Does PowerPoint Help or Hinder Learning?
My Response: It has to be designed well, both structurally and visually. Everything we know about Multimedia Learning Theory boils down to three essential lessons (in my opinion):
- We process information in two channels: What we see, and what we hear (this includes the voice in your head that reads printed text to you)
- Those channels have limits, and when one is overloaded your brain will block out any lower priority input as white noise (which is why you stop listening to a speaker if you’re reading their slides)
- Visual imagery (videos included) work best when accompanied by audio (not text) narration
If the slides are visually designed in a way that supports these principles, and organized in a way that they coherently tell a story while reinforcing key concepts, you will have a really powerful teaching tool on your hands (especially for early knowledge transfer).
Not to toot my own horn, but I think I do a great job of designing a slideware presentation, to the point where I’m fortunate enough that people pay me to present. Here’s an introduction to one of my primary presentations. The audio’s a little low, but people have told me it’s pretty funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnjZbgyvoIY
