5130: Thoughts on Tufte

The first week's reading for IT5130 was from Edward R. Tufte's Beautiful Evidence. The reading was specifically on The Cognitive Style PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within (pages 1157-185).

I had some trouble reading this article and finding things I could really identify and agree with. For example, at the beginning, Tufte states that PowerPoint is presenter-oriented and not audience-oriented. Now, I can see from his different examples how PP does not present tons of information and how using a PP when there should be a formal scientific report could produce deadly results. But as a high school teacher, I have found PP to be a useful tool. It gives students a break from simply listening to a lecture and taking notes. It can help students who need some visual to help tie information together. I also have them do PP presentations so they can research topics and present them to the class - now these are topics they need to learn about, not be experts on. I see where there are visuals that might be more effective and more engaging for students, but sometimes that is not feasible with the school's technology and budget. I have to say that this tool seems to be effective in my experience and does not seem to detract from the students' learning experience. But I will keep a close eye on this and see how my use of PP could be improved or replaced and what new methods I can use.

Another point I took from this - you cannot be lacking as a presenter. You must have specific points to make and something to say, rather than just taking up time. Now, Tufte does point out that Microsoft holds the monopoly and probably does not have any motivation to make a superior product and can thus blame poor presentations on poor presenters. He says that even good presenters can have a poor PP presentation. I can see where he is coming from, but I also think that it IS possible to have a good PP from a good presenter.

What are those tools that could be used instead of PP? Tufte said over and over that other presentation tools would be better. But I did not really understand what tools and how they might be more effective. I can see where adding a handout to the presentation could help, especially when it contains data and charts. Tufte said that written sentences and reports are definitely better than PP. I guess I struggle with that in the sense that my students already have so much reading to do, and I don't see the value of giving them more to read instead of presenting them with some variety. I suppose that is part of the reason I am in this Masters program, to learn about these more effective tools and how to use them and why they are better.

So it is a lot to think about and ponder. I am looking forward to seeing what is said on the discussion of the reading in class and how others feel about it. I think it has also prepared me to learn a lot in this class and face some challenges to my current thinking and teaching style.