Powerpoint Reflection

I am not a huge fan of powerpoint, but I do notice that in districts that are less savvy about technology (I'm not naming any names here), powerpoint seems to be an easy way for teachers to say they are "reaching" children of the digital age. I agree that interactive powerpoints would certainly constitute web 2.0 material, but in my limited experience, I see so few teachers actually using powerpoint that way. What I normally see is teachers using Powerpoints as replacements for the whiteboard; that is, teachers usually just type their notes ahead of time and slap them on some slides. This technology also allows teachers to 'cover their butts' for students with IEP's and 504's who are legally required to receive a written copy of the notes.
In my opinion, you can make Powerpoints as game-like as possible, but it still means that you have 20-40 kids sitting in the dark looking at a huge screen. For me, I like to model the note-taking process as creative. When I write on the board, I erase between classes so that each class gets to see what it looks like when you have an idea and then transfer that idea to paper. Further, the act of writing is an act of learning for me, as I suspect it is for many students. When I have kids take notes off of the overhead, even when I have had some interactive element to it, it ends up being a rote copying situation, where the kids do not hear the words coming out of my mouth because they are too busy copying.

Anyhow, I do like the idea of sliderocket for posting notes to my website. This does make it easier to have a record of what went on for the kids who were absent that day, and since I can add audio, it almost makes my earlier podcasting idea irrelevant! I can just put a presentation up and the kids will be able to access it. Further, if they were having trouble understanding, they would be able to seek help from another adult. Lastly, it would help me to be more reflective as a teacher. I would be able to go back between years, figure out how I taught the lesson the year before, and then find ways to make it better.