Group Three Tools – Presentations

This group of technologies are all about creating effective presentations. Technologies investigated were:

• Microsoft PowerPoint – for creating slideshow based presentations with rich capabilities for multimedia and interactivity
• Prezi – for creating online presentations that zoom around a single large canvas
• Glogster – for creating online scrap book pages that use a lot of multimedia

This group of tools are definitely the group that I have used the least (the only one of these tools I had even heard of was PowerPoint which I have used a fair bit). I will analyse each of these technologies below.

PowerPoint

While I have used PowerPoint quite a lot through high school, it has changed a lot in the new version. It is much easier to use and allows much greater scope for multimedia and interactivity. Here is a PMI based on PowerPoint.

Plus

• Industry standard for presentation, meaning lots of help is available
• Can incorporate online and offline multimedia
• Can be automated to act as a stand-alone presentation
• Can be reused when reteaching that class at a later time
• Many built in templates
• Easily shared and viewed offline
• Can be used for interactive activities such as flash cards or quizzes
• Easy for students to develop their own

Minus

• Tend to get cluttered with overuse of multimedia
• Exuberant animation can make difficult to read
• Tendency with many, especially those not used to presenting, to just read the slides
• Generally reduces information to a summary, and if not presented well might not provide enough information

Interesting

• Can be used as any of the four learning styles (eg. Using as a quiz, linear learning, non-linear learning, embedding content, linking to external content)
• Slides can be exported to make a Prezi

I find that PowerPoint is most effective as a presentation tool when information is summarised in the slides, but the presenter elaborates further on what the topic is about. This is the format most of my class/lecture experiences with PowerPoint have involved. Having made this type of presentation numerous times, I made a simple quiz using the instructions in the study notes. This was very simple to do, and although I haven’t uploaded it onto one of my online spaces like my other group three tools, it is a feature I will use again.

Prezi

Link to the post containing my Prezi - (Click here)

Prezi is another presentation tool that differs to most other presentation software in that it has a single canvas that you can zoom into different parts of rather than changing slides. This can promote both linear and non-linear learning as if you pre-designate locations for the program to zoom into, you can design the learning path but your Prezis can also be freely navigated (if you allow this option). Here is a SWOT analysis of my experience with Prezi.

Strengths Impressive transition between facts Embedded multimedia Relatively easy to setup Easy to use Can be embedded most places online Can be viewed on iPad Can be downloaded for offline viewing	Weaknesses Not as much interactive potential as PowerPoint File size can get very large While templates are good, hard (or maybe impossible) to edit/customize
Opportunities Freely exploring large canvases full of information 'Prezi podcasts' - see below Allows greater breakdown of facts then PowerPoint by physically zooming in Zooming sub consciously indicates further analysis	Threats Students could get lost in a large canvas and potentially miss information All the moving about has the potential to make one feel dizzy after a while

While I feel in most situations PowerPoint will be more practical, I can't help but feel drawn to Prezi within my pedagogy because it just looks so fantastic, as well as it is my personal opinion that zooming in to further details helps to promote higher order thinking and analysis. It would also be an effective tool for students to present their findings in a task or assignment to the class. I mentioned in the SWOT analysis above that I think Prezi would be excellent with podcasts - by playing the Prezi full screen and recording with Camtasia Studio, as well as recording a voice-over, it would make a very effective online lecture that could be distributed periodically.

Glogster

 Link to my first Glog - (click here)

A Glog is a presentation made in the web app Glogster to present information and multimedia as an online and interactive scrapbook page. Initially I thought that it was a bit gimmicky and immature, but later realised the potential of the program. Some examples of effective ways to use the program would be:

• Create a Glog of a prominent figure being studied with interactive facts and pictures of them
• Facts surrounding a concept
• Stimulus sheets

The main problems I find with Glogs are:

• Design is not completely intuitive
• Can become very cluttered very quickly
• Animated elements make it look more cluttered and messy