Bumiller's article about Powerpoint definitely strikes a chord with me. When I first began college, several years ago, you went to class everyday with your notebook and you took notes straight off of what the professor had lectured about that day. Now, I spend a good deal of time, and on ink and paper, printing off what seems like hundreds of thousands of Powerpoint slides before I come to class everyday.
In some ways, I really do feel that having the slides on paper is an asset to notetaking. Being able to quote things that the professor has said directly about the slides (and when to completely mark off the ones that are not going to be tested on) is beneficial to studying for tests. However, I think that this might have caused some laziness on the behalf of some (definitely not all) professors whose lecture reads directly off of the slides without anything additional to add. Frustration does set in when you sit in a class for over an hour just to have someone basically read to you in half sentence bullet points. This is where I feel that Powerpoint has definitely drifted far away from an audience-centered approach.
In order to get back to being engaging with the slides, I think that entire presentations do not have to be based on just the Powerpoint. With each slide there is obviously more that can be added and it is the duty of the presenter to convey their message in a way that is thoughtful, insightful, and does not put people to sleep! I, and most people, know how to read slides--I came to college to learn from people with expertise and wisdom in their fields of study!
Bottom line is that not everything can or needs to be condensed and watered down to where we are just living in talking bullet points. Show me the different colors that surround the concepts that you are trying to teach, and not only will the message get conveyed, but someone might just have their curiousity picqued as a result of your excellent teaching and communication skills.
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