways The problem with very important slides (VIS) is that you try to get as much information on to them as possible Because as we all know in teaching you can’t just say something once you have to make sure its said or shown three times in three different ways to get the same message across! That way the little blighters can’t say you did not tell them The sad thing is this causes Teachers to use PowerPoint's with lots of different levels and bullet points to put across the same key message (over and over again!) Here it is again – I am important – read me! Have you got the point yet Please remember I am important too even if I am a third level bullet point It does not matter how many different ways you try to cram the information in Nobody is going to read it anyway So it’s all pretty pointless And you end up wasting your time Want students to read ? Give it to them on paper! A slide is not the place to do it Whoopee! Phew is that it now?

25. Not exactly exciting is it?

26. To a student this is a signal to

28. Followed with a sprinkling of these

30. And time to catch up on

32. Avoid Using Too Many Bullet Points To Try To Get Your Message Across Common PowerPoint Mistakes To Your Class Too Many And Your Key Messages Will Be Lost In fact The Term Bullet Point Comes From The act Of students Pointing Finger guns at The Annoying Teacher

33. Ditch the bullet points!

34. Cardinal Sin 3

35. Spell Checks

36. Many teachers do not even run a spell cheek before their presentation! BIG MISTAK – Nothing makes you look more stupid that selling errrs Common PowerPoint Mistakes

37. Cardinal Sin 4

38. People who love data

39. Think that more is better ?

40. More Data

41. Effectiveness

42. Lets demonstrate this

43. By adding more!

46. In some desperate attempt

47. To convince you of their point

48. Cardinal Sin 5

49. Bad Colour Schemes Clashing backgrounds and font colours can lead to Thumping headache Motion sickness Distraction Unexplained rashes Mental confusion Continual fidgeting Loss of bladder control

50. Cardinal Sin 6

51. Animation

52. Can be good

53. For visual learners

54. Animation Can be effective But use too much And you end up with your students Going WOW! This is just so cool And not actually Taking Any notice Of what You are trying to say

55. And your PowerPoint becomes this

56. Animation Blah Boring Like this one? WOW! Look at me Woo hoo Wheee Yawn Fidget Blah Blah Blah

57. More Animation

58. Less Effect

59. So how do you get away from mindless text and bullets?

61. Example

62. We’ve all heard the proverb

63. A picture is

64. words

65. Taken from an example of a real GCSE Business lesson

66. Businesses have benefited in the following ways: Reduction in storage space and costs as materials are Just In Time (JIT) Increased output as new technology and techniques allow businesses to increase production Increased labour productivity as new techniques and technologies enable workers to be more productive Increased quality as robots produce to a higher standard Automation has decreased production down-time – no tea breaks, 24hr a day working New technology is expensive Can lead to redundancies Demand for skilled workers increases Money into education to equip the next workforce with the right skills GCSE Unit 4f – Economic and Technological forces

67. Doesn’t it make you feel like this?

69. Let’s break it down

70. Technological Forces

71. Manufacturing products only when ordered (JIT)

72. I n c r e a s e s

73. Output & production

74. Productivity

75. Demand for skilled workers

76. Skills education for workforce

77. Technology costs

78. Quality

79. D e c r e a ses

80. Costs and storage space

81. Production downtime storage space

82. Jobs (redundancies) storage space

83. Its all there except

84. You nor the students read it!

86. computer Sometimes the best slides have no text at all

87. Have you got it yet?

88. Less is more

89. Communication involves emotions

90. If you can’t explain it short and simple

91. Then you don’t understand it

92. This is bad communication

93. Businesses have benefited in the following ways: Reduction in storage space and costs as materials are Just In Time (JIT) Increased output as new technology and techniques allow businesses to increase production Increased labour productivity as new techniques and technologies enable workers to be more productive Increased quality as robots produce to a higher standard Automation has decreased production down-time – no tea breaks, 24hr a day working New technology is expensive Can lead to redundancies Demand for skilled workers increases Money into education to equip the next workforce with the right skills GCSE Unit 4f – Economic and Technological forces

94. This is good communication

95. Only use images that match your message

96. … and evoke emotion

97. Too much text & data is

98. bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad

99. Try to avoid clipart!

100. L i m i t

101. Your Words Per Slide

102. Less text and data is

103. G d

104. Make only ONE point per slide

105. Dodge the bullets

106. Don’t use bad colour schemes

107. Check your spelling

108. Use pictures

109. Try http://www.zoo-m.com/flickr-storm/

110. Try

111. Try

112. Now it’s your turn

113. 2

115. Killing your students

116. Don McMillan (Life after death by PowerPoint) Death by PowerPoint (and how to fight it) by Alexei Kapterev Dodging bullets in presentations by Rowan Manahan (fortifyservices. Blogspot.com) Flikr-Storm www.slideshare.net www.google.co.uk/images Music from www.freeplaymusic.com track – “Warped” Music from www.freeplaymusic.com track – “She will stop” Music from www.freeplaymusic.com track – “Misfit” With Thanks To

117. www.prezi.com (free educational accounts – up to 100 users) Keynotes – also available for iphone/ ipad www.animoto.com (free educational accounts) Microsoft Photo Story (free download) Alternatives to PowerPoint

118. Jacqueline Hicks © 2010 Lead Teacher of ICT [email_address]