3 Effective Ways To Use MS PowerPoint In Classroom

Effective Ways to Use MS PowerPoint in Classroom…

As technology enters the classroom and the school as a whole more and more each year. There are continually new innovations being brought into the educational sector, that can help teachers get their points across better, and also help students learn more effortlessly.

One tool that has been pretty appropriated in the classroom for quite some time now, and continues to be used massively is the Microsoft PowerPoint program.

The Microsoft PowerPoint Program

This program is one that allows teachers and students alike to put together presentations. When used efficiently,  MS PowerPoint can absolutely enhance teacher presentations and the complete comprehension of students in the classroom.

It is a program that enables teachers to show and present their lessons or points, in a more active and lively way than just lecturing and writing on the blackboard.

Some students hear the word PowerPoint and cringe, but just like every other technology, PowerPoint is only a tool. Using the tool accurately for classroom management, is highly effective and totally transforms learning.

PowerPoint has become really popular because it’s very easy to learn and widely accepted and available. It provides the adroitness to equip your presentations with variously types of media – including images, sounds, animations, and so much more.

This improves the students’ abilities to recall what they’re being taught, most especially for those who are visual learners. A projector is used for this purpose.

Read also: 10 Coding Courses for Kids and Youths with Free Resources

Effective Ways To Use MS PowerPoint In Classroom

Teachers can totally focus on the class while interacting with the students, instead of turning back to write on a board, because the text and the entire visible presentation is already there in front of the classroom, in the form of a PowerPoint file.

PowerPoint is definitely not just for the teachers alone, one of the effective ways to use MS PowerPoint in classroom is to have the students create and present their own presentations. This is also a great way to enlighten them on how to make use of visual aids, while working on their presentation and to improve their public speaking abilities.

However, it is also very substantial to note that when used inaccurately, PowerPoint presentations can totally be less effective than the normal, outdated teaching procedure. Several mistakes occur not only in the way that the presentation is done, but in the way it is presented to the classroom as well.

One general mistake teachers make is that they just read the slides to students word-for-word, which is extremely boring to watch and would make the students lose interest, and won’t keep their attention or improve their learning experience in any way.

Note: If you don’t use PowerPoint effectively, you can render your presentations PowerPoint-less.

Tips on How To Use MS PowerPoint In Classroom

Here are some great tips on how to use Microsoft PowerPoint in the classroom:

1. Having the students start with a story board to list their ideas and thoughts before beginning, definitely helps the students to be more creative when they start using the PowerPoint. Creating ‘Choose Your Own Adventure Books’ helps students display creative thinking, build knowledge, and cultivate an innovative product. You can also attach multiple Common Core Standards such as W3, W4, W5, W6.
2. You can use PowerPoint software in the classroom to create various multimedia projects on any subject matter. The students can now take their PowerPoint and share them with the world by inserting them into blogs. Students can develop ebooks and nonfictional book using PowerPoint. This indicates the mastery of a concept and is also a very good way to informally or formally approach a student without paper and pencil. You can also have the students create an eBook for the other students.
3. Another way you can use PowerPoint in the classroom is by creating an interactive quiz using PowerPoint. Make a quiz and have students use it to help their learning and goals. You can also take it to the next step and have the students prepare the quiz for each other, this way the students are making use of their 21st century skills while learning the concept.

Read also: Key Features of A Good Learning Management System (LMS)

Guidelines on Effective Use of PowerPoint in Classroom

If you want to improve the use of PowerPoint in the classroom then you need follow these simple guidelines:

1) Text size:

Text must be bold and clearly readable from the back of the classroom. Having too much text or very small font is absolutely difficult to read.

2) Avoid too much text:

One typical suggestion is to practice the 6×6 rule (no more than six words per line, and no more than six lines per slide). The popular “Takahasi Method” goes so far as to approve enormous text and nothing else on the slide. Not even pictures, conceivably as little as only one word on each slide.

3) Contrast:

We all know that light text on very dark backgrounds will probably strain the eyes. Minimize the contrast and opt for dark text on light backgrounds instead. If there’s any case of partial color blindness in the audience, then involve red-green, or blue-yellow.

Transitions and animations should be used effortlessly and frequently to avoid distractions.

4) Template:

Do not change the template regularly. The basic format should be frequent and minimal.

Use graphics and pictures to exemplify and enhance the message, not just for prettiness.

To learn more on the Effective Ways to Use MS PowerPoint in Classroom, here are some online resources that can give lecturers relevant tricks on the effective use of Microsoft PP.

• PowerPoint in the Classroom – A very in-depth resource on using PowerPoint in the classroom with tips, tricks, tutorials, free templates and much more.
• Brainy Betty – Here you can freely download not only backgrounds and templates, but videos, fonts and much more.
• Slideshare’s “PowerPoint for Teachers” – This gives a good Slideshare presentation created to give tricks to teachers on how to use PowerPoint effectively.
• Dos and Don’ts of PowerPoint – This guide is for teachers looking for expert advice on what to strive for as well as what to avoid when teaching with PowerPoint.
• ProTeacher PowerPoint Ideas – You will find a great list of possible PowerPoint projects for the classroom – written for teachers by teachers.
• PowerPoint Lessons for Teaching and Learning – This site is a very expansive resource for getting bunch of information on using PowerPoint in the classroom.
• Tips for Designing and Delivering PowerPoint Presentations – This site has tips on how to create the fantastic presentations and present them with conviction.