Transcript good_practice_in - Staff and Departmental Development Unit

Good Practice in Using
PowerPoint for Teaching
Melissa Highton
SDDU
University of Leeds, Staff and Departmental Development Unit
Tuesday, 13 July 2004
Choose the topic which interests you:
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Why use PowerPoint presentations?
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Enhancing teaching and learning
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Breaking out of linear presentations
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Mastering on-screen shows
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Making accessible presentations
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Designing your own look
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Publishing PowerPoint to the web
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PowerPoint training
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Why use presentations?
Preparing a presentation helps you to provide
structure and maintain flow.
You can:
 Emphasise key points.
 Focus attention.
 Aid understanding using charts and
diagrams.
 Integrate multimedia and web access.
Why use PowerPoint?
 Fit for purpose.
 Widely available.
 Flexible production of handouts, OHPs ,
onscreen shows.
 Bringing together a range of media.
 The process of structuring the presentation
clarifies the content.
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Enhancing teaching and learning
Good practice with presentation software in
learning and teaching depends on using it to
substantially change the student experience
and to change what students do with that
experience.
Enhancing teaching and learning
 If students can read and take notes better, course
outcomes can be improved.
 Presentation software can sometimes help the
instructor present an idea in a qualitatively different
way.
 Improve learning outcomes by offering materials or
ideas that the student would not otherwise see.
 Use slides as a resource for use outside the
classroom can facilitate reuse and changed use of
contact time.
Improving reading and note taking
 Having key points, diagrams and terminology
clearly presented to them will help students to
remember (and spell) more efficiently.
 Once you have prepared your presentation
using PowerPoint you have a range of
choices in the way you can make handouts
available for students. Handouts of your
presentation may help them to structure their
notes.
Animations and graphics for teaching
Using PowerPoint makes it easy for you to
integrate graphics and animations into your
slides which can illustrate key points and
processes for your students.
Use images for impact
 Remember to check the
copyright on images
you use.
Image from: Images of American Political History
Use animations to illustrate a process
 Images and animations
which are free for use in
teaching can be found
easily if you have good
web search skills.
Animation from: Animation Library
Linking to the web
 By adding web links into your presentation
you can bring everything the web has to offer
into your classroom.
 Sometimes you will be able to discover
materials or ideas that the students would not
otherwise see.
 Linking to the web in lectures allows you to
interpret and discuss web-based materials
with your students.
Changed use of contact time
 If you organise the presentation of your
content into a presentation like this it may be
that you can ask students to look at it before,
or after, your lecture.
 You can then plan to use the contact time you
have with them differently.
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Breaking out of linear presentations
Most presentations are a pre-planned linear
arrangement of ideas.
 If the teacher allows the slideshow to dictate
the order and pace of ideas is learning the
loser?
 More slides mean more ideas can be
covered, but can students can keep up?
 There is a comfort in reading out bullet points,
but don’t let it become crutch.
Changing navigation
Presentations don’t have to be linear – use the
‘action buttons’ and hyperlinks to allow you to
jump to different topics in your presentation.
E.g.
Be prepared to start and stop and move around
your presentation.
Mastering on-screen shows
There are some keystroke shortcuts you can
use while you are presenting
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Next slide =N, Enter, Spacebar
Previous slide = P, Backspace
Go to slide "number“="number"+Enter
Black screen = B
White screen = W
Change pointer to a pen =CTRL+P
Change pen back to arrow = CTRL+A
Erase onscreen annotation = E
End slide show =ESC
Display this list during a show = F1
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Making accessible presentations
Accessible presentations are designed with the
viewer in mind.
 Using PowerPoint allows you to change your
fonts, colours, backgrounds and sizes easily
across your entire presentation, for different
audiences.
 The different printing options and the ability to
send the file in electronic format allow you to
respond to individual students’ needs.
Size
 It is wise to pay some thought to the distance
students may be from the projector, i.e. they
may be sitting at the back of a large lecture
theatre.
 All students may have difficulty reading vast
amounts of text on the screen
 Use a font size of at least 24 pt.
 Make sure all handouts are in font 12 –
preferably 14 and above.
Text colours
 Be aware of background/foreground
combinations, as some are very difficult to
distinguish for those with visual impairments.
 Do not use colour to convey meaning as
some students may have visual difficulties
e.g. colour blindness for red and green.
 Use high-contrast colours
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mid-tones do not show up well
avoid bright red as it shimmers
Colour Combinations
Some text can
be clear and
easy to read
While some text may be a
bad combination for those with
colour blindness.
Some colour
combinations are just
horrid and have bad
contrast between text
and background.
Backgrounds
 Be aware of background/foreground
combinations, as some are very difficult to
distinguish for those with visual impairments.
 A dark background and light text is best for
dark rooms.
 A light background and dark text is best for
light rooms.
 Keep the same background colour throughout
the presentation.
 Avoid patterned backgrounds behind text.
Text font
 Use bold to highlight rather than Italics or
underlining (as this can make the words 'run
together').
 Be aware of type of font used - 'sans serif'
fonts such as Arial or Comic Sans are easier
to read for many people.
 Blocks of upper case tend to be harder to
read compared to lower or mixed case. It is
recommended that you use mixed case.
Layout
 Use slide layout tools wherever possible
 Do not put too much information on each
overhead - 6 bullet points are optimal.
 Use bullets or numbers rather than
continuous prose.
 Keep lines left justified with ragged right
edge.
 Use wider spacing between sentences and
paragraphs.
 Allow only one subject matter per slide.
Too much
If you put too much text on one slide your audience
simply will not be able to read it or take it in, however
important the information is. If you were hoping they
might copy it down the chances are they won’t be able
to. It would be much better to give any large blocks of
text on a handout and keep your slides to bullet points
or simple sentences to ensure that your audience get
the most from your presentation.
Even though you might feel that you have a lot of
information to get across, be careful not to overload
your audience. Many PowerPoint guides suggest that a
good limit to stick to is about 40 words per slide.
Diagrams
 Diagrams should be accompanied by a
printed version.
 If you have to use complex diagrams ensure
sufficient colour contrast.
 Write alternative text for images and
diagrams.
Keep it simple
 Only use one or two text colours, one or two
font styles and one or two animation or
transition effects.
 Use sound effects sparingly and make sure
they are relevant.
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Publishing PowerPoint to the web
PowerPoint presentations can be put up onto
web sites for your students to view.
 They can print off handouts before class or review
your content after a lecture.
 It is worth thinking about how you would like your
students to use the materials and what they will learn
from them.
There are also issues to be considered with
regard to web accessibility and file-size where
PowerPoint is concerned.
How will students use your slides on the web?
 For preparation
 For note taking in lectures
 For revision and reference
If you offer your presentation as a substitute for
a lecture or as the primary way of
communicating your content, make sure your
slides make sense if read alone.
Web accessibility and file size
Sometimes, Powerpoint slides can be difficult
for students to access once they are on the
web.
 There are several things you should do to
ensure that you are not blocking access to
your content.
 A guide to putting your PowerPoint slides on
the web is available online.
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Designing your own look
There are many design schemes offered within
PowerPoint, but you may want to make your
own to give a specific look to your work.
Use the Slide Master to make these
changes. It will ensure consistency and allow
you to make changes in design across your
presentation.
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PowerPoint training
PowerPoint is installed on all staff PC desktops
as part of the Microsoft Office suite.
 ISS run regular training in using PowerPoint.
You can book online.
 Work-through materials to get you started are
available online.
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