Group 3 - Presentation Technologies

       

These days, there are so many platforms available for presenting information. I have produced my first interactive powerpoint. It has the same organising structure as a normal powerpoint but in addition it has links to each slide from the homepage and back again. I don’t see this as a great benefit and doesn’t seem any more interactive than progressing through a presentation from start to finish. In fact, there is the possibility of losing track during the presentation.

My Prezi is fantastic, it puts a whole new spin on powerpoint. Prezi is alot more visually stimulating than a powerpoint because all the information is constructed on the one canvas. A pathway is created through the information by the author for Prezi to chunk the information into individual slides to present. Images, videos, audios, text and links are all supported in Prezi. The canvas feel promotes minimal text use, challenging students to incorporate other forms of media to inform the audience. This formate genuinely supports all the learning styles, can be collaborative and looks really professional.

Finally, I have used the same information from my powerpoints and converted it into a Glog. Similiar to the Prezi, this format takes on a poster style canvas but has a more scrapbooking feel. I found this site easy to use but a little tricky to organise my content. The whole poster is not visable as you are constructing, so balancing the page is more difficult. Glogging is excellent for classroom projects as teachers can have up to 50 students in the class. Everybody has access to all student glogs, eliminating fiddly invitations and acceptance. This is a virtual online classroom that is completely safe for students.

Interactive Powerpoint
Plus: -Teaches students to organise thoughts - Chunking into key points -Printable	Minus: -Overuse of dot points - Creativity is limited -Not collaborative online	Interesting: Has been the pioneer of digital presentations and widely used by individuals and corporate but will eventually be superseded
Prezi
Plus: -Eliminates storyboards -No concerns about different versions of pp not being compatible -More visual based -Collaborative (up to 10 students can work simultaneously on the same Prezi) -Creative expression unlimited -Online storage	Minus: -Not all media is supported yet -Difficult to print presentation	Interesting: -Still evolving as a powerful presentation too -Spacial approach rather than lineal approach to construction
Glogs:
Plus: -Limited space forces students to consider how best to present information -Online storage -Can be embedded into other formats -Teachers and students can easily view each others work -Safe, protected environment -Easy to master	Minus: -Vulnerable to technical issues (students not saving work) -Students can waste time -Focus can be taken from the quality of content by distracting gadgets -Lack of inclass time -Can be slow to upload due to the graphical nature	Interesting: -Spacial or lineal approach to construction