Instructionally Effective PowerPoint Conversion for eLearning

Throughout the past two decades, millions of learners in instructor-led training courses have been literally put to sleep by overuse of PowerPoint as a medium for training. That’s not to say that PowerPoint itself is the culprit. The fault lies in trainers that believe that simply sharing knowledge is training.

As the common saying goes, “Telling Ain’t Training”. PowerPoint is designed to present information and is suited very well for that purpose. But for knowledge and skill transfer to occur, training needs to be a two way street. Learners need to demonstrate they understand and remember key information. They need to practice skills.

One major danger in using converted PowerPoint presentations as the basis for e-learning courses is what may be termed “PowerPoint Poison”. When a PowerPoint is converted carte blanche as a presentation, with maybe only a quiz at the end, it not only lacks instructional effectiveness, but it also creates a negative effect.

When learners who have not experienced a lot of e-learning courses before encounter one of these types of courses, they immediately assume this is how all e-learning is. As so often happens in instructor-led classes that have little to no interaction, the learner is quickly bored. They tell their colleagues and friends how boring it was and the next time an “e-learning” course comes out, they’ll already have a negative opinion about it.

Yes, simply converting PowerPoint presentations can be harmful to your e-learning initiative’s health.

Check out our new white paper on Instructionally Effective PowerPoint Conversion for eLearning for some tips! This white paper discusses how you can still use PowerPoint as the basis of your training and create amazingly interactive courses with less effort and time than you might expect.