PowerPoint for learning puposes

When spending the time and experimenting with PowerPoint as a learning tool. I have discovered that it is much more than just an image in the background during an oral presentation. In an aim to develop my own skills, I have analysed Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats as a learning tool and instead of traditionally presenting this in front of peers which can be extremely nerve racking, I have uploaded  my own recorded audio which can be synchronised in time with each slide on the PowerPoint. This tool is great for the classroom in this way as students can still demonstrate their knowledge orally with being overwhelmed by the fears of confronting presentations.

Here is my example of a ppt which goes beyond standard visuals as you present;
Upload failed......
Oh no...here we go again...i cannot seem to upload this ppt on to the blog. This has become a definent situation teachers need to consider when they plan their learning design.
Once again, I will try again later......
.....After endless attempts, I cannot seem to be upload the powerpoint that has audio as part of the presentation. I have linked it to here on slideshare, however, audio is still not working there too. Therefore, I added my speech notes to the bottom of each slide.

Just a few weeks ago in a year 5 classroom, I was required to deliver a technology task which involved the analysis and design of a magazine cover page. In accordance with the curriculum, the use of ICTs was required. Following the technology and design process, my class investigated a variety of different magazine covers and compared their similarities and differences in the classroom. Then we brainstormed and ideated our own version of an effective magazine cover which was suited to year a year five audience. After numerous drafts and shared constructive feedback about each students draft design, the class then designed their final product using PowerPoint.

In this case, it was my choice to use PowerPoint as a whole class tool because being in a school environment we may have had difficulties accessing variable web tools available through a secure school intranet service. As a result of the learning outcome, it was overwhelming to see the experience of year five students work on PowerPoint software. They were obviously very experienced with this tool. However, there experience had clearly demonstrated they were used to using this tool as a PowerPoint presentation type tool. I had taken a lot of time to break students away from this style of thinking and becoming more use to the available tools to modify and create just one page, ie, a magazine cover page, not a presentation. This is my example of a magazine cover design that I had designed to engage students. The learning outcomes had incorporated critical multimodal literacy skills into the technology design.
My example model for the class I taught;

Overall, I have found that PowerPoint is a very diverse tool that applicable to learner's from all intelligences and as an added bonus, it is accessible to everyone who has a computer.