Tips for Teachers: PowerPoint in the Classroom
Teaching your students about PowerPoint 03 and 07
Have you ever assigned a project that required your students to use PowerPoint? I would guess that you have. Sometimes you get back these awesome presentations with sound, movie clips, hyperlinks, slide transitions, animation, and more. Sometimes you don’t. Now, you can help all of your students gain the skills necessary to create interesting and professional looking PowerPoint presentations. Take your students to the computer lab to look at some of the self-paced tutorials that we have here at GCFLearnFree.org. The students can create a user account to view all of our lessons. Once they have done this, have the students follow the links below for help with their PowerPoint presentations.
For PowerPoint 2003:
- If you click on this link, PP03, then you can look at a whole list of self-paced lessons on how to use PowerPoint 2003. There are even videos that take you through the process, step by step.
- If your students need help with adding Clip Art, send them here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=928
- If they need help adding charts, diagrams or tables then you could view this link: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=929
- If your students need help adding an AutoShape, WordArt, or Hyperlinks send them here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=930
- For help animating slides check out this lesson: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=931
- If you want to add slide transitions, then look at this link for help: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=934
For PowerPoint 2007:
- If you click on this link, PP07, then you will find a list of self-paced lessons that explain how to use PowerPoint 2007. There are is also a quiz you can take under the “Test your knowledge” section.
- If your students need help with adding Clip Art or Pictures, send them here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1456
- If they want to learn how to use WordArt and Shapes, then click here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1461
- For help with adding movies, click here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1464
- You can even add sounds. Learn how to do this here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1465
- Text and objects can be animated easily. Learn how here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1466
- Make professional business presentations with SmartArt illustrations: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1469
- Action Buttons and Hyperlinks can connect your PowerPoint to the web: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/lesson.aspx?id=1470&p=1
- For help figuring out what font size to use, check out this blog and video: http://blog.gcflearnfree.org/2008/10/03/powerpoint-how-to-choose-a-font-size/
While the above links are great classroom tools, I realize that getting a group of students into the computer lab is not always feasible. Here is a tip for getting around it:
- You, the teacher, creates an account
- Go to the lesson links above.
- Click on the “Print” button, in the top right hand corner of the page.
- This will make the entire lesson viewable all at once. You will not have to click through a series of pages.
- Print out the lessons and use them as handouts in class. Our information is copyrighted, but we allow our lessons to be reproduced and used for educational purposes as long as the lessons are not altered or transformed in any way. For more information on our Terms of Use, see http://www.gcflearnfree.org/home/termsofuse.aspx
We also offer online classes for PowerPoint 03 and PowerPoint 07 that offer CEUs upon completion. There are limited seats available for our free classes so getting an entire class signed up at once is unlikely. You could have your students sign up to take a class on their own time and show you their certificate of completion for extra credit.
These classes can benefit you, the teacher, even more! Our classes offer CEUs which can be applied to teacher license renewal in certain states. Just check with your Department of Public Instruction to see if you can use our CEUs in your state. If you find out that you can use them, leave a post on the blog and let us know! Make sure to check back frequently because I will be writing more articles about how you can use our site in the classroom!
This site is a wonderful resource for our students in a variety of settings across the curriculum. One of the teachers I shared the site with is looking into some of the life skills materials for a special needs class.
Thank you.
I have worked for a number of years in Adult Basic Education and I can’t think of a more valuable ‘free’ resource. I am currently taking the course on PowerPoint, and adter that, WORD and ACCESS. Thank you so much!
Dermot Rodgers
San Diego, CA
I think your website is so very well done. Crystal clear explanations, up-to-date information, written at an easy reading level for all learners… Thank you so much! I came to this site today after not seeing it for about 5 years, and I’m SO GLAD you’re still around. Keep up the good work!
ur website is mind boggling! brilliant short-cut methods ,easy learning steps & awesome self-paced tutorials. i really like it……
Your lessons are very good and very user-friendly. They are excellent in design and delivery. I would recommend the courses to anyone who’s computer literate and want to learn more about computer/software courses.
John Turner
1/01/10
ur website is mind boggling! brilliant short-cut methods ,easy learning steps & awesome self-paced tutorials. i really like it…… have worked for a number of years in Adult Basic Education and I can’t think of a more valuable ‘free’ resource. I am currently taking the course on PowerPoint, and adter that, WORD and ACCESS. Thank you so much!
From usman……
tq ..this site is very meaningfull to me..i use this site to teach my student..superb..tq very much
it was to good i realy like it
Awesome site! Unfortunately, I have a question regarding PowerPoint and I can’t seem to find the answer in the Tutorial. Sorry, but I am not all that computer literate [senior citizen.] I need to project my presentation onto a film screen, as opposed to a computer screen….How do I do that? In the past, I have always had someone to assist and all I needed to do was to hand them the CD. Now, I have a situation where I will be on my own.
Thanks so much…Hoping for a prompt response as I only have a week to figure this out.
Regards,
Well, there are a few options. You will either need a computer hooked up to a video projector, or you may be able to export the presentation to a dvd. If the computer is hooked up to the projector, then you can put the presentation on a usb drive or cd. As for exporting the powerpoint presentation to a dvd – that is a little more involved, search on the internet for powerpoint to dvd and you should find some information.
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