PowerPoint encourages dropouts
With the world making more advantages in technology, colleges and universities are now faced with the challenge to raise the bar and try different teaching styles.
At Georgia Highlands College, the teachers feel the need to update their teaching habits, and one of most popular forms of advancing towards the technological revolution is through Microsoft’s PowerPoint program.
However, even though teachers have made adjustments into the technological age, their efforts have not been entirely successful. While it is a good idea to relate to the new group of students who are technologically savvy, teachers need to understand that students learn in different ways.
Many teachers just use PowerPoint as their only method of teaching, without answering questions or interacting with the class. But students may not necessarily get the information they need to understand by watching a professor click a mouse.
These “PowerPoint Professors” need to learn when it is the right time to use PowerPoint and when it is time to interact with their class.
Group discussions and teaching through example are key to an instructional environment.
Although it’s a great tool for a neat and orderly presentation, PowerPoint should not be used as the main form of educating students because it is boring and mindless. Students should be involved in class discussions and, in turn, they will be more likely to stay awake in classes and will be encouraged to attend classes regularly.
If PowerPoint is used, then it should be used in moderation.
To avoid overkill, teachers need to balance the instructional time, using PowerPoint only to supplement the lessons.
Let’s turn the lights back on. Let teachers and students interact with one another. Who knows, it may actually work.
|