How to use PowerPoint Presentations for Successful Learning?

A PowerPoint (PP) is a presentation program based on slide delivery developed by Microsoft Corporation. PowerPoint presentations are frequently used in the sphere of education. That is why it can be a good idea to have a professional PowerPoint presentation writer at hand and seek help when you need it if you do not know how to use PowerPoint in education. PowerPoint is an effective tool for learning many teachers use. The major benefit of such presentations is that they give you an opportunity to add visual content supported with multimedia.

There are many purposes of why you may use PowerPoint in education. First, you may use it as a tool to deliver your findings in some research. Teachers usually ask students to develop presentations for displaying results of dissertations or capstone projects. Second, you may use PowerPoint to present new material. It is always better to explain something when you have its visual representation. Finally, businesses benefit from presentations as any data or material is better presented when being broken into shorter and smaller pieces. It may help comprehend information better and faster.

Using a PowerPoint presentation as a learning tool, you need to learn some basic rules and principles of how it works. It is important to remember that any tool can both help you learn and slow down your learning process if you do not know how to use it properly. Therefore, if you read the information below, it will help you to use PowerPoint presentations in your studies and work, achieving greater heights. 

Why Use PowerPoint

There are many reasons why you can use PowerPoint in your daily practice. As a student, you can refer to this tool as an additional visualization of your findings and/or other materials when you make presentations in front of the class. You can use blackboards or whiteboards to make some notes during your presentations but they will not work as effectively as PowerPoint. The tool has a number of features that make your learning easier. Moreover, you may use presentations not only in physical offline classes but also for online communication. You can easily send the material to other peers and speak to them being aware that they have your presentation at hand. 

You may create graphics in MS Word but the PowerPoint tool has all the necessary options that will help you develop a better graph. Many programs can help you to develop posters. However, you can easily make the one in this program.

When you use this tool, you can combine text and visuals. An additional function of animating your material can make the info you present more interesting. 

Basic functions of Power Point

If you do not know how to use PowerPoint presentations, you need to look into this question. Read the information below. You will open a new world in your learning process. 

First, a PowerPoint consists of slides, not pages as in MS Word. Every slide is dynamic as it can present several objects simultaneously: your text, images, and graphs. You may use animation to complement images or text. Still, you need to make sure that the slide is visually apparent and easy to comprehend.

Next, you can add sound and video to your slides. You may add a voice record to your entire presentation or some short recording to separate slides only. You can combine text with videos and images. It is for you to decide what options to choose. 

One more advantage of this tool is that you can use it distantly. Giving a presentation in front of a large audience, you do not need to be near the computer. Just change the slides of your presentation remotely. 

A presentation can be used to provide an outline of your speech. Thus, you don’t need to write anything on the board. More so, instead of printing out the classroom worksheets, you may use the PP presentation. Just present the problem on the first slide and provide an analogous problem on the second slide, asking students to solve it.  

Powerpoint “Toolkit”

PowerPoint has a wide range of tools you may use in the learning process. Those who can perfectly operate this tool make great strides. 

• PowerPoint provides a perfect visual aid. For instance, you may develop slides with the components of a lesson and add some graphs, images, photos, and tables. You may add some video content on a slide and allow the audience to watch it. You may add some text on a slide to stress some major ideas. Yet, do not write too much as it may distract attention and be perceived as something boring. It is better to present a graph on a slide and explain it orally. No need to add a textual explanation as it will spoil the impression from your presentation. Keep text to a minimum on your presentation. Use it as a visual aid only.
• PP animation is a perfect means of attracting attention. There is a possibility to provide animated content on PowerPoint slides. Just click the Add Animation button on the menu and you will see some possible options. There is a variety of ways how you may add animation to your content. You may use one of the following options making the text or image appear, fade, wheel, fly-in, wipe, float in, zoom, swivel, bounce, etc. When adding effects to your presentation make sure that they complement your content. If you add too many different animations, you risk confusing the audience who may fail to follow your content being distracted by your visuals.
• You can use PowerPoint as a video editor. It can be an option if you need to edit a video but you do not have any other variant at the moment. You may insert the video

on several slides, trim it choosing the parts you need, and further export the obtained result as a new video. You may add animated transitions between slides if needed. 

• PowerPoint has a range of different formatting options. You may duplicate a slide or copy the format of one element and paste it into several other elements. Thus, you need to find the button Format Painter. Then, one by one, choose the elements to which you want to apply the formatting. Having formatted the chosen items, press the Esc button to turn off this function.
• Morph animation allows animating some visual text. It may help you attract attention to some particular ideas. It is easy to animate some visuals. Just duplicate the slide, shift the chosen objects to their next position, and click Morph animation.

Conclusion

Technology helps to make the learning process better and more efficient. Today, students in colleges and universities have the opportunities their peers did not have 50 years ago. PowerPoint is a perfect tool for learning and teaching as it helps visualize the material, complementing complex concepts with images and videos. Many students face difficulties perceiving information through lectures but they remember it much better when they see it.

If you are a student, PowerPoint usage can be a part of your presentation in front of the class. Support your report with a visual component, and you will see that attention to your presentation will be higher than you expect. If you are a teacher, you may help the learners to stay focused during your classes. Students will learn better and remember information faster if you use visualization when discussing new material. You have the advantage of using technology. Take this chance and enhance the learning processes by applying technology in the educational process.