Hi Azzam,
It is a good question. I am a long term lecturer -- been at it for 36 years -- and have moved from blackboard through the innovations (so many!) to power point. I think it works very well as an organizer of my ideas and an agenda for what I will lecture about. That is, I put the basic concepts and information I want to transmit on the power points and then lecture and while doing so I will turn and refer to specific things on the screen as I lecture. A few points that many people may mention to you: 1) Never simply read off the power point slides....that is boring and students tend to quit listening if you do. As I said, I merely use the slides as a general framework for what I say. 2) Do not make your slides full of text. Make them more visually engaging with only the primary terms and/or questions and/or quotes of facts on them....treat the slides as outlines to hone yourself and the students to your main verbal points. 3) vary the format of the slides so that you keep students focus on the slides. I have attached a few demo slides from a recent lecture in aphasia so you can see what I mean.
I hope this helps.
Jack
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your question.
I use both because sometimes I need the blackboard to clarify certain examples of stress and intonation.
I think that in recent years we have abused the use of power point ... nowadays, the type of student we find in classrooms is passive to observe the repertoire of images that we project without being involved in their learning.
I think that the use of the power point replaces the photos, images and visits to the reality but, it is necessary to look for the interest with other methodologies ...
For me, in recent years I have returned to explanations on board (which forces them to take notes and schemes). The results I am getting are better.
Dear esteemed colleague Dr.Azzam,
Happy Eid Adha, Thank you so much for inviting me to this session, very impressive academic question, really, it depends on the nature of the assigned lecture, where I preferred using interactive lecture by using both Power Point via data show and white board in addition to presenting real mechanical components like gears, clutches, bolts, ..etc.
Thanks and regards, Emad
Happy Eid Adha Dr.Emad , Thank you for valuable answer.
All the best and regards
Powerpoint is useful in establishing objectives, illustrating concrete objectives, statistical analyses (charts, graphs etc). I frequently embed videos in these presentations, which is very helpful when teaching cell structure and atomic interactions. After I introduce the terms, objectives and basic concepts I switch to the white board. I like to use different colored markers to group similar concepts, which hopefully, enables the student to stay organized in their thoughts and maintains their attention. I find that presenting real objects for the students to touch and feel adds value to the lecture as well. Finally, I incorporate a project or Lab in which the student can convey to me the concepts that have been taught in the module. Recently, I have begun to incorporate gaming into the lessons. So far, so good! I find that utilizing all of these methods helps to engage students with different types of learning styles.
Thank you!
Robin Cullen
Like some others who have taught, I use both. I started using PowerPoints slides many years ago when I taught classes on film appreciation in a big lecture hall that had no white board (or chalkboard either). I used it as just an outline, much as I would the board, but also included many visuals and sometimes embedded videos into them. They definitely were better than the overhead projector transparencies I had to use prior to the availability of PowerPoint (I've been teaching a long time--at least 40 years now)
With my other classes, I used both. I discovered that I could engage the students more if I wrote key points on the whiteboards, along with questions. I let them help me fill in the blanks. I could make connections between concepts a bit better on the board than the slides. I also use PowerPoint slides, to show an image, or relevant cartoon, or again, an embedded video. These slides also had a copy of lecture outlines on them, but in class I skipped over those. The full set I'd put on Blackboard (the learning management system at both my old school and my new). That way, if a student missed class, or needed a refresher, the notes would be available to them. I also teach some fully on-line classes, where the PowerPoint slides are more important,, sometimes with audio voice overs included.
In Communication classes we also use a lot of experiential activities to reinforce learning, so sometimes I would just refer students to the slides on line to review much like I would the text (or other readings). Then I might put a prompt or some instructions on the board for students to use in group or individual application activities
PowerPoint slides are just another teaching tool, but it can be abused if too text heavy and read by the speaker. That puts people to sleep (or has students checking their phones). I also teach courses in public speaking, where we teach students how to use such presentation aids as PowerPoint slides in an effective, engaging way. Because of that I would not advocate against using them, but to be honest, I prefer the whiteboard, and my students do seem to be more engaged and do better when I use it.
I agree with Jack in that PowerPoint is a much more powerful presentation tool in organising and delivering a message to clients. I am, however, finding that Sway is better again as it allows the information to be much more seamless in its delivery. Food for thought.
A simple question with a complex anwer. In my opinion, motivation and attention are better promoted with a combination of didactic resources. Advice against accumulation of words, it frequently gets a dissapointed audience. Long texts do better focused through self-regulation of students in their own house, Power Point can help by point out titles, and better yet through audiovisual and pictures. I hope it's useful.
I Agree Raul. My training indicates that fro best results, use the 5 by 5 rule for text. That is a maximum of 5 lines of 5 words per slide (etc). However, some of the best presentations I have witnessed/delivered did not have any text, and instead relied on visual prompts such as contextual images graphs and other visual stimulus. Food for thought.
It all depends on your audience in my opinion, which in my case includes teachers, researchers and academics. I think "death by Powerpoint (or some other equally hypnotising software) is a real phenomenon, but I do use PPT at conference presentations as a synergistic part of my talk to keep me on time. I always finish exactly on time and never offend the next speaker by eating into their time. I start with a script then look for simple text and graphics as PPT to complement my script, and I never, ever read the PPT verbatim. Finally, I rehearse my talk until it is almost memorised, noting exactly when to cue the PPT slides. I hope that helps.
I forgot to add that, if there is a blackboard, it can help retain audience attention if you move from one media to the next. If there is any chalk around then you can have a bit of fun making some nice diagrams on the go. In this age of the smart whiteboard the sound of chalk on board is surprisingly engaging; a good example is the docu-drama "Einstein", where he builds the tension by doing amazing proofs on the blackboard.
Everyone is a multimodal learner. Therefore using both when possible allows for deeper engagement. Personally, I like a ppt handout to take notes on, let that be lecture or conference. Yet this is only worth the paper if the person talking is not reading the ppt and is filling in the blanks with additional information. I learn by writing, and having a handout helps me stay engaged. I'd suggest being prepared with a variety of modes, as people have different needs and sometimes technology just does not cooperate. Learning differences, vision issues, or just trying to keep people's attention for 1-3+ hours at a time requires flexibility and multimodal input.
As a teacher, I used ppt in third grade as well. The new generation is so tech involved, that I found that I could keep their attention if I had pictures and videos spicing up any and everything, for example a lesson on fractions. Yet, I heavily relied on the dry erase board for in depth explanations followed by practice on paper.
Hi Azzam
I use PPT to support my teaching. It saves my time plus it gives me freedom to move around in the classroom .I think use of PPT along with interaction could be used..we can bring novelty to our lessons by adding pictures, animation and video too
I think PPT is better to keep your lecture more organised and you also could control each moment of it. Even students nowadays are followed e-learning more than the classic. But with novelty of teaching you need to use the blackboard when you want focus on important point of your subject
The benefits of PPT over the traditional chalkboard are enormous. These include flexibility, reduction of boredom, suitability to present realities, etc. However, it is not a magic wand. It depends on whether the lecturer has been able to move away from tradition methods of teaching to more cognitive/constructive based methods of learning.
You may be interested in the following critiques of Powerpoint.
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint
https://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/pi/2016_2017/phil/tufte-powerpoint.pdf
PowerPoint Does Rocket Science--and Better Techniques for Technical Reports
https://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB&topic_id=1
"Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely."--Edward Tufte
http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/power-corrupts-powerpoint-corrupts-absolutely-edward-tufte-23351/
Amazon
https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_pp
Richard Feynman, the late Nobel laureate and CalTech physicist, saw that "bulletized" thinking contributed to the Challenger disaster, where 7 crew members died and a multi-billion dollar craft destroyed due to an O-ring failure. The big problem was that NASA management wasn't really listening to the engineers - and breaking issues up into bullets helped them do that.
\\ We looked at the summary of the report. Everything was behind little bullets, as usual. The top line says:
The lack of a good secondary seal in the field joint is most critical and ways to reduce joint rotation should be incorporated as soon as possible to reduce criticality.
And then, near the bottom, it says:
Analysis of existing data indicates that it is safe to continue flying existing design as long as all joints are leak checked* with a 200 psig stabilization . . .
I was struck by the contradiction: "If it's 'most critical,' how could it be 'safe to continue flying'? What's the logic of this?" //
-- http://www.zdnet.com/article/death-by-powerpoint/
Azzam, l agree with Jack on his view that it can be used as "organizer of ideas" . Since PowerPoints are not PowerNotes, the blackboard is needed for illustrations depending on the subject matter. For instance your subject area will require both. I will go for both.
Being a student in this university, my lecturers who were very technologically advanced found themselves very comfortable with the PowerPoint than the the non-techheads. When the lectures began the techheads have prepared the lectures very well. The learners used to feel enthusiasm about the visual tech approach using projectors and laptops. Therefore, I felt that PowerPoint is really better skills of teaching than chalkboard .
I hope this contribute to your question.
Markwel
[Student]
Hello! I think there is no choice here.We must use both, The chalkboard attracts students who are kinesthetic . The powerpoint attracts the visual learner; color,pictures etc. the powerpoint is technology and our our students must adhere to it.
Powerpoint has been the most applied method in academic teaching/learing processes. Because it is simple to deal with - time-saving. It helps to visualize knowledge and to make things easy for the teacher, if you use the same schemes every semester again, that's normal. Butt exactly said it has many risks. First it tends to weigh down the auditory with stimuli, and the single student has to select information. The auditory tends to see but not to write. The change from one click to the next clicks happens too quickly, mostly. Second, only one thing is possible: When the auditory is reading information and writing something the lecturer tends to give additional explanations - what a trouble for the learners. The overloaded information of - possibly - fascinating pictures has no chance to grasp by the students in the whole. The difference between perhaps high short-time effects and apparently weak longtime effects in acquiring knowledge and qualified acting is underestimated ´by the teacher, I suppose, but I know no research studies of this subject-matter. In social sciences many questions must be discussed, and many positions and views are possible. Critical Rationalism needs to test theories trying to falsify them by rational arguments. Normally powerpoint doesn't help to learn this.
I go for both. I see learning takes place better when we use different teaching methodologies. This is because the monotony of teaching leaning is often found to be ineffective. In order to make the learning environment lively I try for different teaching pedagogies. I go for different teaching pedagogies based on my experience as students and also I collected feedback from the students and almost all had mentioned about my teaching style and use of different teaching strategies. So I go for both.
It depends on your subjects and topics of your lecture. People say that ppt is new technology, it attracts students, it is interesting for students and etc. but sometimes you should avoid technology. It helps students speak, listen and discuss with a teacher and with others.
Horses for courses: it depends on what you are teaching, and how you plan the session. That said, I can easily live without ppt but teaching without a black/white board is like having my hands tied behind my back.
Others have pointed out the dangers of too many slides which are too text-heavy, but it's a great tool if you want/need to include complicated diagrams or animations. Beware the idea that it motivates students: often they can be turned off as they think, "not another" ppt...
Simple answer: can you show any form of animated material on your blackboard?
I do think that slides really change the feel of a session, there seems to be less energy in the room when I use them or participate in a session where they are used. I do produce a presentation which, as someone suggested before, provides the structure. But I've been trying to use the visualiser more and more having seen a colleague do this. I can add to diagrams and use text, incorporating students' ideas. It feels a more dynamic way of teaching. I've asked students for feedback and have had a very positive response.
It seems that using ppt slides in lectures and presentation is becoming unavoidable. I do agree that ppt slides provide structure, which is useful. The key is not to put too much text into them or the audience's attention diverges from the lecturer to the slides.
I also find it very useful that the slides allow for using visual images alongside the lectures' text. In art- or culture-related courses where visual images are very important it becomes difficult to imagine a wholesome presentation without any slides.
I think it depends on what subject the lecture is on.
I do feel that students may be accustomed to powerpoints at the moment, and the use of the blackboard for drawings or even writing key terms may be a nice change of pace.
I feel the board allows the lecturer to be more interactive with the students as well. Writing down what the students say would be a good use for the board too.
Powerpoint and its alternatives are more efficient and efficacious than blackboard.
- Presentation speed can be varied according to importance of the material.
- Demo's, videos and animation are easy.
- Just remember to leave a slide up on the screen long enough for students to take adequate notes. Chalk and blackboards used to pace the lecturers well.
- Feel free to try free OpenOffice Impress. (.ODP)
- I often projected HTML instead of PPT or ODP files, avoiding the difficulty of students not being able to take down notes at the bottom of the fast-vanishing slide. HTML printed more compactly and economically than PPT.
To avoid students getting ahead of you and finding the answers when you have questions/answers in your PPTs that you post up in advance, make two copies of your PPTs. Post the one without answers ahead of time and use the one with answers when you are presenting. The latter allows them to think about the topic and allows to guage if they are understanding the topic. Post up the PPT afterwards, using some of their responses so they will be happy to see their contributions recognized.
Best regards,
Debra
Power point presentation is better as per my experience, we can keep it for future presentations and can edit it this updating it with time.
I usually talk to my students expalining the powerpoint is used on class for the professor. The presentation is not a material for study, that material is specificated on bibliography of the course.
The PPT is a resume of the ideas, IS NOT THE CONTENT of the course. So with a PPT the professor dont get lose of the line of content planned for the class (Sorry about my english, I'm a spanish speaker).
Now, in that way, the blackboard (whiteboard now) is the element where the profesor could show the specification of some topic emerged on class (go deep in that content), I guess, Blackboard, is a "must" on the classroom. Of course could be replaced with some technology (tablets or Computer with shared screen).
In my own opinion, using both power point and blackboard is useful. They both have their place. Power point will help to organize your content properly, it also allows you to use media like picture, video etc. It makes the lecture more interactive. The black board can be used for further illustrations. The teacher can write on the blackboard to buttress a point.
both will be helpful in presenting your lesson. we could use the blackboard in expounding the topic
Though it depends on the subject of teaching, I use powerpoint more often. That siad, I have had some colleagues and teachers who were so skillful in writing and explaining the lessons on the board.
Power point is my standard method of lecture delivery. Blackboard to make some drawings occasionally.
Both have their utility and practicality, the blackboard we have used to expand a topic, or when the electricity is gone (you can not use the projector) and we are about to finish our class or conference, since time can not be lost, even more so if we have large windows we can run the curtains and continue our teaching.
Ambos tienen su utilidad y practicidad, el pizarrón lo hemos utilizado para expandir un tópico, o cuando la electricidad se ha ido (no se podrá utilizar el proyector) y estamos por terminar nuestra clase o conferencia, ya que el tiempo no puede ser perdido, más aun si tenemos ventanas grandes que podemos correr las cortinas y continuar nuestra docencia.
In my opinion,
You must have to use PPT and obviously you need to explain some issues in the blackboard based on your students comments/questions. Please try to incorporate those in your slides just after the class for the upcoming semesters.
On a personal note, teaching using PPT may encourage students to follow the lesson, if at all, the teacher has done his PPT correctly. When designing your PPT, make sure you have the points on the slides. Make use of pictures, and video with few colors.
As a teacher, PPT makes you prepared for the lesson by directly giving the learners the key points of the lesson, followed by lecture or discussing.
As student, I also prepare ppt because I only need to listen to my teacher during the lesson. More over, use of ppt encourage good listening and class control.
When order is important in the subject you are teaching, I prefer PPT.
When naturalness and emphasis on concepts are important, It is better blackboard.
As PPT storytelling lover, I would suggest you to make a story about the subject you want to present. But, if you don't like this approach, I would recommend you to avoid put too much text in one slide. The goal of the slide is to support what you are saying. So, the focus should be in you speech, not in reading the content of the slides. Besides that, I have some advices:
- Prioritize the use of images;
- Don't use bullet points(they kill you presentation);
- Instead of use bullet points, split the images in several slide (e.g. one for each bullet point);
- Use images that support what you are talking about;
- Try to connect the slides emotionally with the audience, because people tend to pay attention more in things that appeal to their emotions;
- Make use of colors;
- Use beautiful fonts and pay attention in the size of them (make sure that can been seen for the people sitting in the back of the classroom);
Hi, the power-point is not a strategy, but a support to systematize the information that the teacher wants to share with his students. The important thing is how he generates the ideas comprehensively for it. The p-p as an element of initial motivation that orient towards other directions of knowledge
I believe that if you complement different teaching strategies for your classes, it improves students' understanding, especially considering that they have different learning styles, visual, kinesic, auditory, among others. However, I suggest that you should use the strategies in which you are most competent
Hi Azzam,
According my opinion, power point is the best method of teaching as long as it is not used to show only text but to synthesize main concepts and, above all, the graph that reflects well the concepts that are wanted to transmit. Occasionally and simultaneously, the use of the blackboard is useful as a method to expand the explanation of specific concepts.
Dear Azzam, I am a teacher of Macedonian language. And maybe of the other teachers' design of a Power point presentation, I am not its fan. On the slides they only rewrite several or more sentences form the book. In my opinion, there is nothing that can replace the teacher's presentation, his speech and his explanation.
I don't use PowerPoint or a blackboard, I use HTML (web) based presentations. These have detailed notes for the students built in. For on-line courses I used just text based notes, with no presentation. Here is an example: http://www.tomw.net.au/ict_sustainability/politics.shtml
Power point as the primary tool, definitely. But every teacher will find moments when the visual advantages of white board writing and expressive communication are effective in instruction as well.
Hi, I have found the PowerPoint to be great for observers especially if details explain issues very well.
Warren
Hi.
Its depend on what are you telling to your students? black/white board may feel to more closer to students! Sometimes PPT will be more technical. In economics,I have used blackboard to discuses theories and used PPT for huge data/tables/charts.
Lot of what has already been said resonates with me. The PowerPoint structures my thinking. I have a poor short term memory and explain to my students that at times I have a lot of text on slides to help me. I never just read from the slides - unless there is a pertinent quote. I use bean people as my too to make the slides more interesting and make the images move where I can. I use a clicker so that I can be anywhere in the room to move the slides on. Each line / point of text is programmed to come onto the slide separately. I never put a slide up that is full of text. I use the flip chart and white board to record student's responses in Freethinks - with the students doing the recording to practice their board skills. Let's remember the kinaesthetic learners too. I don't work in a lecture theatre so I have lots of practical activities with students moving around the room and across the site and outside too. The main danger of PowerPoint is that my students expect that we will get through all of the slides and feel short-changed if they don't.
It has been my experience that using both PowerPoint and writing on the board is the most effective way to teach.
I resisted using PowerPoint for many years in the last institution I taught in - the University of Northampton, School of Education, teaching Education Studies. I was one of the last, maybe the last, in my department it use it. I even wrote a blog on 'PowerPointlessness'. As lecturers, we were all under pressure to use it. Eventually I tried it, and even got into some of the finer points (and whizz-bangery) of presenting in PP. Nevertheless, I suspected it would eventually reduce the spontaneity (and fun) in my lectures. They would become more contrived, mechanistic and boring. After years of using PowerPoint in lectures (and seeing others use it in conference settings) I came to the conclusion that my instincts were correct. However, by that time students came to expect that all lecturers should use PowerPoint and complained when they did not! Maybe the answer is to use it sparingly, and to highlight central themes and topics only on PP and then loosen up and improvise. I think students would find that experience more interesting. A more complex and comprehensive PP could also be uploaded to a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) such as Blackboard or Moodle, for students yearning for the full PP output!
With respect to some concepts expressed here, I would like to add that if ppt is used primarily to graph concepts rather than to repeat texts, the teacher can constantly improvise and emphasize when he understands that it corresponds. In this way, the classes never become boring and the concepts exposition enjoy a graph that the teacher could never put on the board. For this reason the use of ppt has many advantages over other methods.
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