Do you ever get the feeling that you’re being condescended to? I go to a major university…heck, I’ve even made it to my senior year with nary a mishap. Sure, I’m not a biology major or master of brain science. I am merely an education major, but still, it’s gotta be harder than getting into a bar before puberty (which even the most modest of simpletons seems capable of in this college town). Long story short, I can generally manage to wipe myself and make it out of the house without anything showing that shouldn’t be. Why do I need a class that endeavors to teach me the intricacies of Powerpoint?
Here I stroll into a class with the prefix EDT, denoting educational technology; I don’t think I was out of line expecting something relevant like a class about how to turn a bland lesson into a multimedia powerhouse or maybe some way to make content more accessible to a disabled student through modern convenience. Imagine my disappointment when, on the first day, we conclude with adding to our technological repertoire the astounding ability to imbue a soul-less concept map with color! Shocking! Amazing! Can it be true?!? Yes, children…even Satan himself can cross over to the side of good if we just apply a soothing pastel yellow to his harsh exterior.
I’m trying not to be cynical, but it’s hard. The material in this class could be comprehended by anyone with the ability to read and even its most complex concepts could be translated into user-friendly pictograms, digestible even by Neanderthal man.
Maybe this class is approaching education from a different vantage. Perhaps by placing us in a soul-numbing educational environment, the college of education wants to show us how not to teach. This could be a valuable lesson and could even impact our eventual teaching styles…but not if, on the eventual last day of class, every student is dangling from the ceiling, their last sensation being harsh strangulation by a shiny Macintosh G4 mouse cord.
I don’t know Steve, they may not be too out of line with the content. I have to do presentations in my business math class, and the three guys in my group (and seemingly almost everyone else)were amazed at what I could do with Power Point. We even had a little informational session. Slightly scary…
Almost every note I take comes off of a powerpoint slideshow. Didn’t you learn how to do powerpoint in like 3rd grade though?
That’s sorta the (power)point. HAHAHAHA! Shoot me.
Oh, no. Me first. Business Majors: Be happy you don’t go to UA. We have this awful course, business math. We’ve learned about the 5 rules of probability and now we’re working on equation editor in Word. I am soooooooooo bored. I should have gone to a real school…
Yeah, I had to learn PowerPoint for work. Although I already knew it, I learned a few tricks. But that was a little different, I had to make presentations for 100s of people…so just disregard me.
HUH? You confuse me Bradley?