Teaching tip #2: Power point and laser pointers, a No-No?

Do you have a laser pointer? I do! Do you use it with your power-point slides? I used to! Not anymore! There is a very simple reason why I used to ...and do not anymore. The laser pointer is actually a good thing for the teacher...because we have in our mind a picture of what the students ARE SUPPOSED TO SEE...so we circle and underline with the laser pointer. This is not useful because the students ARE OFTEN WRITING AS WE TALK....the never see the laser pointer because it does NOT stay on the slide. Thankfully, there is a remedy to this. Power-Point has a feature that permits HIGHLIGHTING, DOODLING, CIRCLING things on your slide...and it stays there!

Here's how to use it: when you are on your slide, just right click and a box will appear! Select from the options and VOILÀ...just look at the picture that accompanies this blog and you will quickly understand how to use this simple tool. Use it on your next lecture and you probably will, just like me, get addicted to it!

Enjoy!!!!

The power of low tech teaching!

This blog is about Cyber teaching...or is it? I just want to share an experience. I teach at med school where all the students have their own tablet PC. All of their notes are in Power-Point format and that is great...HOWEVER....I decided yesterday to do something different. On one side of the class I used the projector, with the Power-Point slides. On the other side, I had a white board. Instead of going through the slides and babbling about whatever they had on them, I thought it would be a good idea to slow down the rythm. I started to draw, explaining as my "work of art" was being created. I was, as I was before I made extensive use of Power-Point, telling a story. After class, students came to me to tell me how they appreciated how I took the time to explain instead of going through a bunch of slides.

Teaching is about creating a contact with the students. Teaching is about reaching other people through knowledge transfer. Anyone can look at Power-Point slides and study them. A professor who teaches only with electronic media is not doing a better job than a professor who reads transparents. Teaching is NOT about reading something students can read by themselves.

The use of cyber teaching is a GREAT idea, I am totally with it and I use it quite extensively. I think it is important to remember that a Power-Point slide is just a high-tech transparent. Teaching is an art, not just a technique!!!