PowerPoint- once a championed tool that found itself in nearly every classroom setting for educators seeking to present material to their classes- is all but dead. One expert is arguing that all slideshows- now typically generated with updated specialized programs- should meet the same fate if they're not being used in the correct manner.

Says Michelle Denise Miller, a psychologist specializing in teaching techniques and course design, putting material in front of students via slideshows and assuming that learning will happen is flawed logic.

Teachers should be more inclined to chose active learning over passive viewing, she argues in her post on TheConversation.com.

But while she argues against slideshows- particularly ones used in online education- that hamper the student's learning rather than facilitate it- she says that's not to say there aren't ways to create slideshows that will inspire active learning.

"...slideshows can be a useful part of online instruction, when used for the right things and designed in the right way. But they shouldn’t be the main, or the only, method of instruction – any more than lectures should dominate face-to-face classes," she said.

Some ways to create useful slideshows include integrating visual illustrations and giving students overview of new material or quick refreshers on material previously learned.

"Slides are...great for for integrating visual illustrations. This is important because visuals – diagrams, figures, photos and the like – have a powerful impact on learning," she said.

Through including basic animations and thoughtful graphics, visual illustrations via slideshows can help "illuminate conceptual relationships" in ways that text alone cannot.

Read Miller's full post here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

09/25/2015