Hi, David.
I wouldn't say the term "dogmatic" is necessarily accurate, however, I would say that
several people here, including myself, agree with the direction of use of presentations,
many times confirmed by having to sit through "powerpoint hell" presentations.
However, I think your comments have some accuracy and I'd like to comment on them as I
feel they go beyond what the nature of a presentation should be and on to the very nature
of communication and the use of tools other than the voice for communication.
Preface: my background: Communications student, student of philosophy including the
philosophy of communications and language at UCLA with a degree in philosophy. Speaker
for over twenty years.
The primary rule of communication is that it is the responsibility of the communicator to
get the communications across in the desired way to the people he or she communicates
with. It is not up to those receiving the communication to understand, it is up to the
person doing the communication to do so in a way that the people receiving the
communication will understand.
The communication of a theory or philosophy should be clear and easy to understand so
that people can understand the concepts, IN GENERAL, without a need for complex or
numerous bits of data. If a person understands the concepts, he or she can then interpret
the data easily. Therefore, the primary communication, especially in a classroom or purely
instructive situation, should be of concepts, not specifics.
That being said (or rather, written), in some situations a great deal of information needs to
be communicated in addition to the basic concepts. While basic concepts and their
working out can be illustrated and animated with Keynote and other presenters, if
students are copying tons of material off of slides they are NOT learning the material, they
are learning how to copy words.
The great advantage of using Keynote in an educational situation is that it is possible to
create a synergy of multiple communication modalities: What the instructor says,
animations and support for what the instructor says through a presenter program such as
Keynote, and written materials which give details and allow students to see the practical
functioning of the concepts and specifics along with using visual, tactile, and mental
faculties to "anchor" (using the NLP term) everything in the student's mind.
In other words, a multiplicity of approaches is valuable, and each should be used to its
greatest benefit.
In SOME cases, having content heavy slides may be necessary. But to put up a paragraph of
material on the screen and read it aloud, as I've seen numerous people do, is a waste of
time, unmemorable, boring, and quite likely to prevent communication rather than accent
it.
I don't think anyone here would say that content heavy slides should never be used under
any situation. Well, some may, contending there may be better means to accomplish an
end. But if the 6 X 6 "rule" is obsolete, that doesn't mean that in some situations it won't
fit.
The question to ask, IMO, is not whether what people here are saying is dogmatic, but
rather, what is the best way to communicate using all tools at hand. Just as presentations
should help accent the oral communications of the speaker, handouts should also accent
and further explain the slides and oral communications. To ignore the power of the voice,
the abilities of presenter programs, and the fact that great handouts with samples and
examples to be worked with later, limits the effectiveness of the communications.
Respectfully, David, do you REALLY think your students are "getting" what you're trying to
communicate when they're desperately taking notes or needing to get copies of your
slides? I would suggest that it's more likely that they're hoping if they study all that later
they might be able to do something more that rote repetition on tests--they hope they
might be able to understand.
So while I'm GENERALLY against having data-heavy slides, specific situations may make it
an ideal way to communicate. What I AM for is understanding that the goal is not just to
use Keynote, but to communicate. That requires the best use of speaking, Keynote, and
handouts. Often that requires a great deal of thought to see what is the best way to
communicate a point--should I merely say it? Should I do something with Keynote?
Should it be on a handout? How can all three result in a synergy and better
communication.
</rant>
--- In applekeynote@yahoogroups.com, "davidr_222" <davidr222@...> wrote:
>
> I have to say that some of the comments I read here sound a little bit
> dogmatic. I often have QUITE a bit of information on slides. I
> reveal the information a little at a time and take considerable time
> discussing it. Sometimes I break the material up into multiple slides
> but this depends on the logic of the material. My slides also
> generally have considerable graphic content, not just words. But
> there can be plenty of words too. And my students often choose to
> print out the slides. Others choose to take notes. I think that
> there is quite a bit of variation in presentation style and in the
> nature of presentation material and it might be helpful to consider
> the possibility that some of the presentation rules I read here are
> not universally applicable.
>
------------------------------------
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