PTT

Powerpoint has now become a method of teaching in itself. Scholars should put it in their science books and have it taught as part of glottodidactics. It is so common that if you're bad at PowerPoint u should fail as a teacher or student. And while I am just kidding, I'm also being dead serious about the reality and the importance it has gotten. I remember 8th grade maybe, buying colorful posters, printing out images, gluing them on, handwriting the text and sometimes pushing it to the limits using the poster as a book or have it opened as a window in front of the class. Do I miss that time? Yes. Would I like to go back? No, don't expect me to say no, because I would love to if I continue being exposed to the PowerPoints I am being exposed to. The mass usage of the PowerPoint has made it so boring to look at them and be interested in when the presentations are dull. You have to be extra creative and invest a lot of time and effort in it to really make a difference, because theyre no longer something special. They are everywhere, in every class, in every company, in the military. I've even seen kids communicating to their parents in a powerpoint presentation why they needed a new instrument. Ema Stone told her parents that she decided to be an actress using a ppt presantation. What I am trying to convey, is that you just have to be imaginative with them. Experiment with them. Be authentic by not using the same animations and designs and fonts and structures everybody else uses. Bad powerpoints just offer an alternative something to look at. Instead a good PowerPoint presentation is created specifically to BE the thing you would want to look at and not want to miss out. I truly believe in the power of a beautiful presentation in the learning process of the students and any audience in general, and the effect it has in their attention and visual memory people funcion with. It's crazy. We remember best how the information was presnted to us rather than the piece of information itself. It happens subconsciously. This is why with PowerPoint being around for more than 30 years now, I belive in the 3 main ideas related to it, to make its usage more effective. USE IT LESS, USE IT DIFFERENTLY, and USE IT BETTER. 

Until next time, thank you. 

Webinars - what about them?

Did I watch all 3 hours of webinars? No. Only partially.

Would I watch them if I actually were interested in the content? Definitely yes.

And this is why I feel like webinars are awesome. You get to see the content you want in the comfortability of your home. But there have to be very specific conditions for webinars to take place. I feel like they are the last resort if you don’t want to spend money travelling or if you don’t have the time to. Because this is what a webinar does best – connect people unable to attend a physical learning class, and enable them to actually experience learning in a very cost effective way.

The challenges are huge, attending one as a student and especially as a teacher. If it ever crosses your mind that it is easier learning online, you’re wrong. It requires a lot of motivation to concentrate and a very established peace of mind. Because either the topic has to be highly engaging or the students have to be highly engaged in order to not lose track when the subject is boring. Even though it is true that you can still go back and rewatch it when the webinar is done and saved, and it is so flexible you can even pause it if your baby is crying or you feel like taking a break. After all, more frequent breaks are something we could all use in a physical class, and you can even grab a cup of coffee to maintain your alertness during a webinar ;)

Back to challenges – from the perspective of the teacher, I would mention that a lot of preparation is demanded to be done, as it is necessary to have good knowledge in technology to undertake the right steps and use the proper tools to create the webinar, like audience polls, Q&A chat functions, and whiteboards and to later work with them virtually as the students contribute. Even though there is no special equipment needed, which would count as a positive aspect, there can be incompatible system configurations and other downsides like the fact that a bad internet connection means distortion and delay, so both parties have to be well set in order for it to work. So a good internet speed is the real deal. There is also a lack of one on one interaction with the students, so you don’t really get to know them, and the other way around, unless the webinars are rare and you see them other times in class. Knowing them means you feel when something need to be explained otherwise because you see that in their eyes – and other limitations.

A good thing about webinars is that the teacher doesn’t have to worry about motivating students. It it is taken for granted that they want to be there and want to learn, unlike the physical class where if you’re not interesting, there are going to be students disrupting the learning process, and a good amount of time may go to waste. With webinars and you can also have an unlimited amount of audience to attend since it is online, and there is A LOT of space in the web.

So after all, even though I re-state it – webinars are awesome – I wouldn’t choose this method for students that can easily travel to class, as long as I am aware of the all possible pitfalls. I’d use it if my teacher was in the US or I were in Japan, but not close to. And it is method you can only use if all of your students agree to. So it is not all up to you.

[θæŋk jʊ fə ˈriːdɪŋ, lɛt ðə ˈkɒmɛnts fləʊ, ɔː nɒt]