I am a Middle-school Science educator who has been using Powerpoint in a way that is quite different from most users. I have created 19 units in Life, Earth, and Physical Science for middle-level students. The units use incredibly engaging and interactive Powerpoint slideshows that range from 1000 slides to more than 2600 per unit. Only one piece of new information is presented per slide, color coded text and slides are used, set-up of experiments are explained with visuals, questions, review opportunities, and much more. A bundled homework package, and unit notes chronologically follow the slideshow. My students are really doing well in High School after using these units. The website is http://sciencepowerpoint.com/index.html and I would love to hear your feedback. If you are interested in seeing a unit in more detail please email me and I will send you one or more. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Ryan Murphy
http://www.sciencepowerpoint@gmail.com

Thank you for linking to my PowerPoint lessons (Chalkbored Chemistry PowerPoints). One correction: you said, “These folks show some of the promise in this medium”, but it’s just me – one folk . I developed those lessons over a seven-year period as a high school chemistry teacher. I don’t teach chemistry anymore. I posted my lessons to the Internet because I didn’t want that work to go to waste. Plus, too often teachers are not given the kind of quality resources they need to succeed in the classroom. I like the idea that thousands of teachers and students are benefiting from my lessons.

Having recently discovered your blog, I have to say that I am impressed with the quantity and quality of your entries. I appreciate the research that goes into each entry and your candid analysis of issues. For example, your WolfQuest review (Oct. 2) was intriguing. I haven’t used this software, so I can’t comment on it specifically. It sounds like other educational titles that I have seen. Too often, we give a free pass to educational software, allowing effort to trump effectiveness. I also enjoyed your blog entry about students using two mice (Aug. 19). What a great idea – simple, yet elegant. This is the kind of application that would not normally arise outside of education but that should exist.

Keep up the good work,
Jeremy

You are most welcome. I just visited your chemistry site and it is also great. I really like the PowerPoint describing the Golf Ball Lab.

Keep up the great work at Normal Community High School!

Peter

Thanks for including our resource in your blog. We very much appreciate your positive comments. Most of the work has been done on the Chemistry website at http://www.unit5.org/chemistry . It has only been in the last two years that we’ve began our biology (www.unit5.org/biology ) and physics (www.unit5.org/physics ) sites.

Have a Great New Year!

Jeff Christopherson