Non-Linear PowerPoint

Many of us are familiar with creating PowerPoint presentations.  They are a great tool for presenting information, but are not generally interactive.  As many PowerPoint articles note, presentations can get bogged down by constant bullet points, a lack of information, flashy graphics and "sales pitch" language. Though helpful to the presenter, PowerPoint slides can be a distraction to the audience. 

However, if you create a Non-Linear PowerPoint, you can allow individuals to interact with the information presented and provides a hands-on feature to the presentation.  Similar to a website, PowerPoint has the capability to connect information via hyperlinks in text or pictures.   This makes PowerPoint less of a distraction, and more of a learning tool for the classroom. 

I created a Non-Linear PowerPoint to teach a lesson on rhyming to young children.  First, I created a PowerPoint presentation to present slides for what a rhyme is and to teach four word families (-at, -an, -ig and -ug).  Then, I created two brief quiz questions regarding the information presented. 

Next, to make the Non-Linear PowerPoint, and thus allow the user to interact with it, I had to switch to "kiosk mode" and create hyperlinks.  I chose to link the first slide to the following four informational slides, so that the user could easily navigate through the slides in whatever order they choose.  Then, I added pictures on each of those pages that linked to either the home page or the quiz.  Next, I created slides as either "Good job!" for a correct quiz answer or "Try again!" for an incorrect answer.  That way, a person could read the information, take the quiz and return to the home page as desired.

Click here to view an attachment of my Non-Linear PowerPoint!

I found it really interesting that PowerPoint was able to be used interactively, as I had never before utilized that option.  Instead of solely presenting information to our students, in a lecture format, this allows teachers to create motivating lessons that get students involved in their own learning.  In this format, students can direct themselves through the lesson by clicking the appropriate text and pictures, then quiz themselves on the information learned.  And the best part is that a Non-Linear PowerPoint can be created for any subject or grade!  I think Non-Linear PowerPoint slides can be useful for my students, despite their young age, because they can manipulate the slides to play a game (they won't know it's a quiz!). Using the SmartBoard with PowerPoint would allow them to click on images to learn a variety of facts, including rhyming!