8 ms·

Here is a perfect example: John Carmack does a great job of rocking the white-board in this wonderful presentation. He starts out with a tablet, and uses that t

by Arjuna 13y ago

Here is a perfect example: John Carmack does a great job of rocking the white-board in this wonderful presentation. He starts out with a tablet, and uses that to track his discussion points, then hits a deep-dive on the white-board at approximately 00:18:45. I find this style absolutely engaging. Presentation software like PowerPoint has its place, but can make it all-too-easy to move through material too quickly. On the other hand, actually drawing and writing things out while discussing the topic slows things down a bit, allowing the audience to engage and understand the topic at a more learning-friendly pace. I personally find this "show me don't tell me" style of white-board presentation refreshing and conducive to my understanding of the topic. The Physics of Light and Rendering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG4QuTe8aUw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG4QuTe8aUw

japhyr 13y ago
I like the numberphile series on youtube. I showed one in class where he explains how some infinities are bigger than others. My non-math-inclined students were able to follow it by watching several times, because they could see the entire process. They re-created the process themselves, rather than just trying to digest an explanation of an already-completed proof/ demonstration. Infinity is bigger than you think http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvOZm0d4H0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvOZm0d4H0
- mcphilip 13y ago
  I love Numberphile too and recently stumbled on Computerphile. The style is the same for both shows -- a passionate person explaining something reasonably complex. For instance, I like Computerphile's video on the evolution of character encoding and why UTF was developed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MijmeoH9LT4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MijmeoH9LT4
timr 13y ago
Agreed, a thousand times over. I lived through the transition from chalkboard + transparency classrooms (high school) to whiteboard classrooms (college) to powerpoint classrooms (grad school). I've also taught with all three. The real shock for me came later in grad school, when the undergrads (these were all upperclassmen) all basically expected that you'd provide them with the printouts of your slides, and therefore did nothing in class. They'd sit there, diddle on their laptops or phones, and then get cranky and exasperated when you'd tell them, "no, sorry...there are no slides. you have to take notes." Learning is simply better when you have to write things down. You're engaging your eyes, your ears and your brain...and you're well aware when you're goofing off. I wish colleges would ban powerpoint in the classroom, but since powerpoint is an epic crutch for the lecturer as well, I have my doubts that it will ever happen....
- dsrguru 13y ago
  > Learning is simply better when you have to write things down. I disagree. Learning is better when you aren't able to diddle on your laptop or phone, and having to write things down strongly encourages you not to do those things, but the actual act of writing things down forces you to focus on quickly copying text, which hugely impairs your ability to internalize what was said. Some people's learning styles might make that less of a problem (i.e. so-called auditory learners might be able to internalize what's being said nearly at the speed it's spoken), but for those of us who need to translate what we hear into our own mental language, constant note-taking substantially hampers the learning process. The ideal for me is to preview the notes of a lecture before it's given a la Khan Academy, pay full attention during the lecture, occasionally jot down a keyword to trigger the memory of a thought I had during the lecture, and if I didn't have the opportunity to preview the lecture notes then I'll want to be able to access them afterwards to look up anything I don't remember. Edit: Corrective upvote because you didn't say anything that harms the discussion.
  - bjelkeman-again 13y ago
    Different people have different learning styles. I often would draw pictures that represent what the lecturer would be saying. Which helps me memorising. It would have been perfect if I then had had an audio recording pen, which associates the doodle with the recording, but I got that after it stopped going to lectures.
  - testrun 13y ago
    What is a corrective upvote and who gives it to you?
    - tinco 13y ago
      It's when you make a comment that makes the parents position seem silly, you up vote the parent to correct for people downvoting parent because they strongly agree with your comment.
  - wiredfool 13y ago
iwwr 13y ago
This is great, thanks for the link.
baddox 13y ago
It seems to me that your example has nothing to do with PowerPoint and everything to do with the fact that it's John. Effing. Carmack. giving the presentation. I'm sure he could give a great presentation using only PowerPoint, and I'm sure there are thousands of people who couldn't give an enjoyable presentation with any technology or medium.

by Arjuna 13y ago

japhyr 13y ago

I like the numberphile series on youtube. I showed one in class where he explains how some infinities are bigger than others. My non-math-inclined students were able to follow it by watching several times, because they could see the entire process. They re-created the process themselves, rather than just trying to digest an explanation of an already-completed proof/ demonstration. Infinity is bigger than you think http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvOZm0d4H0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvOZm0d4H0

mcphilip 13y ago
I love Numberphile too and recently stumbled on Computerphile. The style is the same for both shows -- a passionate person explaining something reasonably complex. For instance, I like Computerphile's video on the evolution of character encoding and why UTF was developed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MijmeoH9LT4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MijmeoH9LT4

timr 13y ago

Agreed, a thousand times over. I lived through the transition from chalkboard + transparency classrooms (high school) to whiteboard classrooms (college) to powerpoint classrooms (grad school). I've also taught with all three. The real shock for me came later in grad school, when the undergrads (these were all upperclassmen) all basically expected that you'd provide them with the printouts of your slides, and therefore did nothing in class. They'd sit there, diddle on their laptops or phones, and then get cranky and exasperated when you'd tell them, "no, sorry...there are no slides. you have to take notes." Learning is simply better when you have to write things down. You're engaging your eyes, your ears and your brain...and you're well aware when you're goofing off. I wish colleges would ban powerpoint in the classroom, but since powerpoint is an epic crutch for the lecturer as well, I have my doubts that it will ever happen....

dsrguru 13y ago
> Learning is simply better when you have to write things down. I disagree. Learning is better when you aren't able to diddle on your laptop or phone, and having to write things down strongly encourages you not to do those things, but the actual act of writing things down forces you to focus on quickly copying text, which hugely impairs your ability to internalize what was said. Some people's learning styles might make that less of a problem (i.e. so-called auditory learners might be able to internalize what's being said nearly at the speed it's spoken), but for those of us who need to translate what we hear into our own mental language, constant note-taking substantially hampers the learning process. The ideal for me is to preview the notes of a lecture before it's given a la Khan Academy, pay full attention during the lecture, occasionally jot down a keyword to trigger the memory of a thought I had during the lecture, and if I didn't have the opportunity to preview the lecture notes then I'll want to be able to access them afterwards to look up anything I don't remember. Edit: Corrective upvote because you didn't say anything that harms the discussion.
- bjelkeman-again 13y ago
  Different people have different learning styles. I often would draw pictures that represent what the lecturer would be saying. Which helps me memorising. It would have been perfect if I then had had an audio recording pen, which associates the doodle with the recording, but I got that after it stopped going to lectures.
- testrun 13y ago
  What is a corrective upvote and who gives it to you?
  - tinco 13y ago
    It's when you make a comment that makes the parents position seem silly, you up vote the parent to correct for people downvoting parent because they strongly agree with your comment.
- wiredfool 13y ago

iwwr 13y ago

This is great, thanks for the link.

baddox 13y ago

It seems to me that your example has nothing to do with PowerPoint and everything to do with the fact that it's John. Effing. Carmack. giving the presentation. I'm sure he could give a great presentation using only PowerPoint, and I'm sure there are thousands of people who couldn't give an enjoyable presentation with any technology or medium.