Faculty Spotlight: Susan McFarland

Delivering Content Through Narrated PowerPoint Presentations
The Art and Science of Leadership, Spring 2009

Spotlight Poster

Introduction In the design of her first fully online course, Susan McFarland decided to incorporate narrated PowerPoint presentations in order to engage her students more wholeheartedly and appeal to the visual and auditory learners in her course.

Timeline

In the Fall of 2008, Susan enrolled in the Online Course Development Seminar as a starting point for developing her online course for the Undergraduate Management Program. During that time she sat down with a technologically savvy friend who walked her through the process of recording narration in PowerPoint. She described the process as a "simple technological venture."

Equipment

• PowerPoint (standard on most computers)
• Headset ($20-$30)

Process

Susan recorded her own narrations, illuminating the written material on the slides without being too verbose or losing her audience.  She prepared notes and then recorded without a script as she wanted to sound as if she were in the classroom. Susan used her laptop with a built in microphone and PowerPoint 2007 to record eight 15-20 minute presentations. She then uploaded the presentations directly into myLesley with assistance from an Instructional Designer.

Outcome

The addition of narration allowed Susan to use PowerPoint in a manner similar to how she would use it in a face-to-face class - to explain concepts, provide examples and make connections. “I think the PowerPoint slides more fully captured my purpose to convey concepts for each week, highlighting the most important ideas from the readings and assignments. Otherwise the slides just seem like lists of ideas, not that useful in enhancing understanding. Students commented that they really enjoyed the narrated slides.”

Susan's Next Steps...

Susan plans on continuing to develop her presentations by adding more graphics and photos for visual enhancement. She will also continue to narrate the slides to add more interest to the presentation. She considers the project a work in progress, which she will continue to build upon based on student feedback and her own experience.

You Can Narrate PowerPoint Too!

• Keep an eye out for our PowerPoint Workshops: http://www.lesley.edu/elis/programs.html
• Review the documentation provided by Microsoft: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/CH063500681033.aspx
• Contact elis@lesley.edu for a special one-on-one training session