ppt

I was never a huge Powerpoint fan. The extension itself *ppt* sounds similar to how I felt about it. Never much enjoyed professors' and colleagues' presentations with Powerpoint. It wasn't all their fault. The classroom designs were bad -- often making the black/whiteboard unavailable when the screen was pulled down. The presenter was faced with the acrobatic act of juggling powerpoint and chalk and papers and everything. And then on top of this, they would often just read their slides. Not good.

I think things are better now. Rarely do I see presenters reading Powerpoint slides. And the pen tool, along with better classroom designs have alleviated much of the juggling act. I am seeing more Powerpoints developed for outline reviews and flashcard type interactions. Works for me.

Except when these same ppts are then slapped online. These files can be huge. The outline format no longer works well as the crucial information and anecdotes that were the driving force behind the slides are now missing. The flashcards might still work, but I am quite certain there are better methods for flashcard delivery via the web. *cough* flash *cough*. Some instructors tell me they want students to print out the slides prior to class for note taking ease. This doesn't work for me. It's the graphic equivalent of making someone download a Photoshop file to see the images on your web page. It's a completely unnecessary step. *pppppt*

My quick solution: For printing, create a pdf file (four slides to a page). For flashcards look into StudyMate ($79-$139). For slide presentations, look into FlashSpring ($149).