precautions while using overhead projectors

If a point requires several minutes of discussion, turn off the overhead projector to focus the audience attention on you and away from the screen. Turn the overhead projector back on when youre ready for the next bullet topic. Use this same tactic when you move transparencies across the glass. If the projector is not turned off when you exchange transparencies, a bright light projects on the screen, which causes a distraction. Consider using white borders around the transparencies. These fit around the transparencies and can be purchased in office supply stores. The border provides a place to write notes, and numbering the bordered transparencies keeps the presentation organized. Use a table for the projector that provides enough room for transparencies on both sides of the projector. One side holds the yet to be presented transparencies; the other side holds the completed transparencies. This keeps the presentation flowing smoothly and adds a touch of professionalism.

This projector definitely has a number of advantages that would outdo most other visual teaching aids. For instance, a lecturer can use it in just the same way that he or she would use a chalkboard, but the biggest advantage would be that with the projector, lecturers all over the world now get to face the whole class and maintain eye contact all times with their students instead of having to turn around and write. As a teacher, you would know that this eye contact plays a very big role in both facilitative as well as expository teaching, and serves both as a means of receiving feedback from the class on how good or bad the session is and as an outward non verbal communication medium for the teacher.

The drawbacks of this projector include the basic fact that it requires a constant power supply and also requires a white flat surface on which its image can be projected. Another disadvantage is that if the surface is not suitable inclined at the correct angle, the image will suffer from a phenomenon called

There are many a time when (for better or worse) a speaker decides to use an overhead projector to enhance a presentation. This, more often then not, can destroy not only the presentation but the integrity of the speaker, if not handled properly. Overheads are a powerful tool in a presenters arsenal. They help convey ideas, drive particular points home as well as giving one the ability to display charts, graphs and pictures clearly. The proper use and preparation is of utmost importance when using a tool such as this.

Teachers trying to use more modern ways to communicate information and develop understanding might not consider overhead projectors as their first choice. When overused, they bore students and lose their efficacy. However, they can still prove extremely beneficial when used appropriately.

An overhead needs an appropriate space in the classroom. Ideally, it should sit near an outlet and have an extension cord if necessary (one that wont trip students by lying across a walkway). The projector should sit in the front of the room on a flat surface; classroom desks that have an angle are often problematic unless you can use books to prop the machine up.

Writing on transparencies and using an overhead projector to share them with the class helps facilitate group discussion easily. Groups in the class can also quickly record their work and conversations to share with the rest of the class. Such strategies particularly benefit students who respond to visual learning cues.

Although overhead projectors seem outdated in more technologically advanced classrooms, they provide a valuable back up if the Internet or another technological tool fails to work, and the teacher needs to share visuals with the whole class. Teachers can keep salient information on a transparency to continue with an alternate lesson.

Deaf or hard of hearing students benefit from overhead projectors used to display visual aids to the lesson or discussion. Although teachers need to remember to dim the lights to make the image visible, a deaf student may also need to see her classroom translator in conjunction with the images on the projector.

Overhead projectors are familiar features in many classrooms and conference rooms. While the LCD projector is becoming more common, many public speaking venues still offer overhead projectors to illustrate key points in presentations. Because this form of technology is readily available, overhead projectors are quite inexpensive to operate. Many educational institutions have overheads in each classroom because of the low cost and the adaptability of overheads to any discipline.