So say Aussie researchers at the University of New South Wales, who if they don’t exactly use the words “will rot your brain,” nonetheless have concluded what we all have long known to be true: PowerPoint presentations are a terrible way to convey information.
And they cause brain damage.
According to this account in the Sydney Morning Herald:
“The use of the PowerPoint presentation has been a disaster,” says John Sweller, a professor involved in the research. “It should be ditched. … It is effective to speak to a diagram, because it presents information in a different form. But it is not effective to speak the same words that are written, because it is putting too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented.”
It also drives brain cells to commit suicide.
Why?
Pioneered at the University of NSW, the research shows the human brain processes and retains more information if it is digested in either its verbal or written form, but not both at the same time.
The conclusions challenge more than just the humanity – or inhumanity – of continuing to foist PowerPoint presentations upon innocent victims, but also all manner of teaching methods and interpersonal interactions. For example, the researchers question the wisdom of worshippers eyeballing Bible passages as they are being read aloud in church.
The Nobel committee can start etching Sweller’s name on a prize because this research will do more good for humankind than can possibly be imagined. Business and social expectations will be altered for the better. Human beings will again speak to human beings without the use of laser pointers.
Purge your PC of the offending application … now.
This means you, Al Gore, no exceptions.
Welcome regulars and passersby. Here are a few more recent Buzzblog items. And, if you’d like to receive Buzzblog via e-mail newsletter, here’s where to sign up.
Vinnie the IT pro vs. Verizon customer service.
Why phone-record thieves laugh at the law.
Santa’s unimaginable data disaster to mean empty stockings on Christmas.
Gates on education: Knowledge is good.
Average Joe asks Bill Gates a priceless question.
BSA, software giants target little guys most often.
Can the geek press handle a Microsoft sex scandal?
Hacking for better grades gets 4 preppies bounced from elite school in Mass.
This year’s “25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries.”
When the patient is a Googler and the doctor is a pompous jerk.
Cell phone jamming on the rise.
