Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The Death of PowerPoint

http://your.sydneyanglicans.net/mission/missionthinking/the_death_of_powerpoint/

[your.sydneyanglicans.net] 24 Apr 2007--A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald signaling the ‘death’ of PowerPoint has generated a lot of buzz amongst ministers.
I suspect some of this is being driven by a natural resistance to the use of new technology in churches. There is a bit of a ‘told you so’ attitude amongst those who feel use of new media technology is just an expensive fad.

But how does this latest research gel with what educators have been telling Bible teachers in recent years: that people have different learning styles and that the oral sermon is a teaching format that doesn’t hit the mark with all people? Is there still a need for visual aids or worksheets to supplement the sermon?

At this point I thought it important to track down the research that prompted the Sydney Morning Herald article. After reading the research paper, I was also able to ask some clarifying questions of Professor John Sweller who led the research team. Together we’ve drawn some helpful conclusions for the technologically literate preacher.

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