A PowerPoint diagram meant to portray the complexity of American strategy in Afghanistan certainly succeeded in that aim.Go to related article »Overview | Is PowerPoint a valuable tool, or does it stifle critical thinking and innovative presentation of material? How can information be presented visually using PowerPoint without falling into the trap of simplistic bullet-point prose? In this lesson, students examine perspectives on effective and ineffective uses of PowerPoint, then develop a set of rules for effective use of this tool for their class projects and presentations. They then create PowerPoint slides and a prose narrative on the same subject and compare the impact of each on the intended audience.
Materials | Computers with Internet access, projection equipment, PowerPoint software, copies of handouts
Warm-up | Take an informal poll of students who have either viewed a PowerPoint presentation at school lately and/or have created one for a school project. Invite them to talk about the contexts in which they have seen a PowerPoint presentation or created one. Ask: What is the purpose of PowerPoint? What do you like about it? When do you find it helpful to present or receive information using this format? Can it be used to convey complex information? Is there anything about it that you would critique? Write their thoughts on the board.
Then, show students a PowerPoint presentation of Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech while listening to it. Invite students to imagine how different the nation’s original experience of the speec....
(For a more historical version of this activity, you might use the PowerPoint presentation of President Kennedy’s “Ask not” speech or President Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.)
For the sake of counterpoint, you might also show students an effective PowerPoint presentation.
