In the lab component of my Coms 461 (History and
applications of rhetoric) course this term, I had student
groups each prepare a PowerPoint presentation on the use of
Powerpoint. I was pleased with the results, as students
seriously considered the rhetorical dimensions of
PowerPoint--when it would enhance and when it would detract
from a presentation, and how to present effectively using
PP, for example--offered concrete advice (e.g., about point
size, font styles, animations, conciseness) about what
constitutes a well-designed PP presentation and what
doesn't. (These presentations were intended to be
stand-along "modules" that could be posted to a future 461
course site.) To introduce this lab component, I showed the
"Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation" (available on the
internet--I don't have the url handy at the moment), which
worked well to get the class discussing their experiences as
audiences subjected to PP presentations. Overall, I think
the lab succeeded in getting students to critically reflect
on the use of PP and to make them more more rhetorically and
technically savvy users of PP.
Jo-Anne Andre
University of Calgary
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