I created a Prezi to present a book review.
I found that I needed this structure in order to build the Prezi in the first place. I couldn't just come up with something off the cuff, so I used the 5 elements of a story as the key points of the review, to give some framework and structure to the review. They are as follows:
This also helped me to see through the eyes of a student. It wouldn't be enough to say, "use Prezi to present a book review." The structure would need to be there in order to guide the student, to ensure that the key elements of the book were covered, and that they didn't get side-tracked with unnecessary information.
This is the result:
Analysis:
Initially, I found it difficult to wrap my head around how Prezi worked, and what made it tick. It was a little abstract, and I had to re-organize my thinking so that I could make sense of how Prezi operated. I fiddled around for a bit, not having any idea of how to start, then I watched this video:
It finally made sense. After allowing my mind to adapt to the new interface, I found Prezi incredibly easy to use. But it did lead me to think that if I didn't have much idea when I started, it would possibly be ten times harder for school students to get their head around it. However Prezi takes the art of presentation to a different level. I loved the way that the interface allowed me to zoom in and focus on each area of information as it was presented. I feel that this fundamental feature of Prezi is a major point of difference. Rather than just show the information as one slide, Prezi allows you to show an overview of a topic, or two alternatives, then "dive into the details". I tried to reproduce some of this in my own Prezi. For example, where I showed the characters, I then created a "frame" for some of the key characters in the book. This then allowed me to show some additional detail and a picture of them, without the screen being too cluttered.
Embedding images was really easy with Prezi, as it embedded from a direct Google image search. One would need to be careful with this in a classroom setting, to make sure that SafeSearch was enabled, and no questionable content was accidentally shown. I didn't go as far as embedding a video, because I couldn't find suitable footage to support the topic. I did try with a dummy video, and the results were quite good. It's easy to use a URL from YouTube, and just as easy to upload from the computer. It's possible to download Prezis to use offline, and also to set up online "conference calls". It's also possible to embed a Prezi into a blog post or website, as I did above.
Students could use this for just about any presentation that would require PowerPoint. Obviously, additional time would be required to show how to create and order the frames, and embed content. With so much emphasis being placed on PowerPoint, it's nice to see a different way forward. There is nothing inherently wrong with PowerPoint as such, but Prezi is a refreshing change to the usual.
Prezi would be a great way to teach subjects or topics that require a broad picture as well as smaller details. For example, learning in science about food chains, nitrogen or carbon cycles, or in English doing a story analysis as I did in my demo.
While Powerpoint and Prezi work in a linear manner, presenting information one step at a time, Glogster allows the user to create an animated digital poster. Viewers can interact with the information shared, whether it is audio, video, images or text. This format gives the creator more flexibility with how they want to present the information, as well as giving the viewer flexibility to explore as they see fit. There is great potential for engagement in this tool, and allows students to explore different ways of presenting information as well as personalizing it to their own taste.
While Prezi and Glogster offer greater flexibility and creativity, their primary drawback (and PowerPoint's advantage) is that they are situated online. If internet is down, it's not possible for students to use the site at all to show or edit their creations.
- Characters
- Setting
- Plot
- Conflict
- Resolution
This is the result:
Analysis:
Initially, I found it difficult to wrap my head around how Prezi worked, and what made it tick. It was a little abstract, and I had to re-organize my thinking so that I could make sense of how Prezi operated. I fiddled around for a bit, not having any idea of how to start, then I watched this video:
It finally made sense. After allowing my mind to adapt to the new interface, I found Prezi incredibly easy to use. But it did lead me to think that if I didn't have much idea when I started, it would possibly be ten times harder for school students to get their head around it. However Prezi takes the art of presentation to a different level. I loved the way that the interface allowed me to zoom in and focus on each area of information as it was presented. I feel that this fundamental feature of Prezi is a major point of difference. Rather than just show the information as one slide, Prezi allows you to show an overview of a topic, or two alternatives, then "dive into the details". I tried to reproduce some of this in my own Prezi. For example, where I showed the characters, I then created a "frame" for some of the key characters in the book. This then allowed me to show some additional detail and a picture of them, without the screen being too cluttered.
Embedding images was really easy with Prezi, as it embedded from a direct Google image search. One would need to be careful with this in a classroom setting, to make sure that SafeSearch was enabled, and no questionable content was accidentally shown. I didn't go as far as embedding a video, because I couldn't find suitable footage to support the topic. I did try with a dummy video, and the results were quite good. It's easy to use a URL from YouTube, and just as easy to upload from the computer. It's possible to download Prezis to use offline, and also to set up online "conference calls". It's also possible to embed a Prezi into a blog post or website, as I did above.
Students could use this for just about any presentation that would require PowerPoint. Obviously, additional time would be required to show how to create and order the frames, and embed content. With so much emphasis being placed on PowerPoint, it's nice to see a different way forward. There is nothing inherently wrong with PowerPoint as such, but Prezi is a refreshing change to the usual.
Prezi would be a great way to teach subjects or topics that require a broad picture as well as smaller details. For example, learning in science about food chains, nitrogen or carbon cycles, or in English doing a story analysis as I did in my demo.
While Powerpoint and Prezi work in a linear manner, presenting information one step at a time, Glogster allows the user to create an animated digital poster. Viewers can interact with the information shared, whether it is audio, video, images or text. This format gives the creator more flexibility with how they want to present the information, as well as giving the viewer flexibility to explore as they see fit. There is great potential for engagement in this tool, and allows students to explore different ways of presenting information as well as personalizing it to their own taste.
While Prezi and Glogster offer greater flexibility and creativity, their primary drawback (and PowerPoint's advantage) is that they are situated online. If internet is down, it's not possible for students to use the site at all to show or edit their creations.
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