I have discussed this in the past in my article "Death by PowerPoint" as Microsoft's Presentation tool would have to be one of the most used and abused applications both in the classroom and the staff room for meetings and speaking and listening tasks.

I cant stand dodgy PowerPoints in which the presenter simply reads the same boring drivel that we can already see on the screen behind them. So I jumped at this lesson plan outlining how to get the most and avoid the worst from PowerPoint from the New York Times Learning Network.

In this lesson, students examine perspectives on effective and ineffective uses of PowerPoint, then develop a set of rules for effective use of this tool for their class projects and presentations. They then create PowerPoint slides and a prose narrative on the same subject and compare the impact of each on the intended audience.

There is something here for both teachers and students and I would recommend this for year 5 students upwards through high school. Check it out here.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/point-counter-point-how-to-use-and-avoid-misusing-powerpoint/?nl=learning&emc=a1