In todays classroom, technology can play a large role in how teachers present their material.  If used appropriately, media presentations can foster discussion and facilitate student learning. 

Multi Media Presentations for Teachers

Multimedia Presentations are a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom and can aide students in their learning, but like any good thing, more isn’t always better.  Death by PowerPoint is a reminder that teachers need to be sure that they are only using the technology to assist, not overrun, the lesson.

Communication in Presentations

Multimedia presentations can be a great tool when used appropriately.  They can be another form of communication.  David Walbert, Editorial and Web Director for LEARN NC in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, offers four tips for evaluating multimedia presentations.  When forming a lesson plan, think about what educational purposes multimedia would support.  Keep in mind the following:

• Communication is everything.  The presentation is a vehicle for communication – its not a work unto itself.  Ask yourself, “What am I trying to communicate?” 
• Technology is only a tool.  Does using technology add value to the presentation?
• Communication goes both ways.  It should encourage discussion and debate.  As the teacher you should elaborate orally on the text and images and use the technology to facilitate conversation, not shut it down.
• When grading presentations using technology, make your assessment reflect your priorities.  Judge the content first. What has the student learned?  Next judge communication.  How effectively does presentation communicate what the student has learned?  Last, judge the presentation.  How effective is the presentation as a presentation?  

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Tips for Presentations

 The Vanderbuilt Center for Teaching gives some great tips on how to integrate slides into lectures and teaches some fundamentals of slide design:

• Use sans serif fonts rather than serif
• Use a font size of at least 28 pt for text
• Blank space is important on slides
• List major points of lecture only
• List important terms
• Illustrate with images
• Use to support classroom discussion and group work
• For more details and other tips, or to see resources such as a PowerPoint Tutorial, more information about ways to use PowerPoint, and font information, click here.  

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