Five ways to live without PowerPoint®

By Dr. Joel F. Shults
Chief, Adams State College Police Department

Yes, Virginia, there is training without pretty pictures projected on the wall or outlines cart-wheeling across the screen. PowerPoint® is here to stay but I want to consider a simpler time when a broken projector bulb or a missing USB cord didn’t shut down a training day. Here are five tips for rejuvenating the low-tech classroom:

1. Love your class and your subject.
Your passion carries more weight than any magical effect of presentation software. If you are an animated learner your enthusiasm for discovery will be contagious. You probably wouldn’t be in front of your students if you didn’t have a bit of an ego along with your expertise. Share the spotlight with your topic and your learners. The class will love you for it. Remind the class that they are heroes, that you are privileged to be sharing with them, and that you are looking forward to learning along with them.

Hint: A number of my former students have been killed in the line of duty. I remember that whenever I teach. When you face an audience of police officers – yes even academy recruits – remember that you are facing an amazing group of people. Once they know they are important to you, they will let you be important to them.

2. Outline your course in 15 minute segments.
The modern American human can stay on task for about 12 minutes. Change pace frequently even if it’s just pausing to ask for questions, showing a video clip, making reference to a handout, or switching your speaking position. Think in terms of smaller segments to focus your outline on your most important points. It’s not realistic to think everything in your three ring binder is of equal value or that all of your presentation will be retained equally by the audience. Consider what it is you really want your students to know in the days or weeks ahead and concentrate on that.

Hint: When you ask for questions, count slowly to ten and look out at your students before moving on. Your silence and attention will invite questions and comments.

3. Engage multiple senses.
Have learners vocalize, socialize, analyze, write, role play, stand up, touch something, sing, discuss – anything in addition to sitting, watching, and listening. This will multiply significantly their grasp of the material you’re presenting. The more connections the brain makes with the subject matter the greater the retention of the material will be. The most significant limitation of presentation software is that only the senses of sight and hearing are engaged. Repetition is a key element of memory. Redundancy can be in how you present as well as what you present.

Hint: Avoid passive handouts. Make your learners listen or take their own notes. When learners have to translate your ideas into their own shorthand they engage the material analytically and physically.

4. Frequently explore your learner’s engagement with the material.
Your student’s brain has three basic sorting areas. One is for interesting stuff, trivia, and random facts. This area looks like my garage – the one that has no room for my car – where there are tools that I know I have but may or may not be able to find when I need them. The second area is a temporary bin for stuff that is going to be used right away but only once. It contains disposable items and is emptied frequently. The third area is the mental warehouse - a vast network of boxes, drawers, shelves, and closets. It holds all the things that the brain knows it will need and use fairly often. This is where you want your material to go.

If your topic and information is abstract or seems irrelevant to the learner, then it will either go into the heap of random things in the garage or in the temporary bin to be tossed out as soon as the test is over. If the learner makes a connection between what you are teaching and what is already in the mental warehouse, the student gives the information valuable shelf space. The connection may be to a previous experience, an emotion, a social context, or an intellectual concept already in use. The learner has to find a hook on which to hang the new knowledge. Disciplined learners look for this hook on their own.

Hint: A good way to help learners connect with the material is to encourage them to ask questions and share experiences. You can add war stories, case studies, and “what if” questions to help make abstract concepts more concrete.

5. Go beyond brief introductions with learners.
The more you know your students and the more they know each other, the higher the social commitment to the class will be. Remember that you are not the only one in the room with knowledge to share. Enhancing the social experience of your learners will add dramatically to their engagement and retention of the material. Consider different seating arrangements where possible. Having everybody pointed at the instructor gives the subtle message that the teacher is the only important person in the room. After decades of conditioning, the traditional classroom setup is a behavioral cue to any elementary school graduate to sit down, shut up, and tune out.

Hint: If your learners are reluctant to participate simply acknowledge that you hate group projects and touchy-feely stuff too! They’ll warm up eventually.

If you are a PowerPoint® addict just relax, you can make your withdrawal slow and painless over time. Injecting any of these ideas can reduce your dependence on technical glitz and help you reconnect with the humans you’re teaching. You don’t need a USB cord for that connection.

Joel Shults currently serves as Chief of Police at Adams State College in Colorado. He can be reached through his website at www.joelshults.com or jshults@joelshults.com.

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