Prezi!

Surprise!  It's Prezi!

Copy of Mardi Gras Throws on Prezi
Here is also a link to it. 

Whew! That took some doing. I struggled with this for a while. I was all excited to upload power points (since I love those) and I think that was my downfall. I did not like how locked into things I was with all the imported slides. I also think my ppt was too big as well. I was getting overwhelmed with 70+ slides!!  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the look of Prezi, I just don't think I will use it for everyday teaching use unless it is a short format. I do, however, think it is great for students. It is visually appealing, relatively easy to use (despite my troubles) and encourages fluid thought and spatial recognition. You really have to get down a sequence of events to make the presentation make sense, which some students may have trouble with. My boss recently used a Prezi presentation at a meeting and was so excited about it! 

While both Power Point and Prezi are both presentation tools, Prezi is more versatile than Power Point in its delivery, format, and sequencing. Power Point is pretty staid in its format, with only fancy slide transitions to make it more showy.  Prezi also has an advantage having the ability to access it offline. However, I found the importation of slides to be difficult to manipulate after they were uploaded and confusing to maintain a large presentation. My hands are tired after so much unecessary clicking!

NETS T standards associated with Prezi are:

1) Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity

2) Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments

3) Model digital-age work and learning

Creative within boundaries is good for students. I feel too much free reign can scare some off. With Prezi, students can be creative and still have guidelines. As I said before, I think this will help with sequencing of events, fluid thought and spatial conception. I think it helps students to problem solve and think logically while creating presentations that are outside of the norm and fun to look at!