Product Description

Learn to use PowerPoint in ways you never thought possible. Marcovitz shows how, providing practical instruction for using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to create learning environments and educational materials that support and enhance student success. With the widespread availability of PowerPoint (every copy beginning with version 1997 comes with VBA built-in) schools have all the tools they need to create powerful and interactive multimedia resources. The true power of multimedia lies in its ability to engage students' minds. Professional multimedia tools are too difficult to learn, too expensive, or both, and although many teachers and students use HyperStudio or PowerPoint to develop multimedia projects, these projects often lack true interactivity. Using VBA with PowerPoint gives teachers and students an accessible way to easily create interactive multimedia resources and projects. After introducing the basics of educational planning, the design process, and the benefits of designing and using multimedia, this book offers the practical knowledge you need to create powerful educational resources. Learn to create projects that include:

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #382765 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Review
“With clear, concise, step-by-step instructions on how to create presentations, users can create multiple-choice tests that not only give feedback, but also keep score....This is a powerful tool for educators to have in their repertoire....This book will encourage PowerPoint users to push their skills beyond the status quo.”–Library Media Connection

About the Author
DAVID M. MARCOVITZ is Associate Professor and Educational Technology Director, Department of Education, Loyola College, Baltimore. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Technology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he studied support for technology in elementary schools. He has taught computer applications and computer programming at the high school level, and he has worked as a technology specialist in a high school. Prior to teaching at Loyola College, he taught in the Educational Technology Program at Florida Atlantic University. He was hired by Loyola College in 1997 to develop a Masters program in Educational Technology, a program he coordinates and for which he teaches many of the classes, including Multimedia Design in the Classroom. He is the author of several articles about educational technology.

Customer Reviews

Very good for one specific aspect
This book is an excellent resource if you want to learn how to use Visual Basic to write interactive quizzes in PowerPoint.It is definitely aimed at educators. There are better books out there for learning PowerPoint, but this book is definitely outstanding in this one area.

The Power of a Programmer (without being one)
If you're like me, experienced with PowerPoint, but not a programmer, then taking a trip into the world of vba scripting with David Marcovitz's "Powerful PowerPoint for Educators" makes it easy and enjoyable. This book is like having a conversation with the author who has "been there and done it" in terms of developing script that is practical and useful in so many PowerPoint projects you may need to develop. Among other objectives, I had the need to incorporate an interactive leadership style self-assessment in my cbt of the same name, and thanks to David's book I was able to let the user make his/her selections (as well as change them too), track scores, and then take those scores on to subsequent slides to discern the meaning of each of them (not to mention printing as well as saving those scores based on user preference). And of course, all along the way, I learned a great deal about other scripting options that proved useful in this application as well as for future projects.
If you're at the stage where you need to use vba scripting, this is the book that should be your primer. It will take you where you need to go!

Improperly Titled
This book is not really properly titled -- it should be "Using Scripting to Make PowerPoint Interactive." The author makes it clear (part way through the book) that he is not writing this for people with programming knowledge -- all he intends for you to do is copy the scripts he provides and use them as he intends. He even discourages the reader to read what little is written about programming.

In addition, the $45 price tag is ludicrously high. This book is worth $19.95 tops.