Tag Archives: Tips on Using PowerPoint

Use Animations in Microsoft PowerPoint to Enhance Your Teaching

Teaching Tips & Strategies, ,

Many students learn by watching and viewing rather than just writing and listening. One of the best ways to enhance student learning is by using animations in Microsoft PowerPoint during your presentations. If you’re not used to using animations in Microsoft PowerPoint, it may take you a little time to adapt. Here’s are a few key factors to keep in mind as you get used to this new style of teaching.

using animations in Microsoft PowerPoint
Source: Wikimedia Commons

There are two different types of animations in PowerPoint:

  • Preset Animation Schemes already control the way that all of the content comes into the slide. All you have to do is add your content, and it will follow the preset scheme.
  • Custom Animations let you apply a different animation scheme to each individual item on a slide. This is the more common choice among PowerPoint users, since it gives you more control.

Common animation schemes that you may find useful during your lectures include:

  • Setting animations that allow one bullet point to be added to the slide at a time. This will keep students’ focus on the point you are currently addressing.
  • Add arrows and other marks to a slide as you explain a complex process or flow-chart type illustration.

For more ways to utilize software to enhance student learning, contact us at Labyrinth Learning today to learn more about our programs that benefit both students and their instructors.

Geometry Class

Effective Ways to Use PowerPoint in a College Classroom

Teaching Tips & Strategies, , ,

Geometry Class Once an office staple, PowerPoint has gained new respect in the classroom. More instructors are incorporating it into their lesson plans because lectures can quickly be updated and additional multi-media features like video, images and audio can easily be added.

Students are much more sophisticated than in the past due to rapidly changing technology. No longer are they satisfied to learn by rote. They want and expect to be challenged and engaged, therefore, when teaching with PowerPoint, it is paramount that PowerPoint lesson plans be carefully thought out.

Getting students interested in a lecture from the opening sentence can easily be achieved using a PowerPoint presentation. Including highlights of the lecture at the beginning gives students a visual aid as to what they will be learning. Building off that by asking open ended questions allow students’ prior knowledge to be gauged and lesson plans adjusted.

The body of the lecture should be broken down into short 10-15 minute segments. Often instructors get so wrapped up in what they are teaching that they forget this important tip. Remember to design a PowerPoint presentation to include active learning strategies so everyone can take a break and redirect their focus.

When teaching with PowerPoint, the conclusion is just as important as the beginning. Determine how effective the lecture was by including a slide requesting students write down what they felt was unclear or hard to understand.

For additional information on adding PowerPoint in your classroom, please contact Labyrinth Learning today.

Image Source: freedigitalphotos

Important Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know

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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)