Powerpoint puzzle

I learnt lots of new tricks this week with PowerPoint.  I have only used it in the past as a presentation tool, so was impressed by the interactive tools available.

Childhood obesity from katecoates

 

I've embedded my PowerPoint presentation here, but unfortunately, with SlideShare, it only saves as a presentation (and can't be used interactively).  I have since experimented and uploaded it into my wiki, and had interactive success!! 

 
I analysed the use of PowerPoint with a SWOT analysis chart:
 

Strengths

 

• Can include video, audio, hyperlinks, images, charts, diagrams (and more) in a presentation.
• Mouse Mischief tools makes it very interactive in the classroom (assuming you can access many mice).
• Can contain a large amount of text if required.
• Lots of templates and wizard tool - easy to use for teachers and students.
• Can import text from Word in outline view - creates slides instantly.
• Can be shared as interactive tool via wiki
• Slides can be saved as image files and uploaded into MovieMaker.

Weaknesses

• Traditional use of lengthy presentations with lots of text can be very uninteractive and boring.
• Can't embed into blog or glog as is, has to be uploaded to a SlideShare style program or saved as a video, and can only be used as view only and not interactive.
• While it can be uploaded directly to Prezi, it does lose it's interactive ability.

Opportunities

• Opportunities for both traditional presentations (by both teacher and students) and interactive activities
• Can be used to easily create a video in MovieMaker.

Threats

• because of it's inability to be used interactively in blogs, glogs etc, it may be replaced with more interactive tools such as Prezi.

Overall, the addition of interactive elements (well, new to me, anyway) includes a whole new dimension to PowerPoint.  I think it works well in the classroom as a stand alone tool, but is limited with it's ability to be shared and used interactively via the web.  I think in the digital age, more web-friendly tools such as Prezi may take preference.

Students need to ensure they follow ethical, safe and legal guidelines when working with PowerPoint.  Adequately referencing (and seeking permission if required) of images and text and video used in the PowerPoint needs to done to ensure copyright laws are not infringed.  And as always, students need to ensure they do not use explicit language or images or videos in the presentation.  These guidelines are also important for teachers to follow, as they need to model exemplary behaviour at all times.