Abstract:

“The presentation program PowerPoint is probably the most used tool in the schools, high schools and universities of today. The use of this program, however, comes at a cost, because it is not just a different and neutral way of teaching. Like the use of any technology, PowerPoint affects not only the way we present and teach, but also the way we think, learn and understand”. This is incipit of an abstract written by Jens Kjeldsen in 2006. Now, in 2023, we could write exactly the same words.
We still need to develop an awareness on this hot topic.
This paper presents the results of data collected during a workshop offered to Humanitas University teachers on use and abuse of presentation tools in academic teaching.
In this workshop, the teachers answer four stimulus questions:
• why does the lecturer use slides?
• why does the student want slides?
and then:
• what learning objectives are achievable/supportable through the use of presentation software?
• what are the unachievable/supportable objectives?
During the last two academic years, nine editions of this workshop were delivered, and fifty-eight teachers participated.
Here, the results of the analysis of the teachers' answers are proposed: their reflection on academic teaching and learning, the reasons to use presentation tools they recognize, what they consider to be motivations and needs of the students.

Keywords:

Presentation tools, academic teaching, transmission of content.