I have never been a fan of using PowerPoint in the classroom. I think that it encourages uniformity, rather than creative thinking, on behalf of students. All students have to do is copy and paste information onto multiple slides and then read their information word-for-word during their presentation. Students spend more time perfecting their backgrounds, color schemes, and adding illustrations than researching and learning about their topic.
PowerPoint does have some benefits if used effectively in the classroom. You can easily input pictures and links, utilize different templates, and you can add note pages to provide additional information. However, I think the advantages are outweighed by the disadvantages. PowerPoint presentations do not allow students to prepare topics in significant detail, unless they try to pack large paragraphs of information into each slide. This encourages students to reduce their content into simple bullet points and headlines. Sure, they can elaborate on their topic while presenting the information...but the majority of the students in the audience may lose focus, not have enough time to copy the extra information, and as a result, do not gain as much knowledge from the presentation.
PowerPoint presentations are typically dull, monotonous, and do not encourage student interaction. The only opportunity provided for students to show some creativity are pre-programmed into the software already; students pick from predesigned templates, color schemes, fonts, etc. PowerPoint does not offer students a true chance to demonstrate their own knowledge, creativity, and higher level thinking skills. I feel that its use in the classroom should be limited, if used at all.
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