Introduction
General Mattis, a joint forces commander in the Marine Corps stated that “PowerPoint makes us stupid” (Bumiller, 2010, p.1). Indeed this is a strong sentiment about PowerPoint, but maybe there sits some form of truth in this sentiment. You have to agree with me that computer technology has taken over the world. In every aspect of life, in every profession, computer skills are undoubtedly one of the basic requirements. Does this have any element of truth?
If it is true, then you must have read or at least heard about or used PowerPoint or PowerPoint presentation. PowerPoint computer program is a computer software package that helps in summarization of bulk information for easy understanding when presented to an audience. Have you ever attended a class or a conference where PowerPoint was used by a presenter to pass ideas? Did you grasp the details of the subject that was being presented? With increased conferencing, the adoption of this “shortcut” to present ideas has become a common phenomenon (Bastable, 208).
Culture of laziness
However, PowerPoint has been communized and abused and is not a convincing way to pass ideas. It is earmarked with a lot of negativities and hinders communication in both education and business institutions (Bastable, 208). PowerPoint form of presenting ideas using slides has given birth to a culture of laziness. I remember an engineering student in our college complaining that their lecturer was using slides to teach engineering mathematics.
It is not good to use PowerPoint to present complex units in colleges. Lectures however, take advantage of PowerPoint to shorten these units so that they can get more time to attend to their private work. Complex organizational financial and accounting reports need to be presented in an elaborate and explicit manner for the audience to understand them. Complex subjects in academic needs to be presented as they appear. However, summarizing of information more so in real and life sciences as part of embracing ‘technology’ has become common. It’s common to find lectures in class lecturing using slides (Gayle, 2006).
People with special needs in the society
Another question about PowerPoint concerns people with special needs in the society. If their needs are considered when the use of PowerPoint to communicate is addressed is a subject to be debated. However, it is quite difficult to fulfill the needs of the blind when PowerPoint is used to present visual information. PowerPoint uses visual aids to put across ideas. The ideas are summarized; hence, if a person is visually impaired; he or she is bound to be locked out of the presentation unless the needs of the person are addressed which is very rare. There has developed a culture of adopting in management. This comes with costs to be met. For PowerPoint to be used, several equipment needs to be purchased. They include the projector and a laptop. The equipment is expensive for small institutions (Arvidson, 2008).
Conclusion
PowerPoint however, is an enjoyable and simplest way of presenting ideas. It saves time when PowerPoint is used to present long topics. The topic is summarized in such a manner that one is able to tackle very many things in one paper. Visual aids play a big role in passing information, thus PowerPoint is key here. As I noted above, PowerPoint has been misused and it is very important to be very careful when using PowerPoint. To avoid its misuse, a greater consideration on the subject being presented has to be emphasized. PowerPoint needs not to be used as a time – saving tool of communication.
References
Arvidson, P. S. (2008). Teaching nonmajors: Advice for liberal arts professors. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Bastable, S. B. (2008). Nurse as educator: Principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett.
Bumiller, E. (2008). We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint: The New York Times.
Gayle, B. M. (2006). Classroom communication and instructional processes: advances through meta-analysis. Mahwah, New Jersey. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.