“Visual clutter for $200” Help Stop PowerPoint Abuse!

Patrick R. LowenthalSchool of Education and Human DevelopmentUniversity of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center plowenth@regis.edu

Learning Objectives

1.You will be able to describe some of the issues surrounding the use of PowerPoint

2.You will have a list of strategies that you can use to improve the use of PowerPoint in your classroom or online

3.______________________________

The PowerPoint Critic

Edward Tufte

Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

Edward Tufte’s Criticisms

1.Low resolution

2.Bullet outlines dilute thought

3.Deeply hierarchical and linear structure

4.Fragments narrative and data

5.Preoccupation with format, not content

6.Decoration and phluff

Critiques of Tufte

1.Focused on presentations—not learning

2.Blames the tool

3.Over-emphasis on content

4.Does not offer solutions or strategies to improve the use of PowerPoint

5.________________________________

6.________________________________

Tufte’s Implicit Recommendations

1.Use more useful visuals or give handouts 2.Use clear headings, numbered lists or

very few bulleted outlines

3.Design and leverage PowerPoint’s non-linear and non-hierarchical capabilities

4.Use plain, non-distracting backgrounds; use information rich and relevant images

Four ways to use PowerPoint

1.For presentations

2.To teach a face-to-face class

3.Computer-based learning

4.Student products

Strategies to Improve PowerPoint

#1 Sound Instructional Design

#2 Visual Literacy & Message Design

CARP

CARP: Contrast

Good Bad

CARP: Alignment

GoodToday I went to the store to buy an apple for my grandmother.

BadToday I

went to the store

to buy an apple for my

grandmother.

CARP: Repetition & Proximity

GoodIntroductionxkdkdkdkdkd

Bodykdkdkdkd

Conclusionkdkdkdkd

BadIntroduction

xkdkdkdkdkd

Body

kdkdkdkd

Bad

FONT

Good

Font

Font Matters

Good Bad

Non-linguistic Representations

Some Rules of Thumb

1.PPT should support learning objectives 2.Avoid PowerPoint templates3.Avoid using more than one level of bullets4.Less is better: less words & less slides5.Avoid distracting clip art or unrelated images6.Avoid distracting slide transitions7.Use CARP to improve design8.Avoid using all CAPS9.Leverage the multimedia: visual & audio when

appropriately10.Don’t let PowerPoint control your teaching

Handouts are available

The Rules Change Online

This slide is an example of what a PowerPoint slide online might look like:

More content is better onlineWhen developing PowerPoint presentations for online learning, the rules change. The number one reason is because your audience is now sitting right at a computer screen. Therefore, while the two central principles (i.e., sound instructional design and sound message design) remain important because learners often skim instead of read content online, the actual development of the PowerPoint presentation changes and becomes more like designing a webpage.

ImplicationsThe number one way this impacts faculty is by the fact that one presentation cannot and should not be used for classroom and online courses—that is, unless you are going to include audio or video to supplement the slides.

The Rules Change Online

This slide is another example of what a PowerPoint slide online might look like:

InteractivityWhen developing PowerPoint presentations online, it is important to recognize and take advantage of the fact that your learner is now able to interact with your presentation. Therefore, including URL’s, video, audio, games, quizzes, can all strengthen your presentation as a learning experience.

BandwidthThe size of your files, images that you use, and any video components takes on new importance. As a general rule of thumb, it is hard to email anything over 4mb so you should strive to keep your PowerPoint presentations under 4mb.

Home ::Week 1::Quiz 1::

Week 2::Quiz 2::

Week 3::Quiz 3::

Back | Home | Next

1. Interactivity

2. MS Producer for PowerPoint

3. Articulate Presenter

4. Impatica for PowerPoint

5. Games

6. Digital Stories

We need to think of ways to get students to interact and actively engage in their learning.

Moving Beyond Text

MS Producer is a good tool if you want to add audio and video to your slides.

It is also free!

Articulate Presenter offers a seamless (but expensive) alternative to Producer. Also has quiz making tools.

Impatica is an easy tool to covert PowerPoint slides for the web.PowerPoint can used to create learning games to engage students online

Digital stories can be an effective way to build teacher presence online.

ResourcesResources:

PowerPoint Viewerhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=428D5727-43AB-4F24-90B7-A94784AF71A4&displaylang=en

PowerPoint Producerhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1B3C76D5-FC75-4F99-94BC-784919468E73&displaylang=en

Articulatehttp://www.articulate.com/

Impaticahttp://www.impatica.com/imp4ppt/index.html

Gameshttp://it.coe.uga.edu/wwild/index.html or http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line_powerpoint.htm

Digital Storieshttp://www.storycenter.org

Selected References

Gall, J., & Lohr, L. L. (2005). Dancing with the Devil: Can Good People Still Use PowerPoint? Retrieved April 30, 2006, from http://www.coe.unco.edu/JimGall/DevilDancing.pdfLohr, L. L. (2003). Creating graphics for learning and performance: Lessons in visual

literacy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.Norvig, P. (n.d). The making of the Gettysburg PowerPoint presentation. Retrieved

May 5, 2006, from http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/making.htmlNorvig, P. (n.d.). The Gettysburg PowerPoint presentation. Retrieved January 1,

2006, from http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/Norvig, P. (n.d.). PowerPoint: Shot with its own bullets. Retrieved April 1, 2006, from http://www.norvig.com/lancet.htmlTufte, E. (2003a). The cognitive style of PowerPoint. Cheshire, CN: Graphics Press Tufte, E. (2003b). PowerPoint is evil: Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely. Wired Retrieved 11.09, from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.htmlWineburg, S. (2004). Must it be this way? Ten rules for keeping your audience awake

during conferences. Educational Researcher, 33(4), 13-14.Winn, W. (1993). Perception principles. In M. Fleming & H. W. Levie (Eds.), Instructional message design: Principles from the behavioral and cognitive sciences. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.