Powerpoint lessons: do students read or listen?

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Cover illustration by Valeria Sechi
PDF (Italian)
Published: Dec 31, 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17471/2499-4324/89
Keywords:
PowerPoint, Redundancy, Paraphrase, Conciseness, Ease of processing, Educational Technology, Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL),

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Elena Bortolotti
Dipartimento Studi Umanistici, Università di Trieste, Trieste
Gisella Paoletti
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Trieste
Francesca Zanon
Dipartimento Studi Umanistici, Università di Udine, Udine

Abstract

This paper describes a research study investigating the use of PowerPoint presentations as part of university lectures. It examines slide presentations of three different types: brief, bulleted slides with lengthy oral explanation from the lecturer; slide text read out aloud (redundancy); paraphrasing of slide text. The analysis focused on students’ processing of the oral and written sources. The results indicated that bulleted slides plus commentary is the form that makes optimal use of written and oral channels, generating an impression of ease and usefulness in double processing.

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 21 No. 3 (2013): TD60 - General Issue On Educational Technology
Section
Articles - Special Issue

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