PowerPoint

There are a lot of great uses for PPT in the classroom. 

Letting students use it to do a presentation is usually not one of them.

Students need to learn how to design PowerPoints

In my personal experience, students are under the impression that ALL of their presentation should be included on the PPT slides. This simply is not true - ever. 

The other misconception that students have with PPT is that a lot of movement and sounds enhance the understanding of the PPT content - they don't.

If given time in class to create PPTs students typically spend the majority of time Google-ing or Bing-ing images and other content to include in the slide show presentation. I'm not convinced that is the best use of classroom time, especially in preparation for a five to ten minute presentation.

Finally, most students completely miss what the PPT is supposed to do; clarify the presented information.

Teachers 

PowerPoint is more than the presenting a lecture...

In fact PPT can be a completely  interactive classroom experience. If you have the know-how, a well designed PowerPoint, a SMART Board and a Koosh Ball - you might be able to create a learning experience that is unforgettable.

 

Think about it...