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As an historian, I know that time marches on. New technologies enter almost every field of endeavor each week and, the classroom is no different.

There is hardly any subject matter that lends itself more to a visual presentation than history. In my classes, a picture is worth five thousand words. Before I begin my lecture, I ask my students to try and picture themselves in a movie. I'll introduce the characters and situations, but they will have a much better appreciation of the historical presentation if they can see the clothing, the architecture, the weapons, the physical characteristics, etc., of the story I'm giving. The conjuring up of these images helps the students become part of my talk. My words are the sub-titles for these images.

I was a great believer in using the overhead projector (and still am) to convey these images and maps. With the advent of PowerPoint however, I find that I can make clear and concise images with a lot more color. I find my students stay more alert and attentive when showing these visuals. It does take time to put a presentation together, but it's well worth it.

I have two sections of The Wars Of The United States, this semester, and the students from those classes are putting together PowerPoint presentations for me. I have given this assignment before, and have had some terrific, professional presentations given back to me. I mean sensational presentations. Our students are clever and talented!
The combination of the lecture format with a professional looking visual presentation, in my opinion, is a great way to convey subject matter.