Prezi

Prezi is a great website I found that, as it says, "makes your presentations ZOOM!" At first, Prezi reminded me of a more complicated version of PowerPoint, but as I explored it more and actually made a presentation, I saw how fun and interactive you can make your presentations become using Prezi. To start using Prezi, you must sign up for it (which is easy to do and is free as long as you get the public version). Once you are logged in, you can begin creating a new presentation. You can name your presentation and start it by choosing a template to edit, or you can start from scratch. When I made my presentation, I used a pre-made template so that I could build my presentation much easier (it also had a cute background and media already put in for me). You can also take a PowerPoint presentation you already have made and adapt it for Prezi. One benefit Prezi could offer in the classroom is that it is very appealing to the eye and all of the zooming capabilities help to maintain student engagement in the presentation. Also, it's zooming capabilities offer you the option to put tiny explanations in your presentation under media, key words, and passages. This could be especially helpful to students who need extra help or more detailed explanations of certain topics. The students can easily zoom into these sections of the Prezi to get the further help they need. Another great thing about Prezi (that I like better than PowerPoint) is that unlike in a PowerPoint presentation, you can be a lot more free with your order of presentation. For example, you can set your presentation in the form of any path you like. For the Prezi I made, I used a tree path so that I have roots, a trunk, and branches with all my main points on them. You could also make a circular cycle (to teach about the ecosystem for example) or any other path you would like. It also gives you the freedom to skip around in your presentation and zoom in and out to any point you like. Just like in PowerPoint, Prezi gives you structure and order to your presentation, but it also gives you liberty to be extra creative and much more visual. I will definitely be using this website to make presentations not only during college, but in my future classroom. I also found this great YouTube video that gives a great intro on how to get started using Prezi! Have fun making your presentations ZOOM!