Power Point=Cognitive Overload?
Jens Kjeldsen (2006), in his article The Rhetoric of PowerPoint, makes some very bold, very honest, and very thought-provoking statements. Could PowerPoint presentations be creating a “cognitive overload” for our students? Are we hindering our young students’ knowledge by presenting information on PowerPoint slides with bullets? How are we teaching preservice teachers to use PowerPoint presentations in the classroom? As my research project for the semester focuses primarily on preservice teachers and self-reflection, I could not help but ask myself how PowerPoint might help, or hinder, reflectivity. Kjeldsen presents bold statements deafening the potential of PowerPoint, and to a great extent, he is correct. As we implement the use of PowerPoint in higher education to teach our future teachers, are we using the slides and bullets as a form of bringing back the “old-fashioned, didactic form of teaching” OR could these presentations be used to elicit reflection from our preservice teachers?
There are two sides to every story, in this case, one scary and one enlightening. I have no doubt that some preservice teachers are being exposed to forms of PowerPoint which are neither content, nor teacher-oriented, which hinder their creative thought due to the bareness of the depth and breadth of the presentation. We have all sat through a presentation where we would have rather been twirling paper towel instead of subjecting ourselves to the “voice of the presenter”. You know what I am talking about…the speaker who, you are convinced, has no clue there is an audience in the room and reads from the slide as if he/she is trying to win the nobel prize for “Dullest Presenter of the Year.” I do, in fact, agree with Kjeldsen that this has the potential to hinder the growth and self-reflective tendencies of our preservice teachers. I also believe, though I have no research to prove it, that teachers who are taught this way may be more likely to use PowerPoint the same way in a classroom of their own.
Now, the bright side of the story: PowerPoint can serve as an amazing tool to spark conversations, deepen reflection and help preservice teachers to grow into amazing, thoughtful teachers. If the information presented on PowerPoint slides is meaningful and thought-provoking, whether bulleted or not, and presented in an engaging, empowering way, preservice teachers will grow, will think, and will pass the torch of knowledge on. Again, I believe preservice teachers will be more likely to enter the field and flourish, passing on this reflective style to students.
A quick disclaimer; I am not saying that I believe the preservice teachers who were dealt the bad hand, with the world’s most boring presenter of PowerPoint presentations, will be a bad teacher, or vice versa; however, I do believe the students exposed to the mundane presentations of slides will be more likely to use the tool in their classroom that way. That said, I’m anxious to know your thoughts about the good, the bad and the ugly of PowerPoint and its potential impact on preservice teachers and reflection. What do you think?
I’ll leave you with two thoughts to ponder, the first is Kjeldsen’s view of PowerPoint, the second, I’m playing the devil’s advocate. Where do you fit in?
“If time after time we squeeze complex ideas into a series of disparate slides, with fixed templates and fragmented bullet points, we simplify not only speech and content but also the way in which we perceive the content. Indeed, we influence all our ways of thinking” (pp. 14-15).
If time after time we provide thought-provoking, meaningful ideas and issues presented in a series of related slides (yes, even sometimes bulleted), we amplify not only speech and content but also the way in which we perceive, think about, and reflect on the content. Indeed, we influence ALL our ways of thinking.
February 10th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
“I also believe, though I have no research to prove it, that teachers who are taught this way may be more likely to use PowerPoint the same way in a classroom of their own.”
There is research that states that teachers tend to teach the way they were taught. I can’t quote the studies, but I have read this statement several times.
Currently, I am working with a professor on research into using digital video as a tool for preservice teachers’ reflections. They tape themselves teaching and write reflections after watching the tapes. The preliminary results show that the levels of reflection are generally not that deep, but that sometimes, the teachers reflect in very meaningful ways. I’m not sure where PowerPoint fits into teacher reflection. Could you fill me in on that?
February 12th, 2007 at 1:31 am
I enjoyed reading your post. I am curious about your comment that PP can “serve as an amazing tool to spark conversations…” I agree that it could be a wonderful tool and we don’t see it used creatively as often as we could. The author discussed both presentations and teaching uses of PP and, as I read, I realized that I have never honestly seen an awesome or even better than ok PP presentation (I mean for a formal lecture or a conference presentation versus teaching). Most often, when presenters do well, it’s when they sort of ignore the PP behind them, prompting the audience to do the same (rendering the slides basically obsolete). I have recently seen some interesting uses of PP in classroom settings, but I wondered if you’ve noticed the same sort of situation with formal presentations (research, for example).