PowerPoint Reflection

The lesson my PowerPoint presentation is on Cell Theory. The presentation walks you through a timeline of people and events that have lead up to what we now have as the accepted Cell Theory. I used a lot of the basic features in creating my PowerPoint, but I also tried not to overdo it with different features to the point that it becomes distracting to the lesson. I picked a solid background color and I tried to keep the use of my animations limited to only a few different ones. I included pictures on each slide so that students can put a face to the name of the scientist that made a discovery about the cells. I also included hyperlinks to Wikipedia for each person so that students can find additional information on that person if necessary. I did not include any of the optional features because they did not really seem to lend themselves to this topic, especially charts and graphs. The material I was presenting was not something based upon quantifiable data.
I have had limited experience with PowerPoint in the past, but that was on an older version. This project has helped me to see a lot of the changes that have taken place in this newer version and helped me learn where to go to access all of the features.
Presentation software, such as PowerPoint, can enhance a lesson because it allows you to embed other forms of media that is not always possible to do using a traditional chalkboard. PowerPoint makes it much easier to put up a picture of the subject you are talking about so that students make a visual association with the picture from the subject being covered. I also like how you can embed video right into the presentation instead of having to disrupt the class to set up a TV in order to show a short video clip. However, the most important way it can enhance a lesson, is that you can post the file on a website so that all of your students can access the presentation and review it a later date, something that just isn’t possible once you have erased a chalkboard.