tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post2478966370982751466..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: Power Point AbuseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-44163832434180835352010-11-01T14:32:48.717-04:002010-11-01T14:32:48.717-04:00Wow, chalkboards were banned from my university ag...Wow, chalkboards were banned from my university ages ago! There was a massive backlash and they ended up having to keep two chalkboards because a couple of math professors threatened to sue or something like that. Every other classroom has dry-erase boards. Probably harder on the professors (the markers seem kind of toxic), but easier for the students to see (because of the higher contrast).<br /Programming Pattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03838328277067778125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-57259702507864884582010-11-01T01:32:05.956-04:002010-11-01T01:32:05.956-04:00@Blackdog: I don't show lantern slides. I dou...@Blackdog: I don't show lantern slides. I doubt that anywhere in my city could still process them. (I recently wanted to refurbish an old Schmidt camera, so I searched for a photo lab that could still process individual cut pieces of 35mm film. There still is one: it's in Colorado. Planetaria are currently having an expensive time replacing the 35mm carousel projectors they've Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-29434592854900401662010-11-01T01:02:47.149-04:002010-11-01T01:02:47.149-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-39691373151066186442010-11-01T00:32:55.238-04:002010-11-01T00:32:55.238-04:00No Frod, I mean I slap a piece of paper down on th...No Frod, I mean I slap a piece of paper down on the document projector/nifty overhead/whatever, and WRITE ON IT. Like a BLACKBOARD. The difference being I am not covered with chalk, sliding huge boards up and down like a maniac, and showing my navel while I strain to pull down the top board. Nor am I writing over the halfway-erased junk someone left behind, or too faintly, or snapping chalk in Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-46552148047162501762010-11-01T00:24:42.189-04:002010-11-01T00:24:42.189-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-76366255916328337152010-10-31T22:11:17.919-04:002010-10-31T22:11:17.919-04:00Froderick -- are you really showing magic lantern ...Froderick -- are you really showing magic lantern slides? Because that would warm the old-photo-process cockles of my black and dismal heart.<br /><br />I would really like to use the chalkboard, and I do use it in smaller classes. The document camera (aka glorified overhead projector) is handy for my 190 person class to make sure that everyone can actually see and read my writing.cmthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03814447289455034068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-39214378124835016442010-10-31T18:39:44.335-04:002010-10-31T18:39:44.335-04:00Count me among those who use ppt exclusively as a ...Count me among those who use ppt exclusively as a "low-resolution slide projector." Like Froderick, I used to have a lot of 35mm slides that I would use in class when there was an image I wanted to talk to them about. I had a stack of pre-loaded carousels in my office so I wouldn't have to waste a lot of time putting slides in and then taking them out again later.<br />Now I have myArchiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14197015065747868297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-48953921450145174172010-10-31T18:00:24.582-04:002010-10-31T18:00:24.582-04:00I sometimes just have WORD or NOTEPAD projected. ...I sometimes just have WORD or NOTEPAD projected. (Normally Word since I can do a "zoom" to make things bigger.)<br /><br />Then I can bring up some prepared text I want them to see, but without the fussy formatting problems, or I can type in real time some examples to solve, where clarity matters and my handwriting could be a problem(such as exactly where the punctuation goes.)<br /><Aprilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13148960495470609787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64702864854483583132010-10-31T15:34:04.441-04:002010-10-31T15:34:04.441-04:00The canned PowerPoint slides are dull as dust for ...The canned PowerPoint slides are dull as dust for students. Only use them if you want students to tune out the entire lecture and fall asleep in class as soon as you hit the lights. I try to be a good student, but having to read the textbook, then come to class and see the very same illustrations from the textbook on the screen, and listen the professor read the slides aloud, is the most boring Programming Pattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03838328277067778125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5440034186958435272010-10-31T13:22:28.266-04:002010-10-31T13:22:28.266-04:00Anecdote!
I once had the opportunity to see a ver...Anecdote!<br /><br />I once had the opportunity to see a very well-known man (CEO of Fortune 500 country and probable billionaire) give a speech on how to incorporate his wealth/health into your own life. He had two speeches scheduled due to demand, one in the morning and one in the evening. I was connected to the organization who asked him to speak, so I saw both.<br /><br />During the first, Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68475716687426896712010-10-31T11:33:52.554-04:002010-10-31T11:33:52.554-04:00I don’t think we should dismiss Edward Tufte too r...I don’t think we should dismiss Edward Tufte too readily. I think his books are very beautiful, and genuinely useful. He also gets all the examples right in my field, because he did his homework. My field is astronomy and spaceflight: his examples were the map of the large-scale structure of the Universe, the Pioneer plaque, the overheads that led to the Challenger disaster, the PowerPoints that Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55912053896359568242010-10-31T10:18:58.188-04:002010-10-31T10:18:58.188-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11797625358422405242010-10-31T09:14:20.868-04:002010-10-31T09:14:20.868-04:00@Ockham: If I do a presentation, I always give my ...@Ockham: If I do a presentation, I always give my stuff out prior to the talk (a Tufte-ism). However, in a class, I wait until AFTER the class to post; otherwise, some students will feel that they don't need to attend or pay attention in class or read the source material (and some of my slides have questions with the answers (after discussion) so I don't want to give those away).Dr Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10444414777736734711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51268784516115863482010-10-31T09:02:21.819-04:002010-10-31T09:02:21.819-04:00I use ppt in every lecture, but only as a thought-...I use ppt in every lecture, but only as a thought-provoking backdrop. If my discussion isn't more interesting than the wall behind me, I'm doing something wrong.<br /><br />I tend to follow Guy Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule for a one-hour lecture:<br />- No more than 10 slides,<br />- that take 20 minutes to cover,<br />- and use fonts of 30-point or larger.<br /><br />After that, it'sOckham's Toothbrushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02446832389190865074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28853819894757165602010-10-30T23:09:14.327-04:002010-10-30T23:09:14.327-04:00Well... I'm a Tufte follower, but tend to viol...Well... I'm a Tufte follower, but tend to violate his ideas in my classes (as opposed to formal presentations; there shouldn't be a difference, but there is). Basically, I take any canned PPTs and combine/delete/edit with my own stuff (or topical material). Thus, I'm fairly textbook neutral and get across the material that I believe is important.<br /><br />What you need to do is get Dr Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10444414777736734711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11331325286046283782010-10-30T21:17:50.106-04:002010-10-30T21:17:50.106-04:00My discipline is all about communicating informati...My discipline is all about communicating information effectively, and one of the objects/types of communication product we study (and teach students how to use effectively) is PPT. Even so, it's amazing how many shitty PPTs I've seen from my colleagues; these are people who ought to know better. As for me, I give great PPT. <br /><br />Oh, and Tufte? He's a hack. He makes a pretty Dr. Mindbenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16916271564719224677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-5786194782015023812010-10-30T20:04:41.272-04:002010-10-30T20:04:41.272-04:00In chemistry, the concept behind Powerpoint is old...In chemistry, the concept behind Powerpoint is old news. Except for physical chemists (who, when I was in grad school, were going in for overhead transparencies, thickly hand-written), chemists have used slides forever. Each slide shows a structure, or a reaction, or related group of reactions, and the speaker riffs on it for a minute or two per slide. The only text is the literature citation.<brintrovert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-48658981776161347162010-10-30T19:55:38.911-04:002010-10-30T19:55:38.911-04:00I used PowerPoint during my first year of lecturin...I used PowerPoint during my first year of lecturing, to hide behind. Now I use it for pictures, only, like BlackDog. But I love me these new overhead projectors we have that you can put a paper document on: you can mark it up, scribble on it, whatever, and it's way easier to deal with than a chalkboard.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-10546490522099939872010-10-30T19:52:05.131-04:002010-10-30T19:52:05.131-04:00Here's some required reading, commiserants:
P...Here's some required reading, commiserants:<br /><br />PowerPoint Is Evil: Power Corrupts. PowerPoint Corrupts Absolutely.<br /><br />By Edward Tufte<br /><br />http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.htmlSuzy from Square Statehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03085856052108645578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-88265617073275884442010-10-30T18:29:56.676-04:002010-10-30T18:29:56.676-04:00So I only use PPT for pictures. Only. When I sho...So I only use PPT for pictures. Only. When I show pretty maps or pictures of Starvistan and its neighboring countries, I use powerpoint.<br /><br />Here's why. A very smart man once said to me that if I want my students to do it, I should do it. That means that if I want them to write something down, I should write it down in front of them. My big lecture classes now (mostly) have "cmthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03814447289455034068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14604806026372670642010-10-30T17:36:00.493-04:002010-10-30T17:36:00.493-04:00Oh, sorry, one more point:
Be consistent. Use th...Oh, sorry, one more point:<br /><br />Be consistent. Use the same template, fonts, colors throughout. It's jarring to jump around (as the OP points out). Use a high contrast -- dark text on a light colored background is easiest to read. But dark blue on light blue, not so much.Online Opheliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01827136939916922069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28203024636930407702010-10-30T17:33:54.050-04:002010-10-30T17:33:54.050-04:00Gladys (and others), I teach my students how to ma...Gladys (and others), I teach my students how to make Powerpoints. Here are the basics. Hope this helps!<br /><br />Text: Words must be clear.<br />Use something likeTimes New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Cambria, etc<br />Too hard to read: Comic Sans, Blackadder ITC, Script (may be okay for headings)<br />Use at least 22 point font (20 can be okay, but the bigger the better)<br /><br />Follow the 5X5Online Opheliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01827136939916922069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-32044032338185801682010-10-30T17:31:56.488-04:002010-10-30T17:31:56.488-04:00I introduce every semester to students by referrin...I introduce every semester to students by referring to myself as "Professor PowerPoint" because of my love of the medium. However, I see them as part of a performance and thus believe they should be as dynamic as possible. As such, I do try to use as much graphical content, animation, film clips, etc. as possible. And I don't stand behind the computer to change slides -- I move Dramadochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12966438814071754580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-60400662399502506622010-10-30T17:14:16.930-04:002010-10-30T17:14:16.930-04:00We recently switched one of our basic texts in my ...We recently switched one of our basic texts in my department, and people were COMPLAINING because they hadn't gotten the canned Powerpoints (they were available; I got a set and promptly deleted them -- they came on a flashdrive that I repurposed for personal use). I would never dream of using the canned shit because its mostly, well, shit. I haven't seen a canned set of PPTs yet that Chloe CommProfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17292340580439806650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-73611294886680578402010-10-30T16:43:47.882-04:002010-10-30T16:43:47.882-04:00Gladys, I'm going to guess you're being to...Gladys, I'm going to guess you're being too hard on yourself. I'm not talking about the execution of the technological aspects of PPT. These things are flawed from a basic pedagogical perspective. No one in the "real world" (i.e. us - out in the field - actually teaching) would put this much effort into making anything this bad. If yours actually are as bad as these, Wombat of the Copierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14847183793780076028noreply@blogger.com