Educational PowerPoint

With low quality photos, irritating colour combinations, and text swirling and darting across the screen, it can be painful to sit through a PowerPoint presentation. But done well, PowerPoint can be a very useful educational tool.


In Academic Foundations we started the Media Development Project to help instructors learn how to use PowerPoint effectively and educationally. In terms of design, there are three main concepts that need attention.

1. Instructional Design
• Align to a specific learning outcome for a specific course
• Limit the amount of information to be covered
• Do more than present information - get learners thinking and applying skills
• Ensure the sequence of slides is logical for the topic
• Ensure all visuals are educational, not decorative

2. Visual Design
• Choose colours for contrast that is easy on the eyes
• Use a font that is easy to read
• Be generous with white space
• Be consistent in style and colour throughout the presentation
• Use high-quality, high-resolution images
• Keep images simple
• Ensure that you have the right to use the images you choose
• Use animation and images for effect, not decoration
• Minimize text

3. Presentation Design
• Have a beginning, middle, and end
• Have only one idea per slide
• Write clear and adequate notes in the Speaker Notes section
• Understand that this is not a stand-alone resource; the presenter needs to be equally prepared

There is a lot to consider for each of these three concepts. Watch this blog for more detailed posts about each one.

For an entertaining overview of everything not to do, check out this video: Life After Death by PowerPoint.

PD in Your Inbox

Keeping up with technology

Are you interested in new technology skills, but don’t have time for scheduled workshops? What if the lessons arrived in your inbox and you could do them at a time of your own choosing?

It’s not always easy to find time for professional development, but with a brand new curriculum there is a need for PD. Working with Andy and Marjorie in the Teaching and Learning Enhancement (TLE) department of the LLC, this term we are offering all AcPrep Reading instructors “PD in Your Inbox” opportunities. This PD is designed as mini-assignments that are aligned to specific learning outcomes in the new Reading curriculum. Each assignment comes with specific instructions, learning handouts, a marking rubric, and a deadline. Instructors have 1 - 2 weeks to fit in the 10-30 minutes necessary to complete the assignment and submit it to the TLE for feedback.

We have had three mini-assignments to date, allowing us to practice some the digital literacy skills that form part of the Reading 2, Reading 3 and the Reading 4 courses. The feedback from instructors has been positive so far, noting the importance of increasing students’ digital literacy skills, the flexibility of this form of PD, and the opportunity to learn skills beyond the boundaries of the mini-assignment.

TIP #1 - Naming Files

The TLE provided individual feedback and also let us know of overall trends in our abilities. Our number one error was not being specific enough when naming our files, which could lead to difficulties in finding our files later. This motivated us to look closer at our file naming habits and to implement file naming conventions for all AcPrep Reading course files. Following the conventions used in the Academic Upgrading courses, we took time on our meeting day in June to reorganize our files and folders on the P: drive. You can get an explanation of our system in this file.

Reading Curriculum Pilot

Since last September we have been working on redesigning the curriculum for all eight reading and writing classes in AcPrep, and we started the piloting of the new reading program this spring term. One of the new aspects of the curriculum is a dedicated part on Digital Literacy, which currently focuses on ensuring students have adequate technology skills and are able to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, use email, and effectively search the internet. A Digital Citizenship component, which focuses on skills beyond technology use, is to be added in the future.

Before we can require this from our learners, we need to ensure that instructors have confidence in their own skills and their ability to teach technology skills along with the reading and writing content skills. The “PD in Your Inbox” series is part of pilot phase for the new curriculum. The TLE has also provided one group workshop, a handout on Tips for Teaching and Troubleshooting in a Computer Lab, and has invited all AcPrep instructors to contact them for one-on-one help in any aspect of teaching technology.

Leadership Academy Part 3: Looking Out the Window

Kinnear Centre - Banff Centre

I enjoyed the Leadership Academy at Banff but I am glad to be back among colleagues and friends at Bow Valley College.  I am even more glad to be back with my family.  I have come back with a renewed passion for the work I do and I would like the opportunity to share with you this renewed passion in hopes that you too may feel inspired.  Over the next few weeks, I will share some interesting ideas I gleaned from the Academy in building an informal leadership academy of our own.  I do so because I believe we are all leaders and the need for us to lead in what we do has never been greater.


At Banff, I certainly was fortunate to look out some beautiful windows at the most extraordinary landscape in the universe.  Yet, the most revealing window I looked through was my own shared view of the world.  The Leadership Academy quickly started off with an awareness exercise, the Johari Window, as a precursor to thinking about leadership.  I will admit I did not see the connection.  We answered the twenty question exercise, unawares of the intent of the exercise, totalled our scores in two unlabelled categories, and then plotted our results on a diagram in the shape of a window.  We drew one vertical line at the score for the first category and a horizontal line for the second category in the middle of this window.  


Once complete, we reconvened as a large group of 60 to learn what the window and our results meant.  The Johari Window divides into four quadrants based on the intersection of our own personal horizontal and vertical line.  The upper-left quadrant was our OPEN window pane indicating how much is known to our self and to others.  The upper-right quadrant was our BLIND spot indicating how much others know about us that we do not likely know about ourselves.  The bottom-left quadrant reveals what is HIDDEN, what we knew about ourselves but have not disclosed to others.  The bottom-right quadrant reflected the UNKNOWN, what we and others did know about our personal selves.  


In small groups at round tables, we shared our windows and we then discussed, quite actively, how this related to leadership. We observed that everyone's Johari Window was quite different, as it should be.  We concluded that growing as leaders meant seeking feedback to expand our OPEN window pane and shrink our BLIND area, and learn about ourselves.  We also noted that we may need to disclose more about ourselves in terms of behavioural styles or expectations, but not fully reveal all of our "self" as somethings must remain private.  The Unknown area should shrink but will never disappear.  And as it shrinks we can enter into meetings and group projects with a healthier, stronger and lasting approach.  Conflicts need not be about a lack of understanding.


Having done the exercise with the group, I reflected that as a participant I expected to grow in leadership so should everyone, especially the people with which I work.  That does not mean the Johari Window is the solution, but everyone should seek further awareness of themselves and others as growing leaders, but why not give it a try if only to start thinking about awareness and how to encourage it in others.


Thinking about Johari Windows, I came to work today on the bus.  As we were nearing the college bus stop, I was standing by the bus driver, and we started a conversation.  She had been flustered by this being a new route and having just returned to work.  We had a few laughs.  She shared that she was hoping for nice fall this year so she could do more fishing.  As I stepped off the bus, I thanked her for the ride, wished her a good long weekend and a pleasant fall.  And as I walked to the college doors, I thought that it was amazing how much I learned about her in such a brief conversation that wasn't about much and did not have an agenda.  I learned how much I like those conversations.  My OPEN window expanded even if only by a small degree.