May 10, 2006
One Last Class
I am not completely done for the semester. I have to attend class this afternoon and watch other people do their language presentations (I did mine last week).
Part of the instructions for the presentation included a requirement to bring paper copies of any PowerPoint slides or other visual aids to turn in. Everyone else who presented last week took that as a cue to do a PowerPoint presentation. I wasn't having it, however, because PowerPoint is evil. I don't even have it installed on my computer(s).
Instead, I made some nice overhead projector pages with examples of my main information. Page one had a list of dialect features, page two had a list of lexicon examples, and page three had some samples of speech "mistakes". I gave my presentation from my outline notes, referring to the overhead pages as necessary.
This freed me up to move around and make eye contact and otherwise engage my audience while I was speaking. It also gave my audience a chance to read the information on the pages, because the pages stayed up for a few minutes at a time.
The worst class I ever endured involved a TA who made PP slides crammed so full of information that the small fonts she was forced to use couldn't even be read half the time. The slides summarized our readings, and she regurgitated the slides to us. It was the laziest, most passive instructional technique I've ever had the misfortune to sit through.
The presentations last week were fairly similar. I'm not saying I'm the most dynamic speaker in the world--and to be fair, I've had actual real-world experience giving presentations and putting on training seminars--but I think my presentation was the best of the day. Freeing myself from pressing the "next" button every 30 seconds was a big help.
I hope the classmates who present this afternoon noticed the difference, but I'm not sure it will override the fun of creating pretty slides with cool graphics. At the very least, I hope they noticed that it's hard to read a PP slide featuring blue text with a green background.
Posted by Jenelle at May 10, 2006 12:50 PM | TrackBackAnyone who uses transparencies is dating themselves. I'm not saying it to be mean, because I picture you as hot for some reason (maybe I'm channeling the HSBF. Or Paul?); I'm just saying what I hear. PowerPoint can be just as clean and simple as a transparency, most people just overuse it.
Posted by: shank at May 10, 2006 07:28 PMThey were not transparencies. And I thought you were going to be doing something useful with your new-found free time. According to Sitemeter, you're just spending it reading blogs.
Posted by: Jenelle at May 10, 2006 08:39 PMNot to mince words, but what's the difference between a transparency and an overhead projector page?
Did you follow up your presentation with a film strip? Just wondering, because that would have nicely tied together the whole 'early eighties vintage' media theme you had going. ROFL.
One of my professors used an overhead projector. The great irony is that he was an IT professor teaching a class about integrating new technology in the workplace. "Hey buddy, plank from your own eye and all!"
Posted by: shank at May 11, 2006 08:10 AMOpacity.
Someday I will beat you to death with your own shoe.
Posted by: Jenelle at May 11, 2006 10:13 AMThat's what I like most about you; you're goal-oriented.
Posted by: shank at May 11, 2006 10:52 AMShe is aslo a liar. Powerpoint is installed on her laptop.
Posted by: Pete at May 11, 2006 12:13 PM*was* installed on my laptop
Posted by: Jenelle at May 11, 2006 07:55 PM