Powerpointed Critique
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:30 PM
Here’s an interesting article about the use and abuse of technology in the college classroom.
I have to admit it was the stiff criticism of PowerPoint that drew me in.
(My apologies to those who love it, but most people use it so stiffly that I’ve grown truly to dread the words “Powerpoint Presentation.”)
However, the article turns out not to be a knock on technology so much as an interesting discussion of how its use outside the classroom (relying on downloads and podcasts as class prep) permits more interesting discussion and debate inside it… and how students are reacting to that, pro and con.
Two items I found especially interesting.
First, most students prefer tech-free classes. In a recent study, 59% of students found computer-enhanced lectures boring:
Students in the survey gave low marks not just to PowerPoint, but also to all kinds of computer-assisted classroom activities, even interactive exercises in computer labs. “The least boring teaching methods were found to be seminars, practical sessions, and group discussions,” said the report. In other words, tech-free classrooms were the most engaging.
Teachers of my acquaintance have been complaining for years that today’s students are very passive (remember this classic Doonesbury cartoon?), so this didn’t surprise me, but it’s interesting:
“Strangely enough, the people who are most resistant to this model are the students, who are used to being spoon-fed material that is going to be quote unquote on the test,” says Mr. Heffernan. “Students have been socialized to view the educational process as essentially passive. The only way we’re going to stop that is by radically refiguring the classroom in precisely the way José wants to do it.”
Some of the comments are worthwhile, too. In the end I suppose all we learn is that a good teacher—someone with both mastery and passion for the subject and a genuine love for transmitting his or her knowledge to others—doesn’t need bells and whistles—but at the same time, is the most likely to make effective use of them.
Print Blog
Email a FriendPost a Comment
By submitting this form, you give Faith And Family Magazine permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.
