Monthly Archives: November 2013

How Technology Can Help Students Learn

How Technology Can Help Students Learn

How Technology Can Help Students Learn
Use these basic tips to meld technology into the classroom. Source: morgueFile

With the proliferation of social media sites and gaming apps, it’s easy to see why technology is oftentimes perceived to have a negative effect on our kids. But is it really that bad?

Technology isn’t entirely bad, especially when you consider the role of education technology (ed tech) plays in schools across the nation. When educators use technology in learning, these mentors are helping students use their mobile devices to their advantage instead of their detriment.

Here are a few effective ways to use technology inside the classroom:

  • Support open source technologies: You don’t have to spend a lot of money on ed tech. Open source applications are  free, and they’re also stable and versatile. You won’t have to worry about limiting yourself to one platform.
  • Support technology adoption: Transitioning to new technology can be challenging, especially if a solution has a learning curve. Make time for familiarizing yourself with a new technology so that you’ll be comfortable using it.
  • Support teacher empowerment: Ed tech empowers both the students and educators. You can help your students more if you use a solution that gives you the ability to do your job more efficiently and easily.

Need more tips like these? Visit us at Labyrinth Learning or send us a message!

Important Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know

PowerPoint is a potent tool for use in presentations. However, a combination of skill and experience on the part of the presenter can help make a good presentation into an outstanding one.

Important Tips Every PowerPoint User Should KnowHere are important PowerPoint tips for users:

  • Being legible is the single most important consideration for PowerPoint slides. Users need to choose readable fonts, while also making sure that the backgrounds don’t engulf the text. For example, users should never choose to a light-colored text with white backgrounds.
  • Based on the same reasoning, users should reduce the number of graphics included in their presentation. The right graphic at the right time and right place can lend a nice bit of impact to a slide, but a number of them on the same page can end up creating distracting clutter. In short, cut the graphic unless it is on point.
  • Bullet points might not be the best method to organize information being presented on the slides because it can cram too much information on single slides. Instead, give each bullet point its own slide so that the audience has time to read and absorb each one of them.
  • Make sure that the PowerPoint presentation can be shown no matter the computer that is being used to show it. For example, use common fonts in case the computer does not have the same selection installed as the one used to create the presentation.
  • Use the stopwatch feature while practicing to see the time spent on each part.

For more PowerPoint tips and eLearning tips, please contact us at Labyrinth Learning.

Image Source: freedigitalphotos (Ambro)