powerpointlessness

As stated on the FNO.Org website in Vol 10No 1September2000, found at http://www.fno.org/sept00/powerpoints.html powerpointlessness is “When presentations are glib and disappointing.” It is also when there are “Too many bullets. Too much crummy clip art. Simple thoughts. One liners. Mind bytes. Mind candy. Death by powerpointing!”

After a few hours, powerpointlessness is mind numbing. I work in an engineering environment and powerpointlessness is common. Often times there are too many words on slides and the text is too small to read. Charts are used which cannot be read from more than a few feet away. Presenters read their entire presentation to their audience.

As Jamie McKenzie has suggested, I like this solution to help avoid powerpointless. I think we should teach students to use the chart they offer on originality. Jamie also states that “The best defense against technology for technology's sake is a rigorous learning-focused program firmly grounded in the best traditions of schooling.” I also find value in this point made in the FNO.Org Vol 10 article. “The goal is to inform, enlighten and possibly even change someone's mind. The chances of reaching an audience are greatly increased if the presenter tries to understand the group and its characteristics . . .” While teaching students to learn to use Powerpoint it is also important that “We would also expect that they honor copyright when employing images scanned from the press or downloaded from Web sites, teaching them that "fair use" may allow such use by students within classrooms for reports but would not be permitted if they were adults in the workplace and is not permitted on school Web sites.” http://fnopress.com/bigsnake/index.htm