Learning By Listening - USA Today

The accessibility of information has been quite a hot topic in education since schools first began getting on the Net. The newest piece to this technological marvel is transportation. With a "right-click" and a "save as" so much of our informational world can go with us.

I'm glad to see that listening to books can help a student become interested in reading. I'm just afraid that it will become an option for those students who "struggle" with reading and are given the book on CD as a modification, rather than have them learn to read. It's possible and don't think someone won't suggest it sometime soon as some sort of compromise. I personally love books on CD for long trips, but not so much as a learning tool; a promotional tool, yes.

Combining this article with any others about academic podcasting and you have potential for some real change in the movement of information. A large concern with it all is the fact that it can not be controlled. Where, how and when they listen to the material can have a large success on retention and comprehension.

"You just need to ask intelligent questions, and you can get answers anytime, anywhere, in real time," Taylor said. "Education becomes no longer a fact-based learning process; it's search-based, cognitive. It's kind of like what happened to math skills with the calculator." I think this is the real essence of where education is headed and this is where educational technology should be playing a leading role.

The Dark Side of PowerPoint

I believe that Tufte has done a great job at pointing out the limitations of this program as well as shown appreciation for true understanding and praising quality over quantity. And by the way, why is it that if no one likes being read everything that's on the screen behind the presenter, why do people keep doing it?!

As we continue to gain access to cheap and instant information, we must realize that it is only natural for us to begin to devalue it. Powerpoint does a terrific job at showing how little we care about the information we present. Just like faster computers make people more impatient (strange huh?) the more ways create to present information, the worse it gets.

I've actually read the full version of this reading (this seemed to be the summary that we read), and it shows in great detail the value of numbers and charts; their objectiveness and clarity being their overwhelming strength.

By continuing to use PowerPoint in the presentations that we call "academic projects", we are creating an army of marketers, not intellectuals. The more bells and whistles use to present information will mean a desensitizing to the information and the intolerance of effecient and meaningful information.

There will always be boring and horrible presentations. Technology can not be the solution. As Tufte pointed out, it is not the format that makes for an uninteresting presentation, but the data and the presenter who make the biggest impact. This is the same timeless reason that some teachers can make any subject fun and exciting and others can ruin even the most interesting topics for their students.

People (not just teachers) need to be taught the limitations of technology. Just like the overhead was once the Grail of new technology, it still has its uses. As adaptable as "Powerpoint is, it is not only solution to our teaching needs.