Does anyone still use PowerPoint? Unfortunately, many do, and they are particularly overused and abused in CPD; some presenters can’t talk without them. It’s not uncommon for some sessions to contain over 50 slides and this is just mind-numbing and toxic overload.
I attended a session recently with 69 slides and by the end of this torture my head felt like a pumpkin filled with lead and my colleague said her brain felt like wet cardboard. It wasn’t just the volume of slides either but the dry as a bone bulletised or numbered content where the presenter uses them as a teleprompter for reading the words out loud. Throwing in a couple of cartoons and an animated gif is just insulting.
Being subjected to ‘death by PowerPoint’ is no fun for anyone and these so-called ‘presentations’ ooze tedium and have all the personality of a plastic fork with broken prongs. Bullet points are not magic, they are ‘old school’ and it’s time to move on. Those who can’t, PowerPoint.
An American army General once famously said “PowerPoint makes us stupid” and leads to lazy thinking; slides asphyxiate dialogue, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making. Some big-name companies have banned PowerPoint. The CEOs of Amazon and Linkedin ditched slide-driven meetings in order to move away from monologue and encourage dialogue, interaction and curiosity.
When people are following a series of information-stuffed slides flying by at top speed, it feels like you have to jump in and interrupt with questions and comments. Some presenters get tetchy if you disrupt their flow and the slides go even faster thereafter.
PowerPoint tends to be a predictable in that slides don’t really vary that much so it is easy to lose focus and go into an autopilot comatose state where you see the slides, but you don’t take them in. PowerPoints are easy for the presenter but difficult for the audience to learn because they go ‘slide blind’.
Some argue that PowerPoint overload can “degrade productivity, intellectual assets, and interpersonal relationships” but should we do an Amazon and Linkedin and file for divorce?
Scribble the learning
So what does the research and best-practice evidence say about presentation and learning? Multimedia learning is a cognitive theory of learning which has been popularised by the work of Richard E. Mayer who says that we don’t necessarily need to bin PowerPoint but use it more intelligently.
Developed from nearly 100 studies, Mayer suggests 12 principles that shape the design and organisation of multimedia presentations. He says that people learn better from words and pictures rather than from words alone.
Mayer’s multimedia principle tells us that humans cannot read and listen at the same time and that 70% of learning is attained visually.
Turning words into pictures via animated videos plays to our strengths and is consistent with how the human mind works. So if vision trumps all senses it makes sense to utilise visual images and let them do the talking and story-telling. This is why ‘explainer videos’ are shifting the landscape.
Basically these are short, straightforward and entertaining animated online videos that ‘explain’ an idea, product or service using a hand that sketches. Used by marketing and sales departments for a decade, they tend to feature cartoon-style illustrated graphics and characters, a voiceover, and maybe some music or sound effects and they unquestionably make a positive impact.
The RSA Animate series have been enormously successful and explainer videos are gaining more and more popularity in education. They energise content and ideas and they are superb for explaining complex information in a simple way and for delivering a narrative.
Using high-end professionally animated videos might sound like you need loads of technical wizardry but you don’t need any. There are lots of intuitive software options in the market place that use simple drag ‘n’ drop that do all the drawing for you. They are so simple you can be up and running in moments and besides, many come with comprehensive tutorials and expert support. When words are presented as animations then they stick in our minds, they easily grab our attention, they get a message or idea across, create anticipation and they are fun and entertaining. If you have ever used an animated sketch video then you will know that they spark learning conversations and improve understanding. Mixing moving visuals with auditory explanations are essential and effective.
Award-winning scientific and psychology professor Dr. Richard Wiseman studied the science behind using explainer videos and found that using them improved learning by 15% because of their increased capacity to gain and hold attention. He found they are particularly powerful for explaining things that are hard to put into words.
He notes that people learn better when something is fun which is why explainer videos can work so well. He says, “You do anything better when you're in a good mood … creativity, productivity, learning. … One thing [whiteboard animation] does is make me laugh, and it puts me in a good mood … Suddenly, it's not so much work. It not only makes them have a better time, more importantly it means the information is just going in.”
You can find out more about the research he did by watching a seminar hosted by the RSA in which he talks about “The Animate Revolution”.
And finally…
PowerPoint, in the wrong hands, turns us into moths. Perhaps we don’t need to ditch PowerPoint completely but ditch the old ways in which we have been using it. PowerPoint doesn’t have to be a great glass barrier to learning when we integrate other multimedia innovations and embed them as partners.
We are so used to giving and seeing PowerPoint presentations that it is easy to forget there are other means of communicating and new ways of doing things.
There is little doubt that animated videos are engaging, unique, creative, exciting, and inspiring and they outperform other styles of video in memory tests, problem solving, shareability and overall impact.
With so much evidence to support deeper learning, engagement and improved recall of information, video explainers are a must-have for joined-up thinking in colleges. Why not give them a try and invigorate your lectures?
Links:
www.wearecognitive.com are the people behind the RSA Animate series. Also take a look at VideoScribe from Sparkol.
About the author
John Dabell
John is an ex-primary school teacher and Ofsted inspector who has spent the last 20 years working in the education industry as a teacher, writer and editor. John’s specialist area is primary maths but he also loves teaching science and English. John has written a number of educational and children’s books, and contributed over 1,000 articles and features to various educational bodies. John is eTeach’s school leadership and Ofsted advice guru, sharing insights on best practice for motivating and enriching a school team, as well as sharing savvy career steps for headteachers and SLT.