You are now free to move about your classroom

One of the things I hated most about Powerpoint when I was teaching was being tied to the computer. I’m a roamer when I teach and I like to be able to move around the room freely and interact with my students. Classroom management also suffers when the teacher is tied to a keyboard.

I think these little presentation remotes are great. The newer ones use RF (radio frenquency) instead of IR so you don’t need to point the remote in any particular direction. The range of the Keyspan unit I ordered is plenty to give me room to move. Some of the remotes include full mouse control and a laser pointer as well. When you consider how inexpensive these units are (most are $60-$100), it’s a wonder that they’re not more common.

Who would argue that a teacher lecturing from a lecturn at the front of the room is best? I’m not sure that using Powerpoint and being just as tied down is really much better.