Presenting Learning using PowerPoint

Microsoft's Office PowerPoint has been used in some form or another by educators for many years. The presentation program was originally developed in the latter part of the 1980s "designed to facilitate visual demonstrations for group presentations in the business environment" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2012, para. 2). Thankfully, Microsoft has kept the software up-to-date in the continuously evolving digital landscape and has wide applications across business, education and community organisations. 

I can vaguely recall my teachers occasionally using PowerPoint when I was a young warthog in high school *cough, nearly 30 years ago, ahem*. They would generate slides using text and images that could be used for handouts and overhead transparencies. Sometimes the school would get real fancy for our annual Awards Presentation Night and project a slideshow including photos of the deserving recipients. These days I have become very familiar with Microsoft's latest version, Office 365 PowerPoint, and continue to develop my skills and knowledge of the software throughout my undergraduate study.

At its core, Microsoft (2022) claims that PowerPoint can be used on PC, Apple and smart devices where the user can: 

Create presentations from scratch or a template; add text, images, art, and videos; select a professional design with PowerPoint Designer; add transitions, animations, and cinematic motion; save to OneDrive to get to your presentations from your computer, tablet, or phone; and, share your work and work with others, wherever they are (para. 1). 

In an educational setting, PowerPoint can still serve its basic purpose as presentation software but in an environment where ICT is now embedded in the Australian Curriculum, PowerPoint's technical aspects allow both the teacher and the student to create and achieve so much more.

Thinking about the SAMR model, PowerPoint can function at the enhancement level with the simple creation of a slide presentation that includes animations and motion paths, with emphasised text and images; to the transformational level of the SAMR model where students can create social media images, infographics, photo collages, animated GIFs, embedding Microsoft's other software (such as an active Excel spreadsheet), and building video content with narration to create your own YouTube clips. Thanks to Office 365's web-based productivity service, it allows for multi-author capability where you can choose to share your file and allow editing with other people. PowerPoint is very user friendly, even for the inexperienced as the application guides the user with templates and suggestions as they create their document. The image above is but one template suggestion that PowerPoint offers.

 I can speak from experience. Below you'll see a screenshot of a slide presentation I created during my last practicum for Year 10 English. I wanted to create something bright and engaging for the students to support the discussion around a heavy topic. Using the PowerPoint templates, I searched for a book report template that suggested a bright and colourful theme and from there, was able to edit the template suitable for the lesson. 

From what I have now learned, a way to incorporate this digital media into students' learning and creativity is to allow them to create their own video presentations of their literary analysis. This way, it would allow the students to transform their interpretation of the text by responding through modification using digital technology. As an aspiring English teacher, this method is a great foundation to embed ICT in the classroom and give students the best opportunity to engage their critical and creative thinking.