Prezi is a web-based
alternative to the standard PowerPoint/Keynote presentation. It uses dynamic
motion, including panning and zooming, between sections of a digital canvas to
present presentations in a whole new way.
At first I was
intimidated by Prezi. The old adage is that we fear change and Prezi's style is
a dramatic change from what I was used to. I signed up for an education account
when it was presented in class and even watched the tutorial videos, but I didn't
go any further. I couldn't think outside the slide.
However, other
classmates could and they presented their Prezis in other classes. They were
visually stimulating and engaging. Their great work allowed me to make the
shift to motion. I decided to make a one myself.
I was working on an
inquiry project on dyslexia with Kelsey and we had
modified an assessment framework for how to proceed if you notice one of your
students has reading difficulties. It was represented as a flowchart. I decided
to convert our adaptation into a Prezi.
I thought the spiral
enabled everything to be close together, yet show a definite progression
through the steps of the process. The design and colouring choices were to
match the website we'd created to share our findings with the class.
Prezi has a host of
web 2.0 features: public access (if desired), collaborative editing, and
multiple sharing options (facebook, twitter and embedding, as I've done above).
It also allows multimedia to easily be incorporated with simple tools to upload
images and video built in to the editor. I also appreciate that I can download
any of my Prezis, and any public one that the author has given access to, and
present them offline. Some schools may not have a wireless network and bringing
an entire class to the lab for a two minute presentation on the scientific
method, to pick something at random, may not be productive. Or one day,
inexplicably, the network may fail or the server will crash. With my offline
copy on a flash drive none of these situations need change my plans. I can
present worry free.
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