Title: Bulletproof from delivery to interactivity when teaching with PowerPoint

Authors: Dirk Nicolas Wagner

Addresses: Faculty for Business Economics & Management, Karlshochschule International University, Karlstr. 36-38, D-76133 Karlsruhe, Germany

Abstract: PowerPoint slideware is one of the dominant tools in higher education. During more than two decades of pervasive use, little effort has been made to innovate and refrain from default slides and templates. This paper elucidates on how the effective use of PowerPoint can facilitate improved educational practices. Supported by the relevant empirical evidence, it is concluded that the use of the slideware goes hand in hand with little reflective deployment, also in education. On the basis of the literature, relevant principles of 'how to do' slides and 'what to do with' slides are derived. As these are insufficient to overcome the criticism that presentation 'delivery' regularly remains a one-way street, results from an explorative workshop are presented which allow for innovative, constructivist didactics in interactive sessions with PowerPoint. To provide a platform for further innovation, the findings are structured according to the cognitive domain of Bloom's taxonomy.

Keywords: PowerPoint; presentation skills; constructivist didactics; interactive lectures; Bloom's taxonomy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIE.2017.086470

International Journal of Innovation in Education, 2017 Vol.4 No.1, pp.16 - 31

Received: 27 Sep 2016
Accepted: 29 May 2017
Published online: 10 Sep 2017 *

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