21St Century Presentations

Incoming students in the fall 2011 freshman class were born in 1993, meaning that many grew up with the Internet, social media, and constant visual stimulus. Research shows that these 21st century learners require more visual (if not video-based) instruction (Prensky (2001) Digital Natives/Digital Immigrants). Further research indicates that all learners have limited short-term memory, but nearly limitless long-term ability to retain information (Mayer, R. E. (2009) Multimedia Learning). Despite knowledge of this research, many instructors present information-heavy lectures devoid of visual/video content. Consequently, the onus remains on students to digest the material and create their own processes for incorporating the material into their long-term memory banks, i.e. actually learn and own the material. What if instructors delivered their content in more engaging and memorable ways? Solutions exist to give engaging presentations that will be retained. We will demonstrate technologies that promote visual instruction, including PowerPoint, Prezi, and Timeline 3D. We will then marry that technology with storytelling concepts distilled from such resources as Beyond Bullet Points, Presentation Zen, and Made to Stick. Attendees will walk away with new concepts on memory and information retention, practical details on how to create powerful presentations, and tips and techniques to use presentation software effectively.