teaching.mrstacey.org.uk

Let’s start with a confession. I’m not very good at design. I’m better than some people I know, but my attempts never come out quite how I intended them. What I know about the theory of design you could write on the back of my hand. However, this is one area where I keep learning, keep trying, and hopefully keep getting better. Why? Because I think it’s important for something not just to look good, but to work as well as it can. And that’s going to involve good design.

When I was at Uni I was lucky enough to work with James Hart and Luke Pettitt, both of who understood both the importance of design and how to achieve a good design. We worked together redesigning the Courier, and then me and Luke did a lot of work with the Students Union. I took those lessons with me when I went into teaching, specifically

• Consistent use of one font
• Plenty of white space
• Use images to support what you’re saying
• Well laid out

That last one is deliberately vague, because I never really got what you could call a ground rule on that one. I just kept trying things and also trying to get feedback. I might not always have got it right, but I’d always try to make sure handouts worked well from a design as well as content view. I was always trying new ways of getting the best out of PowerPoint, picking up (and often then setting aside) various guides and ‘rules’ I found online.

So when I found Dan’s blog a little while back it was both a breathe of fresh air, and a challenge for me to raise my game. While I could never put in the time and effort Dan does, I completely understand both why he does it, and the payback he gets from it. I’ve also found the tips, suggestions and feedback invaluable in my attempts to get better.

Recently these ideas seem to have really taken off in the blogs I read. Most of the comments have been about powerpoint, rather than handouts, but then I can see then sense of urgency in this. The following therefore, is my ‘read this’ list for people who want to know more about why good design is important, and how to go about getting closer to achieveing it

• If you see one thing, see this slideshow (from Scott Elias’s blog)
• If you subscribe to one blog, make it Dan Meyer’s (especially the posts tagged with ‘design‘)
• If you remember one thing, make it the fact that reading aloud the words on your slides does not increase the amount the audience takes in. It actually reduces it. It’s all to do with Cognative Load Theory (check out Scott’s slideshow)
• If you want to try one thing, have a go at your own version of the 4-slide pitch. Check out the feedback then post it on your blog, link in to mine and Dan’s and let’s get a conversation going.

A final comment on practicalities. I’m increasingly producing slideshows for other people to present. This has led me away from the good design ideas, and toward putting up bullet points to remind them what I want them to say. This stops now. From now on, there will be either notes with the slideshow (I love what Scott did with his pdf on that) or a ‘script’ of bullet points to go along with it. Or I’ll go the whole hog and move into videos!

Same thought, different blog: I can see clearly now, from Think:lab