BP_8_Prezi

Prezi.com touts that they can jazz up any presentation. It’s better than Powerpoint and their simpler slideshows.  True Powerpoint has good transitions, decent sound effects that are good for beginners, and provides beginners with simple-to-make presentations.

However, Prezi.com can change all that. 

They have a public option that is free. One only needs to register. They offer 100 MB available for their free usage option as well as student/teacher licenses available.

There are also other option levels one called Enjoy for $59.00 a year with 500 MB available.  The Pro option offers 2000 MB for $159/ year. There are other options, but the one for me is the free one with student/teacher licenses.

The student/teacher licenses also have two options that allow teachers and students to make their own presentations for free, and one with more options for $59.00 a year.

After registering, the user can view example prezis or watch tutorials.

After the tutorials, begin your own Prezi.  Double click on the screen to begin.  Click once on your text and there’s a “zebra” to delete, change, reposition, or resize text. The zebra 

is in the middle of your text.

There are other buttons that are standard, like undo, save, and exit. Another choice is to add photos from your saved pics. These also can be adjusted like the text using the zebra tool.

Videos can be added from YouTube.  These can also be resized and moved. One really interesting option is the path element in the bubble at the top of the page.  This is the order in which the objects will be shown.  Even when the presentation is being shown, I can manipulate the pictures, zoom in, change the object’s place on the screen, and move from slide to slide so easily by using the bubble at the top of the page. If I choose a particular path, then change my mind, I can drag the path I want changed out of the screen and it automatically renumbers the order!  Amazingly easy!

I had my kids at school make a Prezi about something they are learning. They were limited to 2 minutes of a Prezi each because they were so awed by this tool. They were eager to learn how to do this and watched eagerly at the example I made.  Talk about excited when I told them they were going to make their own Prezi! Wow!

One thing though, they took so long playing with the Prezi that they didn't all finish.

As a matter of fact, they made me promise that I would let them work on "that Prezi thing" on Monday.  

This is the one I worked on with the kids today to show an example, then I let each of them add a word or a picture they liked.  I had to delete about ten pictures because it was just too much.  They got the idea quickly and went right to work on their own Prezi.