Chanatown

Prezi just keeps getting better and better.  I remember first using the web based presentation tool in its early stages .  Sure, there were some ups and downs, (or zoom ins and outs if you will), but overall, the tool has proven its worth and enabled students to engage in collaboration (live editing works really well) and build more engaging presentations (always a plus). Yesterday, the company added a feature that was so often requested: sound . Check out the Intro Prezi after the jump, and get ready to spice up those presentations. This takes Prezi one step closer to a true digital storytelling tool, as it resembles more a moviemaker (web based as opposed to a favorite in client based Windows Photo Story 3) and with sound, the app offers a more continuous flow as opposed a silent, static presentation.

Now that we're midway through October, it's safe to say that we're officially back to school.  As I'm sure it has been with most teachers, the first weeks of the school year have been a whirlwind, and it's no different as the Technology Integration Specialist. Making sure that things are up and running on the hardware side, as well as supporting existing users of software and web applications, and integrating new technology with new classes, only now have I had the  chance to breathe a bit and catch up with all that is new in the world of edtech. And boy, was I greeted with some goodies! Continue on to see what's new with several of my favorite tools.

This week, I had a teacher request an introduction and ongoing support for Prezi . I'm a big fan of the zooming presentation editor and have written several posts about the tool.  For this assignment, the class was divided into 3 groups, and each group had approximately 6-8 students. This represented a perfect opportunity to test the collaborative features of Prezi in a live student environment. After some minor testing with a few dummy accounts, we were ready to go.

Today, I gave a short presentation/demonstration to a class of AVID students on alternatives to PowerPoint. Starting with the mention of the familiar phrase "Death by PowerPoint" and a slideshare by Alexei Kapterev , I then discussed a few quick and easy options for our students. Descriptions of each after the jump, and a webpage with examples can be found here .

Lo and behold, just as I was about to make some edits on an existing Prezi for an upcoming presentation, I find an announcement for a free Prezi app on the iPad along with a "win a free iPad" contest on their website. If there was a web 2.0 tool that was just destined to become an iPad app, I would say Prezi is it. With its zooming presentation format and the drag, zoom, and slide interface, the multi-touch capabilities of the iPad seem to lend themselves perfectly to a well designed application. Let's see what the Prezi folks have created, shall we?

Recently, I've read and fielded a few comments from bloggers and teachers about some issues with Prezi .  In particular, several have noted the steep learning curve and the unintended focus on zooms/twists/turns as opposed to the content.  With regards to the latter, I learned firsthand how dizzying the Prezi experience can be when I gave previews of my ICE poster session to colleagues prior to the conference.  Feedback often included "That's really cool, but I'm starting to feel nauseated."  For the learning curve, I'd like to argue that when used carefully, Prezi can be easy to get started with and the program has the potential to be used as a transformative tool in education.

  Day 3 (for me) marked my debut in the conference arena as a presenter. As soon as I finished setting up my widescreen display and laptops, I found 12 people crowded around in a half circle by my table. So, off I went and as I walked through my Prezi and described our Google Apps deployment process at ETHS. A few large groups and many individuals later, I survived my first poster session and honestly loved every minute. I can see why some presenters enjoy posters more as I was able to connect with individuals much like how I enjoy connecting with students one-on-one in the classroom. It was great to hear what other schools were doing, and I was able to offer some advice to those schools just starting their experience with Google Apps. One potential collaboration involves working with some faculty members at Zion Benton High School in developing both curriculum materials and a course for training teachers on how to use Google Apps as well as assessments for the skills learn...

Here's my poster presentation for the ICE Conference on 2/26/10. I plan to display this on a monitor while having a few laptops to facilitate individual conversations. Below the Prezi is my conference handout that discusses our experience and outcomes with links to materials and exemplars. For other links and handouts from ICE 2010, click here . Google Apps @ETHS on Prezi Handout: Click to launch the full edition in a new window Publisher Software from YUDU YUDU Library - Embed by www.yudu.com

So, I stumbled upon a post on really bad PowerPoints, and I will admit that I was breaking nearly all of the "rules" that Seth mentions in his article. Later that day, I viewed Steve Jobs' keynote on the iPad, and I noticed that he pretty much followed along with the "rules" as well. I decided to reform myself and my next few presentations had fewer words, richer images, and allowed for more conversation. And then I rediscovered Prezi . A colleague of mine had recommended the tool awhile back, but I had not found the time to truly explore. I chose to use the tool for my upcoming poster session at ICE , and it was then that I also learned of the free educator/student license which allowed for more storage, private content, and no watermark.  In terms of ease of use and features, I found Prezi fairly simple to grasp, and I only had to search for help on a few items.  I really like the "wow" factor of the zooming presentation, but I can imagine that...