M5 Reading Log Blogs

Power Up! Stimulating Your Students With Power Point
The author, Andre Harrison, suggests using Power Points to engage students in the classroom. The slide presentations can be used to play games, such as Jeopardy, as a fun way to review for a test. Or it can be a way for students to take notes instead of listening to a dry lecture. Animations, graphs, maps, and audio can be added to enhance the presentations. Harrison also encourages having the students create the power points to share different topics that have been covered in class. It helps with the different learning styles, too.
I have used power point in my classes before, and think that third grade is not too young to create a simple power point. he author has his high school students doing it, but with the ease of making power points, third graders should be able to do it, as well.


Point/ Counterpoint- Is Power Point Crippling Our Students?
In this selection, two instructors share their view on this topic.
Kathy Johnson, a technology professor, takes the view that power point is crippling our children. She believes that the value of the instructor is diminished with power point. She also states that it becomes another mindless media. There is no interaction with it. Students are not discussing or forming opinions. The answers to their questions are one slide away. All they need to do is wait. Johnson compares it to television with the closed caption on.
Vicki Sharp, on the other side, takes a different view of power points. She believes they add excitement to the classroom and students are eager to create them. They add creativity to their presentations such as film clips, photos, music, and other effects. The students learn from each other in their productions, too. Sharp relays that even her reluctant readers are eager to read and explore topics.
My view point? I can see where a poor point presentation could easily mimic the slide shows of yesteryear. However, with the technology today, power points can be both exciting and informative.


Readers Respond- Is Power Point Crippling Our Students? 
The second part of this discussion allows readers to chime in. It seems that 59% of the readers do not feel that power point is hurting our students, whereas, 41% agree that power point is crippling our students. The majority believe that it encourages creativity, fosters learning through research, and is a great hands-on activity. However, the minority believe that it is boring and over-used because it's easy for teachers to do. They believe it is good technology gone bad.
Again, my thoughts are that any learning tool can enhance learning or cremate it. It depends on the teacher and her use of best practices.