Subj : Re: Good examples of programming course lecture notes
To   : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer
From : jan V
Date : Sat Sep 03 2005 08:53 am

> >I'd like to ask if anyone knows of some programming course they've
> >taken or are taking where the use of slides/powerpoint was really
> >effective.
>
> I don't think slides belong in the classroom. They are the fastest way
> to put students to sleep.
>
> They require low lights which make people drowsy and make note-taking
> harder.

Maybe for conventional slides you may have a point, but for PowerPoint-type
presentations projected with a modern projector, the whole show can be done
in normal indoor light.

> The slide just competes with the lecturer for attention. The slide
> keeps giving away the punchline.

The slides are there to summarize what the lecturer/trainer says. The slides
are the skeletal framework of the course. Printouts of the slides can be
taken home so that the student can go over the presentation again, and the
slides will trigger recall of much that was said.

> Slides are for entertaining and selling hypnotically not for informing.

Ah well Roedy, I guess everyone falls in the trap of writing nonsense on
c.l.j.p... even you. For the record I used to be in the Java training
business. Students invariably gave glowing feedback at the end of the 5-day
course... and I can assure you nobody became drowsy in my classes.

.