I watch roughly 15-20 Powerpoints a week. This translates into an average of 10-15 hours every week. I am willing to wager that the average college student would have similar numbers to show. Sure, I can understand that putting together slides for a class is a lot of extra work in the first place. Why not just put in that extra 10% and make them a little bit better?
1. Learn Design
Horrible fonts, terrible layouts, and blinding color schemes. I promise these things make a difference. Smashing Magazine is a great place to start to find information about all of these things.
2. Powerpoints Are Not Review Material
“Don’t worry about writing this information down, I’ll post the slides online later.” I have never understood this. Why in the world are kids going to come to class if everything covered is spelled out in text on a slide. Aren’t the textbook supposed to be the review material? If the textbook isn’t good enough for the students to review material with, why do you have the textbook in the first place?
3. If You’re Looking To Have Discussion, Turn It Off
Powerpoint creates a lecture type atmosphere. When slides are being shown, there is a subtle but powerful emotional response that will prohibit students from wanting to participate. Test it out, turn it off when you want to have discussion and see what happens.
4. Make Connections
Sometimes there are topics that can be difficult to understand. Pictures, Videos, Diagrams, Charts are a great way to make things more clear to your students. Don’t use these elements unless there’s a reason. Remember this every time you’re tempted to add a picture of some guy with a lightbulb over his head. Don’t know where to find good free photos and videos? Check out http://search.creativecommons.org/
5. Don’t Use It As Your Outline
If you need your powerpoint to remember what you’re going to say next, you are definitely not going to hold the attention of your students.
6. Learn From the Pros
Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki have made a lot of great points about how to use powerpoint. Take their suggestions for what they’re worth. They won’t all work for the education arena.