I always remember the famous last words of one of my favorite teachers when I use technology in the classroom--"Technology is great when it works"...
Here's an interesting question--I recently attended a "successful use of powerpoint" talk, and the presenter said not to use words/or many words on the slides. Midway through she commented that she had given her talk in front of a multidisciplinary crowd. The venue allowed attendees to provide anonymous comments, and she received comments from several scientists stating that she didn't have enough text on her slides. Now the question--is this a real disciplinary difference? Do you think that it is appropriate or good to use more text in a powerpoint presentation on a scientific topic than on a humanities topic?
1 comment:
I think that minimal text in slides is good if it emphasizes or clarifies a point of concept. I've been to many talks that have so much text on the slides that I cannot even read it in the time it is up. Many times a picture can visually describe an idea just a s well if not better than in words. An additional plus to graphics is that you can describe in words what the picture is without need for words on the slides.
Also, I've been told that it is hard for people to listen to what you are saying and read the text on the slides at the same time. So, again minimal text is good. In science though, text is crucial for graphs and charts and sometimes it is good to have a difficult concept or idea written out in concise language. I think that text used sparingly to emphasize major points is good.
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