PROMPT 7

A paragraph on what you feel are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of using presentation software in the K-12 classroom.A paragraph on how you might use PowerPoint to support student learning at each knowledge dimension in a particular lesson. Be explicit in your example! Use Chapter 5 and online resources.A paragraph on an issue related to educational technology that now interests you. You may provide information, ask questions, include links, etc.

There are a large amount of advantages of using presentation software in the classroom. First, it gives teachers the ability to reach students who learn visually. Furthermore, it makes the learning experience more enjoyable for the students because the material is presented in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Moreover, power points are effective because teachers can use the slides to outline their main points they are trying to make within the lecture. On the contrary, there are disadvantages of power point. For example, teachers might begin to allow the students to rely strictly on their power point slides, and not require students to read the textbook which may present the information in a different manner that might appeal to some students. Sometimes, students can learn better without all the visual distractions and colors and etc typically used in power point as well.

Through the utilization of power point, I will be able to reach students at different levels of learning abilities. Power points appeal to both audio and visual learners. To exemplify, the students can listen to the lecture, hear the sounds presented in the slides, and I can even insert hyperlinks to play movies, songs, or any other audio material. Additionally, I will use the power point to help reach the visual learners. By creating slides for the lessons that use different shapes, colors, fonts, pictures, and animations, the students who are more visual learners will be able to obtain the knowledge via the aesthetics of the presentation.

One issue related to technology in the classroom that interests me is the use of Wikipedia and other questionable resources within the classroom. Yes, there are a lot of websites that should not be used in the classroom, and one prime example is Wikipedia, but i feel as though teachers should let their students use the internet more extensively than they do for papers and research projects. Just because some websites are not appropriate, does not mean that some have some really good and educational material on them. I feel as though the school board, or the states, should evaluate some informational sites, which will aid students, and allow them to use the information presented by the technology of the 21st century for papers and projects.