"Powerpointlessness"

This is a fantastic description of what I have witnessed for years in the Corporate world. PowerPoint presentations with nothing to say that kept getting fancier and fancier. Then to really add some flash, some of my competitors were hiring professional salespeople to deliver these fancy PowerPoint presentations......the blind leading the blind!

So, "pointless" because the presentations can become an end unto themselves with nothing much to back them up. "Shallow" would be another good descriptive term to use I think.
From presenters who read what is on the screen and can't answer one in-depth question, to slides with so much small print text that the presenter finally gives up and says"you'll get a copy to take home and read for yourselves".

I would think that one way to start making sure a PowerPoint (.ppt) has depth is for a teacher not to simply say "we are making a PowerPoint presentation". Using a .ppt is really a method to use for presenting a report, product, research results, etc.....The focus should be on the content of the project - not the method.

Once you have your content, then utilize the .ppt to its fullest extent and robust capabilities.
Always remembering, that your basic skills of good presentation, eye contact, passion, knowing your subject, will not be replaced by your .ppt.

Can technology really be HOTS?

So just how can we utilize technology to improve and develop higher order thinking skills? Just what are these higher order thinking skills - and aren't we either born with them, or not?
Our second reading describes in detail Bloom's Taxonomy of Thinking skills and then goes on to describe the differences between critical thinking and creative thinking, and how teachers need to both directly and indirectly foster these thinking skills. We can all learn how to think better!

Teachers need to foster both creative and critical thinking skills and there are many ways for a teacher to incorporate this in their everyday classroom. Using historical simulations, asking probing questions and waiting longer for the answer, debates, analyzing both sides of an issue - there are many ways in all subject matters and grade levels to incorporate both critical and creative higher order thinking skills.

Not only will the students develop better ways of thinking, they will also enrich what learn about and retain the subject matter they are studying better.

How can teachers use technology to teach? Our first article outlines by way of a techtorial, each of the 6 stages of our cognitive domain: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation. They then give, by stage, websites that teachers can send students to which will primarily utilize a particular stage or stages of the thinking process. For example, when younger students are simply in search of knowledge a useful website, arranged by subject is www.kidsclick.org .

Using technology can allow teachers to vary their students output, thus vary the performance expectations. Students can be much more engaged with their subjects and pursue their own interest in the subject matter. It is of course very important to make research very goal oriented and have the students work with all the information creatively and critically as is described in the first article - "know it, assess it, use it, take it apart, put it together and examine it!"

Introducing....

Hi, I'm Nancy and this is my first attempt at a blog - we'll see how it goes. I recently was successful at getting involved with Facebook - thought I should give it a try to keep up with my 12 year old daughter, and I have found that I have been having loads of fun catching up with old friends that have scattered across the country. And I do mean old friends as we were born in '59 and I think we are all thinking back to the good old days about now.....thinking about how really YOUNG we still all feel.

So, with that in mind, I thought it was about time I embark on a career which will fulfill me and give back (hopefully) something positive. I think I have learned a lot that will be worthwhile to the next generation. Even though this technology is really cool - nothing replaces good ol'fashioned values! And, a joy of life that is based in many great years full of experiences from living all across the country, jumping out of planes, climbing mountains, diving Jacques Cousteau's famous "Blue Hole" and sailing through the Bermuda Triangle.

On a more practical side, I have worked most of my years in sales, and most recently for large insurance companies in the service sector. So I have experience knowing a little about a lot of different types of companies and industries which is very helpful in relating to students and some of what they will face and need to learn.

I have used technology to a "medium" extent. Within the firms I have worked for Outlook was typically the email we used with company issued Dell laptops, Proxima viewers for .ppt presentations, cell phones for voice and email, etc. I am proud to say that I do have a little Ipod nano to run with(and a chip in my shoe to track my time and distance) and download podcasts to learn from as well. (I'm not so good at keeping all the files well organized though...)

I love photography and finally switched to digital....but the Adobe Photoshop - I probably have only figured out 1/4 of its capabilities....and my little laptop really is on its last legs I think...

In business - any type of "webinars" I was ever required to sit in on were barely able to keep my attention.........Maybe it was the subject matter? SO one of the things I will be interested in hearing about is how to keep an audience's attention, if a presentation is not live....I am excited to hear about all this new technology...