Disability in Media - Lesson 4: PowerPoint Design

Lesson 4: PowerPoint Design

Objectives

The use of PowerPoint is a key component to many university course presentations. Many high school students, however, are not taught how to use Microsoft PowerPoint as part of their education, and few high school teachers seem to incorporate it in their teaching. Consequently, the CEGEP classroom is an important space to gain these skills, particularly for those students who intend on pursuing university studies. As part of this unit, students are required to put together a PowerPoint presentation to accompany their final assignment.

This lesson will equip students with the tools to complete this assignment and deliver a successful PowerPoint presentation that takes into consideration all important technical elements, while supplementing their topic adequately. The lesson will provide an overview of Microsoft PowerPoint as well as an introductory tutorial, so that students can gain familiarity with the program and begin to work on their presentations. The lesson will also discuss the corresponding assignment and its requirements. It will conclude with a question period wherein students can ask questions either regarding the construction of PowerPoint presentations or the assignment itself.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Name the components of a good PowerPoint presentation (font size, color contrast, words per page, etc).
• Insert slides, images, text boxes and videos into their PowerPoint presentations.
• Understand how the use of PowerPoint can enhance a presentation.
• Understand how inappropriate use of PowerPoint can hinder a presentation.
• Begin thinking about their own presentation and the components they'd like to include.

Please note that the details for this assignment are provided in the assignments and grade breakdown link of this website. Additional resources on how to use PowerPoint will be made available on this website for students' reference.

Timeline

This lesson will take place in the school's computer laboratory. Laboratory technicians will be present should students need assistance. Students will be asked to follow along on their individual computers as the teacher goes through the process of putting together a PowerPoint presentation.

1. (5 min.) As students are settling, show the video clip on how NOT to use PowerPoint.

2. (10 min.) Students will be asked to refer to the details on the final assignment in their syllabus. The class will begin by outlining the components of this assignment and explaining what is being asked of students. For this assignment, students will be asked to choose a specific disability group and thoroughly examine how that specific group is represented in the media, as well as the social implications of these portrayals. The teacher shall take some time to answer any questions students may have about this assignment before moving forward.

3. (30 min.) The teacher will use a premade PowerPoint presentation as an example, to demonstrate to students the components of a good PowerPoint presentation. Here, the following skills will be explained and taught:

   • Choosing a slide template
   • General points to consider when making a PowerPoint presentation: font sizes, number of words per point, number of points per page, color contrasts.
   • Inserting new slides.
   • Inserting pictures.
   • Text boxes.
   • Using animations.

4. (10 min.) A handout will be distributed containing the step by step procedure for creating a PowerPoint presentation. The teacher will use the remaining time to answer any questions.

Assessment

1. Students are required to email the teacher their presentation proposal (containing information about the disability group they'd like to explore) by lesson 7 at the latest.
2. Students must read the Nelson article and respond to it in their blogs tonight

© 2009 Natalie Martiniello