Digital Resources: Prezi

I am a fairly linear thinker. I like lists, I like processes and procedures, I like to know what I'm going to do next. So it was surprising to me how much I've come to enjoy using Prezi to organize and deliver my presentations. It was a bit of an adjustment. Many presentation tools I've used in the past are extremely linear - slide 1 is your title slide, slide 2 begins the body of your presentation, slide 3 follows slide 2, etc. That made sense to me, but it could also feel very limiting and sometimes dated. Information and ideas don't always exist in a 1-2-3 form, so presenting them this way didn't always give them their best showcase.

In Prezi, you begin with a blank sheet, and you can put your information anywhere you'd like to. You can add frames to indicate that information is grouped together, you can zoom in or out on a set point so that your audience only sees the portion of the information you want them to, and you can create your own pathways around that information (and the pathways can be part of the zooming in and out as well). This is a web-based program, so it's especially helpful if (like me) you work on mixed machines (PC at work, Mac at home!) and you can also collaborate with other presenters in real time. I also like to use this for informal presentations that my audience will look through at their own pace - they can click through my presentation on their own or they can interact with it outside of the pathway I've created. It is also possible to add audio files to the presentation, so I can add my audio presentation to the visual presentation if I want to. I like the design elements Prezi has included as well - they're modern, clean and they don't interfere with the message I'm trying to deliver.

In the presentation I've included above, my path would move from the "You are currently..." to a classroom practice, then to "You could use Google to..." to match that practice with a Google tool. You can find this presentation at http://prezi.com/jdutprte3cvg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share 

Where: www.prezi.com 

Cost: Free (with paid upgrade; free educator packages available)

What: Web-based presentation package

Students! Try Prezi if you want to...

Create a presentation

Collaborate on a presentation with a group that can't meet face to face or simultaneously

Present information in a less linear manner

Create study guides or notes that emphasize the relationship between ideas in some way

Teachers! Try Prezi if you want to...

Create a presentation

Collaborate with a colleague without common planning time

Include YouTube videos in your presentations

Have students collaborate in or outside of class

Provide information to students who are less linear in their thinking

Demonstrate relationships between sets of information