I will try digital blackboard presentations to see how that goes, mainly because research shows that “old-school” teaching methods help the audience retain more information than fancy PowerPoint presentations.
Kind of like this:
I have seen my share of PowerPoint presentations that make me absorb less information than just saying it without visuals. Being taught with visuals and text scribbled on a board on the fly feels much more personal and interactive.
That said, PowerPoint slides have their place. My favorite communicator who uses slides is Steve Jobs; the slides are used as segues or markers, and when a digital picture or animation is used effectively. Here is one of his best:
However, don’t just take my word for it. Thankfully, some smart people have done their homework to prove the point. Here are some excerpts from research done on this topic:
Information retention from PowerPoint and traditional lectures
…use in university lectures has influenced investigations of PowerPoint’s effects on student performance (e.g., overall quiz/exam scores) in comparison to lectures based on overhead projectors, traditional lectures (e.g., “chalk-and-talk”)…
Students retained 15% less information delivered verbally by the lecturer during PowerPoint presentations, but they preferred PowerPoint presentations over traditional presentations.
The purpose was to determine if differences in (a) subjective evaluation; (b) short-term retention of material; and (c) long-term retention of material occurred with the use of static overheads versus computerized, animated PowerPoint for a presentation to medical students.”
“There were no significant differences between the groups on any parameter. Conclusions: In this study, students rated both types of presentation equally and displayed no differences in short- or long-term retention of material.