Blog reflection week 3: PowerPoint:

PowerPoint is a software application that allows a teacher to provide crisp topic content. Rather than talking about PowerPoint as an application I will discuss it as a useful tool. I have made many PowerPoint’s and think they are an excellent ICT tool for teaching. Of course its use is not limited to theory as it also has powerful applications in practical work.

PowerPoint as a lesson planning tool:
PowerPoint, “because it has excellent information organising capabilities” is useful as a lesson planning tool. While the standard lesson plan is critical, PowerPoint can be used to help unpack the content of the lesson systematically and form the basis of a PowerPoint presentation at a later date. The PowerPoint itself becomes the scaffolding for the lesson plan.

Experimental procedure PowerPoint:
PowerPoint is an excellent tool for stepping a class through experimental procedures. The problem with experimental procedures is that students sometimes find them confusing and are often at different stages of an experimental procedure. Experimental procedures do not always go as planned for many reasons and for this reason a well presented PowerPoint is useful in stepping students through the procedure. One can include in the PowerPoint the experimental procedure, equations and calculations, pictures of laboratory apparatus, chemicals, and outcomes to name a few. As a teacher one can step the class through the procedure and importantly, know where your own explanations are at, stopping the class to go over the next stage of the experiment.

PowerPoint as a student access study guide:
Because PowerPoint is good for stepping out concepts and unpacking content, is digital, and can contain variable media, it is appealing to the middle phase learner (in theory). Study guides in the form of PowerPoint’s may be an advantageous way to give students independent learning options. Some university lecturers use and provide PowerPoint presentations which are extremely helpful for getting a quick point by point understanding of a topic. PowerPoint’s can form the basis of study guides and also complement them.

Inclusion and PowerPoint:
I would like to note as I always do that teachers need to keep in mind the fact that many “at risk” students may not have access to digital technologies and this needs to be a point of consideration. As part of a good inclusionary process, options other than digital need to be provided.