Converting PowerPoint to e-learning

We’ve all been to sessions where the trainer clicks through PowerPoint slides while giving a lecture. That’s because PowerPoint is great for one-sided presentations, where one speaker does all the talking. But it’s not the right tool to engage learners. Engagement requires interactivity and a degree of learner autonomy to take an active role and acquire knowledge organically at their own pace.

If you want learners to acquire the information you’re sharing with them, the most effective way is to use interactive, engaging methods. For example, quiz questions, bite-sized nuggets of microlearning content, and instant feedback supplied automatically in response to the learner’s actions.

Modern e-learning platforms like Easygenerator offer these options. They make the learning process engaging and effective. While training with PowerPoint can often feel like a passive experience for learners, acquiring knowledge through interactive e-learning software is usually perceived as more fun and engaging. That’s precisely the kind of learning experience you want to provide to ensure your learners get the most out of the training experience.

Later in this guide, we’ll show you how to convert your PowerPoint slides into an interactive e-learning module. First, let’s review the pros and cons of using PowerPoint.

Even though PowerPoint is not the right tool to create engaging e-learning, it does come with advantages. And, of course, also with various disadvantages. Let’s look at both the pros and cons.

TOP 5 reasons why PowerPoint is not the best solution for e-learning.

Advantages

• Ease of use: Ease of use is the number one reason for many subject-matter experts and L&D professionals to get started with PowerPoint-based courses. It is almost always available in many organizations and allows you to make a quick start without spending a lot of time understanding the features or functions.
• Curation and repurpose: According to research estimates, there are more than 120 million presentations created in education and business environments. That’s a lot of unprocessed knowledge! The first step of your knowledge-sharing strategy should be to leverage this existing content. The surplus PowerPoint decks in every computer can be potential information to search for e-learning content. You can save a lot of time by curating what’s out there already instead of creating content from scratch. Think about recycling as a metaphor, which is an eco-friendly learning technique.
• Everyone has PowerPoint: PowerPoint dates back to the early times of e-learning when it was the only tool to create digital content for a presentation, a sales pitch, training, or other presentation. It is an all-in-one tool. That suggests the dominance of the Microsoft Office tool on our computers. And it continues to be dominant because Office consists of software many companies use and find affordable. Despite not being a classic instructional design tool, PowerPoint enables anyone to make a quick start.
• Visual appeal: Using the standard templates and themes, trainers or subject-matter experts can easily create visually appealing content. That doesn’t require any graphic design knowledge because it comes with packaged high-quality graphics and animations like transitions, action settings, and sound settings.
• Print hand-outs: As PowerPoint was the most preferred medium by classroom instructors, a print and PDF functionality is a must-have to allow easy hand-outs for participants during sessions. Printing hand-outs is a built-in feature and doesn’t require additional settings or actions, unlike the authoring tools.

Disadvantages

• Due to the bulleted and linear nature of PowerPoint content, the tool can’t represent the complexity of specific topics. It needs advanced effects and interactivity for further exploration.
• Device dependency: Microsoft Office and PowerPoint make authors dependent on their devices. The web-based versions could be a solution if they didn’t limit working with transitions, effects, interactive content, and editing media. That means authors are always restricted to their devices.
• Technical glitches: Authors and learners often face difficulties with rebooting their computer — PC not responding, power issues, or glitchy display. That makes for a bad experience for authors and learners, especially in modern SaaS times.
• Size and content challenges: Visually appealing presentations tend to be heavy and can cause delays in file-sharing. Yet, PowerPoint slides without visuals are just never-ending lists of text, which can bore online learners.
• Impact on trainers: If trainers are not cautious, they may end up reading the slides of their presentations instead of explaining the matter’s crux. This type of training makes for the worst learning experience.