by Tami Port MS

Created on: July 05, 2009   Last Updated: July 19, 2009

Technology has certainly expanded the resources that instructors have available to help their students learn. But the availability of computers and LCD projectors in the classroom does not automatically translate into a better educational experience for the student. There are certainly some "Dos and Don'ts" for creating an effective PowerPoint presentation. The following are a few ideas to make your techno lectures work.

* Reading Your Slides *

Problem: This is one thing that students familiar with projected lectures will always complain about. But the first time you teach a new topic or class, it is sometimes necessary to include more text to guide you through the material.

Solution: Wherever possible, use your slides as brief summaries or lists of subtopics that you can elaborate on. If it is new material that you aren't comfortable with yet, use the Notes feature in PowerPoint. You can make elaborate and detailed notes that you can print out with your slides, without having to include the material directly on the slides.

* Don't Make Slides Text-Heavy *

Problem: Even if you don't read from your slides, too much text and too few graphics often make a presentation boring and difficult to follow. You students' attention will drift without engaging graphics.

Solution: If you have a lot of material, divide it between several slides and be generous with photos and other graphics. For visual learners in particular, educational graphics like charts, diagrams and photographs can make it easier to retain the material. Beyond PowerPoint, computer technologies also allow instructors to incorporate online movies and animated graphics that are very helpful when trying to explain complex processes or ideas.

* Don't Give Them Everything They Need *

Problem: If you provide college students with the PowerPoint file prior to lecture, and everything the student needs is right there on the slide, some may be disinclined to attend class.

Solution: Put fill-in-the-blanks in your slides! Blanks in the place of key terminology encourage the students to pay attention and to attend class. Blanks also provide the added benefit of forcing fast-talking instructors to slow it down so that students can more easily keep up with the lecture.

* Starting From Scratch *

Problem: The first time you teach a course, the idea of creating Power Point presentations of all of your lectures can be daunting, particularly if you re not familiar with the PowerPoint program.

Solution: First of all, PowerPoint is very easy to learn, so don't be put off by the thought of learning a new software tool. And with respect to creating presentations from scratch, free prepared PowerPoint presentations on a variety of topicsw can be found on the internet. Just search PowerPoint and the topic of your lecture, and you can find existing presentations. The lectures that you find may not be exactly what you need, or organized in the way that you would like to present that material, but modifying an existing lecture is much easier than starting from scratch.

Once you have developed a set of PowerPoint lectures the covers your course material, the next step is much easier. I am continually tweaking my collection of lecture slides, seeing what works to convey my material to the students and what flops. The best time to tweak is immediately after the lecture, when the required changes are still fresh in your mind.

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