Tips for Creating a Multimedia Project using PowerPoint with Students
Even though we may have all suffered an overdose of PowerPoint everywhere we go, PowerPoint continues to be an ideal technology tool for our students. As we all know from our CLAD classes, the more we can support our students with non-textual connections to our content the better (through images, pictures, audio, and video). In addition our students will benefit significantly from increased opportunities to speak in front of others.
Use a Template: Creating a blank PowerPoint with all the slides empty with the information you wish them to include is sometimes necessary. Unless you want to spend a lot of time repeating directions in terms of creating slides, adding textboxes and inserting pictures, having a blank template will allow students to focus more on the content and less on the PowerPoint software.
Gather Research Ahead of Time: Students should never start a PowerPoint without their notes and writing completed ahead of time. If they have not written out anything, they will likely copy and paste straight from the Internet without properly giving credit or putting it in their own words. With the content already written down, students will have to rewrite it in their own words as they create their slides.
Questions or Storyboards: To focus students’ research on their topic, they should have a number of research questions they are expected to answer. This provides necessary structure for our students when they visit the library or computer lab to research. You can check their understanding and the completion of their research by their hand-written notes in response to the questions. If time persists, they should even create mockups of their slides by filling in blank slides, sketching what they intend to write on each slide and the images they will choose. You can create three blank slides and print them in Handout form and make copies for students (See attached.)
Presenting their PowerPoint is as important as its creation: Students should be expected to present their PowerPoint presentation in class whether in groups or on their own. Emphasis should be placed on presenting without reading from the PowerPoint; in fact, students should not use full sentences or paragraphs on the PowerPoint, but short bulleted points in PHRASES. PowerPoint slides are intended as a visual aide for a presentation, not in substitute for the presentation. They should select images that best illustrate the ideas in their speech or presentation.
Emphasize Good Slide Design: Sometimes there is a temptation to make students create a large number of slides in their PowerPoint. It is preferable to have students create three to five quality slides than 7-10 mediocre slides. If you have samples of previous PowerPoint presentations, you can show them good and poor examples of slide design.
Well Designed Slides = Short Concise Phrases on Main Concepts, Representative Graphics/Images, Easy to Read Text and Colors, Photographs are Sized Properly/Not Blurry.
Encourage the Tech-Savvy Students to Experiment and Help Others: Some students are comfortable using PowerPoint and we should encourage them to apply advanced features of the software, including animation, slide transitions, and narration.