I was unable to attend the chat Sunday night…….I was out of town on a trip and got home late.  However, I did get a chance to read the transcript.  After thinking about PowerPoint Presentations I have viewed in the past, I am in total agreement with Nate that PowerPoint is not the “awesome” tool that it gets so much credit for.  It can be effective if used in the right way, for example, many students enjoy review games created in PowerPoint such as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and “Jeopardy”.  However, can those same things not be created with paper and pen?   I agree, if there is similar software available for free, we should use that instead.  Microsoft products are expensive.

Also, I don’t believe many people learn much from lecture.  When PowerPoint is used in this way, I feel it is useless.  It is a waste for a teacher to just simply type up notes in PowerPoint and read them from the screen.  BORING!  I only see PowerPoint as being useful if it is used in a way that is interactive — either in the form of a game or if the students are creating products.