4 Common Mistakes In Teaching Via Powerpoint

As the lights are turned off and PowerPoint presentation begins, it is the time for teachers to have a vivid and interesting class to their students. As we know, PowerPoint is an essential presentation tool in education field.

According to the research of Dr. Treicher, an experimental psychologist who made two well-known experiments about obtaining information and maintaining knowledge information obtain and knowledge maintain. People can get more benefit from teaching if they can learn knowledge by watching and listening, then exchange their opinions by discussion. So PowerPoint presentation with pictures and even audio can be used to facilitate the teaching effect.

However, there are some mistaken ideas when some teachers have classes with PowerPoint presentation. Here are four of the most common issues teachers should pay attention to.

1. Demonstration effect becomes principal thing

Don't be too dazzling How do you feel about this PowerPoint? Many teachers like to add lots of visual effects, pictures and animations in their PowerPoint presentations, making their lessons like Hollywood blockbusters. In fact, teachers can pay more attention in multimedia teaching. PowerPoint presentation is just a tool and it can't replace the role of teacher. Remember that you are using PowerPoint for giving lessons but not giving lessons for presenting your PowerPoint slides. Besides, the overmany pictures, video and audio files can cause your PowerPoint presentation file size extremely huge. So use these visual effects carefully when it is necessary.

2. Use computer screen to replace the white board

Use computer screen to replace the white board Do you like to watch the slide like this? Some teachers put all things including lecture sheet, test and even whole teaching plan into their PowerPoint presentation. At first sight your presentation looks like a Wikipedia, but you will find it hard to interact with your students during the class because they have already known what you will say next by browsing PowerPoint presentation. On the other hand, PowerPoint presentation is not a teleprompter for teaching. Teacher should lead their students to exploit their creative skills and learn things in a positive way. By sharing knowledge with computer screen only, you just use the computer screen instead of the blackboard to do the presentation job, and you lose the interactive teaching effect which PowerPoint should achieve.

3. Thinking training can be done with PowerPoint presentation

PowerPoint is Used in Interactive Class Make your students active The courseware made with PowerPoint is aim to make good use of the combination of video and audio. Students can get more visual impact and better understanding by watching the presentation and listening to the narration. But one more problem is that the presentation cannot be served as an alternative of thinking training. Communication is a must during the multimedia teaching. Teachers encourage their students to ask and solve questions during the classes, but not simply read off the slides. You can also leave five minutes for questioning and solving their questions. This ensures the quality of your lessons.

4. Neglect the importance of review after class

Have PowerPoint class Having class is far away from enough It is a quite tough thing to ask all students to master new knowledge in the class, so the review after class also plays an important role. And that is something bothers many teachers. Since not all the students have MS Office installed on their computer, they may have no chance to have a good review by watching courseware once again. However, you can try some other ways to make your PowerPoint presentation available on your students' computers. Here are some flexible ways for you to make your presentation available to more students such as converting your presentation to video, burning your PowerPoint presentation to DVD , and sharing your PowerPoint slideshow online. There are tons of YouTube-liked streaming video sites for video authoring and sharing. Teachers can upload their presentation video and share knowledge to more students who need it.

PowerPoint teaching is really a good way to teach students and share opinions. However, it is not an easy job since teachers have to put a lot of time and effort in making an impressive and interactive PowerPoint presentation. We sincerely hope you can make good use of PowerPoint program and explore new multimedia teaching by continuing practice.

About the Author:
SunnyY - is a senior expert in eLearning who works at Wondershare E-Learning department. Wondershare Software is an industry-leading learning and training software application provider. You could get more eLearning tool for your teaching and training, such as PowerPoint to DVD Converter, PowerPoint to video converter and so on.

Scholarships - The 7 Best Offline Ways To Find Them

The first stop many students make when looking for scholarships is the internet; and with good reason. Scholarship database websites are very popular, convenient, and easy to use. The appeal comes from only having to type in your personal information once while getting in return many scholarships for which you can apply. However, as popular and efficient as these websites are, the fact is: they are not all-inclusive and do not include many of the scholarships you may find within your local community.

1. School's Career Counselor
If you don't look anywhere else, make sure you at least stop into your school's career counseling office. One of the services that this office provides is access to an updated list of local scholarships. As an organization, business, or individual creates a new scholarship, one of the first things it will do is forward the information to the career centers at the local schools. This information is ready and available to you. Go check it out.

2. Hometown Newspaper
In your local newspaper, you are sure to have seen pictures of students receiving scholarships; this a great resource. Start compiling a list of the awards you see here. Find back issues of the paper online. In the search box use the term "scholarship". You might just find the perfect scholarship for you.

3. Community Service Clubs Organizations
such as the local VFW, Rotary Club, Lion's Club, Jaycees, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc. regularly hold fundraisers for the purpose of providing scholarships to the students in their communities. A quick call to these clubs will get you information about these awards. Your local library or community center in town will have a list of these clubs for you to target. To make it even easier, in most cases the national chapter of each club has contact information for their local chapters online.

4. Religious Organization
A number of religious groups offer scholarship awards to the student members of their congregation. Ask your priest, rabbi, monk, pastor, etc. if an award is available. Also, check the national organization of the religious group as many offer national scholarships.

5. All in the Family
Parent's Workers Union, Place of Work, or Military Service If your parents or even grandparents (don't forget about them) are members of a union, you may be in luck. Many unions provide scholarships. If your parents aren't members but you plan to enter a field with a union, you may also qualify. As an employee benefit, many employers offer scholarships to their employees and their families. Have your parents check with the human resources department where they work to see if there is an award waiting for you. Did your parents or grandparents serve in the U.S. Military? If so, you might be in luck. If they belong to a military association, see if that group gives away scholarship awards.

6. Your Place of Work
Just as your parents' employers may give out scholarships, so might your own. Check with your manager even if you only work part time. You might be surprised at what you find.

7. Extracurricular Activities
Being involved in extracurricular activities is not only fun but looks great on your college application. But did you also know that through your club you may be able to get a scholarship? Ask your club advisor and check the national office of the club to see if there is anything available through them. Some of the clubs that do have awards are Girl Scouts, The National Honor Society, Future Farmers of America, Junior Achievement, and even your fraternity or sorority.

These offline scholarships do take a bit more work and time to find but the payoff can be huge. While the internet is still a very helpful reference, make sure you don't make it your only one. Log off your computer and head on out the door. You may just come home with a handful of applications for scholarships you didn't even know existed.

by: Elizabeth Dennis
About the Author:
To learn more about finding scholarships and view a new scholarship listing every day, come visit The Scholarship Catalog.