Design Tips for Working with Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote by a Non-Expert
Having only minimally worked with PowerPoint (and never Keynote) to date, the best tip I have seen is to keep it simple. First, I should create an outline of what I am trying to accomplish in my presentation and then create a slide for each point. If I try to start with bulleted points and then get more general, I could lose sight of what I am attempting to communicate with students. This sounds simple in theory, but in reality it feels overwhelming to start from such a broad place.
After reading about chunking information in a logical and progressive manner for greater gains in eLearning, I know I need to keep concepts together. The Learning Coach provides 4 steps to chunk information and improve memory:
1. Start at the highest level. How will modules/lessons be ordered? Separate large chunks of content and begin there.
2. Divide modules into lessons and topics using smaller chunks of information.
3. Create chunks at the PowerPoint/Keynote slide level so each slide provides information regarding one concept. What will my one concept be?
4. Finally, think about working memory (the brain can best retain 4 items of information at any one time) during the whole process. Streamline and get rid of anything extra.
These steps reinforce my first paragraph of thoughts and require me to think about the big picture first before grouping ideas together to form a presentation.
Further, cutesy clip art is not my preference. Is it really what students want as a learning tool or is it just a distraction from the learning to keep students looking at a screen for extended periods of time? To me, it seems to be the latter and I do not want to engage in that kind of learning. I guess I need to do research to see if anyone has studied this and discerned it has helped learning outcomes, but I do not actually want to.
Clean, streamlined slides are my preference, even if the audience is children and teenagers. I think using a color palette of strong solids can emphasize knowledge better than a poorly done clip art design. I plan to try Piknik to get a feel for what colors work well together. I also plan to look at Flickr’s creative commons images to find high-quality pictures to use in my slides. I think I have a very basic plan for my Presentation Media Software assignment, and now have to outline my content before creating my presentation.
