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Re: [Phys-L] Power Point's Huge Waste of Paper



There are very interesting comments in light of the reference to Edward Tufte 
earlier.  He would agree, saying that ppt are a low density way to transmitting 
information.  His approach, as I understand it, would be hand out a printed 
page much richer than the ppt, allow people to have time to read it, and then 
lead a presentation build on the ideas in the page.

best,

joe

Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Physics  
Co-Director, Northern Indiana Science, Mathematics, and Engineering 
Collaborative (NISMEC)
Consultant, I-STEM Network, Indiana Science Initiative (ISI)
Board Member, Michiana Science and Technology Center, Inc. (MSTCi)
574-276-8294
inquirybellina@comcast.net




On Sep 2, 2014, at 10:13 PM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

> Interesting discussion! I teach high school. Used to write all my notes on
> the board -- too many. Students could not copy fast enough, and then I was
> onto the the next concept, demo, etc. Very ineficient. I now give out
> paper notes on the first day of each topic. Simple and straightforward,
> and kids love them to study for tests. Much better than any textbook, and
> kids can pay more attention to me in class. I put a skeleton of the main
> ideas on the board, and I use that to guide what I will be teaching. Very
> effective. Never used PowerPoint. Never will.
> 
> Phys-L@Phys-L.org writes:
>> What is the purpose of having the power point presentation if the
>> presenter copies every page, even the pages with one or two salient
>> points.  They could just as well give out the pages or skip printing the
>> pages with the single phrase or word.  Why do presenters think they have
>> to put every bullet point on a separate page with cutesy cartoons to
>> illustrate them.  Power Point has become a lazy way to give a
>> presentation.  It has become a crutch for a "teacher" who is a poor
>> speaker.    
>> 
>> Give me the days when you could use the overhead projector and put a
>> piece of paper on top of the points you wanted to present so you could
>> expose them one at a time.  Students would have to  (heaven forbid!) TAKE
>> NOTES!  When I taught in the high school we had an overhead with a
>> scrolling roll of acetate so I could write the notes and illustrations as
>> the lesson progressed, then scroll the roll across to a blank section to
>> continue.  That way if students missed something and asked for the notes
>> they missed I could simply scroll back to the pertinent section. The roll
>> was long enough so the notes and drawings remained on the roll for a week
>> or more.  If someone was absent they could ask me to roll it back to the
>> day's notes they missed.    
>> 
>> On Sep 2, 2014, at 9:34 PM, Paul Nord wrote:
>> 
>>> Amen.
>>> 
>>> On Sep 2, 2014, at 1:21 PM, Bill Norwood <bnorwood111@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> 
>>>> Have you all noticed a person coming in to give a Power Point
>> presentation
>>>> along with a hand truck loaded with paper copies of each PP page?
>>>> 
>>>> It is my estimate that this system uses 10 or more times as much paper
>> as
>>>> should be necessary.
>>>> 
>>>> Any remarks?
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Bill Norwood, U of MD at College Park
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Phys-l@www.phys-l.org
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>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Phys-l@www.phys-l.org
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> 
> 
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