Students insights towards the use of the Powerpoint: A Study in an ESP Classroom

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Students insights towards the use of the
Powerpoint A Study in an ESP Classroom

• M.L. Renau Renau and J. Usó ViciedoENGLISH
  DEPARTMENT, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain

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ABSTRACT

• Third stage of a study carried out during the
  last three years in the subject English for
  Computer Science at Universitat Jaume I.
• Since we started the teaching of English to
  Computer Science students, we have been
  attempting to merge the learning of the English
  language with the use of the Information and
  Communication Technologies by providing our
  students with different resources such as online
  discussion groups, web sites, the design of web
  pages and online tutorials.
• During the first year 1, we set out to
  investigate about the role that the ICT was
  playing in educational environments, that is, to
  what extent our University students were familiar
  with the ICT.
• Due to the poor results obtained (only 1 of the
  students used the PowerPoint to help present
  their projects orally) we decided to take some
  action in the following year to definitively
  encourage the use of computer assisted
  presentations as well as the software necessary
  for it among our students 2.
• This year, as our initial goal was accomplished
  (all the students decided to present their work
  orally using the PowerPoint), we wanted to gain
  some insights about the use of computer enhanced
  presentations, as well as the reasons underlying
  them.
• Students were required to answer some questions
  about their oral presentations. The results
  confirmed that our students thought that their
  oral presentations have been enhanced by the
  exploit of the new technologies. The reasons they
  provided were very motivating for us to continue
  encouraging our students to incorporate the
  Information and Communication Technologies into
  their English learning process.
• Keywords ESP (English for Specific Purposes)
  English for Computer Science English learning
  process Powerpoint oral presentations ICT
  (Information and Communication Technologies)

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1. INTRODUCTION

• When exploring about the role of technology in
  education, we all agree that technology helps the
  interaction between teachers and students.
  Teachers use technology for different purposes
  to search, to gain new ideas, as a source for
  lesson plans, as a way to communicate and
  collaborate, as a source of needed tools and to
  keep informed 3.
• Students use technology to search, to play games
  and to enter contests, to public and share, to
  practise what they have learned, to further
  explore topics and ideas and to learn through
  directed research and projects. Technology also
  enables students to access educational resources
  anywhere any time thus allowing them to get more
  involved with their learning-process 4.
• One of the important tools that technology offers
  to teachers and students is PowerPoint.
  PowerPoint is a complete presentation graphics
  package that gives the users everything they need
  to produce a professional-looking presentation.
  It offers word processing, outlining, drawing,
  graphing and presentation management tools, all
  designed to be easily learnt and used.
• When creating a presentation using PowerPoint,
  the presentation is made up of a series of
  slides. These slides can also be presented as
  overhead transparencies or 35mm slides. All the
  slides in a presentation can also be formatted
  using the powerful Slide Master which will be
  covered in the tutorial. In addition to slides,
  one can also print audience handouts, outlines,
  and speaker's notes. Users can keep their entire
  presentation in a single file containing all the
  slides, speaker's notes, and audience handouts.
  One can also import what has been created in
  other Microsoft applications, such as Word and
  Excel into any of your slides 5.
• PowerPoint is an application used to create
  several types of presentations Class
  presentations, Professional presentations and
  Students presentations and as a helping tool, it
  provides the following aspects 6
• Public speaking aid
• Visual aid
• Structuring device presentation
• Add emphasis to points
• Visually represent abstract data
• Audience interaction
• Integration text, graphics, audio, video
• Object animation

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2. AIM OF THE STUDY

• As we found out in the first part of our research
  two years ago, students were not using the
  technological resources available to them e.g.
  the PowerPoint as much as we, English for
  Computer Science teachers, would like
• We decided to take some action in the following
  year to definitively encourage the use of
  computer assisted presentations.
• Once our initial goal was accomplished, and
  students had become familiar with the use of the
  new technologies, we wanted to gain some insights
  about the use of computer enhanced presentations.
  
• We wondered whether the students had chosen the
  new technologies due to an increase in their
  final mark or because they found it useful, and
  also, to what extent the PowerPoint has made
  their verbal communication more fluent and has
  improved the quality of their presentations.

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3. METHOD

• Subjects
• Sixty-four Computer Science students taking the
  compulsory subject of English for Computer
  Science participated in this study. As part of
  their evaluation, they had to write a research
  article about a computer science topic following
  the instructions given in the book Network
  English English in the World of Computers 7
  and then, they had to present their project
  orally in class. All the students presenting
  their work orally used the PowerPoint.
• Questions
• In order to gain some insights about the use of
  computer enhanced presentations we posed our
  students two simple questions
• Do you think the use of the PowerPoint has helped
  you in your oral presentation? Why? Give reasons
• Are there graphics, pictures, tables, etc. in
  your presentation? Why? Give reasons

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4. RESULTS

• 4.1 Studentsanswers to the first question can
  be divided into two groups
• 4.1.1. Those referring to their own benefit and
  assistance. The PowerPoint has helped the
  students to

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4.1.2. Those referring to helping the audience
get a clearer picture because the PowerPoint

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4.2. Only 10 of the students doing the oral
presentations did not insert any kind of photo,
figure or table. The rest of the students gave
the following reasons to do it. They inserted
visual aids to
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5. CONCLUSION

• As we can see, Computer Science students did not
  use the PowerPoint to get higher marks in their
  presentations. Ninety-four per cent of them
  really thought that their oral presentations were
  greatly enhanced by the use of the new
  technologies in two ways
• A. The PowerPoint helped them improve the look of
  their presentations greatly, it helped them
  summarise their project and it was a useful guide
  in case they failed to remember.
• B. The PowerPoint has also helped the students to
  create more understandable and interesting
  presentations for the audience.
• Furthermore, most of the students included all
  kinds of visual aids (graphics, figures, tables,
  etc.) in their presentations in order to explain
  better the information and results shown in the
  slides and to improve their presentations making
  them more attractive, entertaining and easier to
  follow.
• This proves that our University students do not
  use the new technologies to earn higher grades,
  but they view them as a useful communication tool
  to improve their work in a foreign language.

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REFERENCES

• 1 M. L. Renau and J. Usó. The use of new
  technologies in the English for Computer Science
  Classroom. En A. Mendez, J.A. Mesa y J. Mesa
  (eds.). Advances in Technology-based Education
  Towards a Knowledge-based Society". 2nd
  International Conference on Multimedia and ICTs
  in Education (m.ICTE2003).1132-1135. (2003).
• 2 Renau, M.L. y Usó, J.Filling the gap between
  the role of ICT in modern society and its use in
  education a study in a university classroom. En
  IADAT (eds.). Innovation, Technology and Research
  in Education. International Conference on
  education IADAT-e2004. Bilbao IADAT. 297-301.
  (2004).
• 3 J. Wolf. Bringing Technology into the
  Classroom Forever changing the way teachers teach
  and the way students learn.
• 4 J. Montoya. La tecnología y su influencia en
  la educación.
• 5 Department of Computer Science at The
  University of Rhode Island http//einstein.cs.uri.
  edu/tutorials/csc101/powerpoint/ppt.html
• 6 J. Overholtzer. Using powerpoint
  http//computing.wlu.edu/services/training/ppoint/
  sld001.htm University Computing, Washington and
  Lee University (1999)
• 7 S. Posteguillo, Network English English in
  the World of Computers. Publicacions de la UJI.
  (1997)

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Students insights towards the use of the
Powerpoint A Study in an ESP Classroom

• M.L. Renau Renau and J. Usó ViciedoENGLISH
  DEPARTMENT, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain