At one point in the lesson, our row (the back row as it turns out) was asked to take turns reading out loud what was on the screen. When it came to his turn, the guy next to me squinted at the white text on blue background and said, "I feel like I'm at the eye doctor!" We all laughed.
Tonight the roommate and I were discussing how odd it was to have this technological intrusion into Sunday School. We thought of several more flippant comments we wish we had made:
- PowerPoint? Wait, I don't even have the syllabus yet!
- Is the text required?
- How much does the text cost? Can you get it used?
- Do we need ALL FOUR books?
- Do I need to get a Scantron form?
Holy junk! That same thing happened to me this past Sunday. And I thought we were dorky.
ReplyDeleteAs a college professor I use PowerPoint all the time (math and computer science). It was only a natural to use it when the opportunity became available in my SS class. I teach a discussion style class and use it to display the questions visually as I ask them verbally. The class is Sr. Adults and those who sometimes struggle with hearhing the question say they appreciate being able to see and think about the question before responding.
ReplyDeleteYou can check them out at http://www.letu.edu/people/stevearmstrong/SundaySchool/sunday_school_lessons.htm
I don't disagree that PP has it's place, but this class was for college age single students, who are pretty much PP'ed out. I used PP when I taught, too, but I knew that when I did it, I was going to lose 1/3 of my students to the PP coma.
ReplyDeleteI guess I think PP is a necessary evil. Wouldn't it be great if we could just all stay engaged and pay good enough attention that we could teach without being encumbered by technology?
John, I think you should pull out all your old J.I. Joe's and do re-enactments of epic Book of Mormon battles. But I would substitute the big man for a Transformer. I believe that would be fitting. I would totally be willing to do some sound effect for you... Just think about it.
ReplyDeleteTo label ourself as a geek I find it odd that you are so shocked that a church would keep up with the times and technology. What fun is a church that still uses flannel boards when you have so much technology around you?
ReplyDeleteI totally think that technology is awesome, but using technology for technology's sake is generally a bad idea -- and that's the impression that I've gotten from every Sunday School power point I've experienced so far. Power point makes poor instruction worse.
ReplyDeleteThe best use of power point, I think would be to display scriptural references or to pose questions. All the other trappings of power point don't help at all.
I only use PPTs in my Sunday School class occasionally to show illustrations for the kids to visually see Bible stories. I teach 1st and 2nd graders, so pictures help them pay attention more.
ReplyDelete