A Rogers State University professor will provide an April 26 presentation about how PowerPoint presentation software users, specifically teachers and faculty members, can most effectively use that technology in the classroom.
Dr. Rich Ronan, RSU assistant professor in the Department of Applied Technology, will present “Saving You and Your Students from ‘Death by PowerPoint'” at 3:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 26, in RSU’s Stratton Taylor Library, Room 207. Admission is free and open to the public.
The presentation will draw upon the misuses of the PowerPoint presentation tool within the classroom. Ronan said he will use the “pitfalls and long history of failures” as a basis for examining and illustrating the role of presentation software, such as PowerPoint, should play. He also will present a multifunctional approach for improving presentations.
Ronan led a roundtable discussion on this topic earlier this month at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Higher Learning Commission-North Central Association of Colleges and Schools held in Chicago. He is currently working on developing a “users guide to PowerPoint in academia,” which he said has been requested by representatives from 36 colleges and universities.
Ronan received his doctoral and his first master’s degrees from the University of Hawaii and a bachelor’s degree from Franklin College of Indiana. In December 2001, he received an MBA from Northeastern State University. His areas of academic specialty include computer science, environmental and inorganic chemistry, education and business. At this time he is most interested in the measurement of learning.