This will be my final post about my learning adventure with Prezi. When I first posted about learning about Prezi, I stated that I was a little anxious. I wanted to be an expert right away but I know that it takes time. I must say that I am very pleased to taken on the challeng of learning this dynamic presentation tool. However, I believe that all technology tools should and can be used in a variety of ways and looking forward to discovering even more with Prezi. Being a very analytical person, I often like to break down things into lists and in this case, the advantages and disadvantages of Prezi. So in true structured format, I present my lists below.
Advantages
- Engaging and Interactive
- Promotes deeper learning for students (If students use this tool for presentations, the time consuming property of this tool allows students to spend more time with the material to be learned)
- Embedding of videos and pictures (These items can be hidden behind something else so they are not the main focus on the screen)
- Collaboration (Can take place when participants cannot be physically present)
- Connects to Visual Learners
- Digital literacy that connents to our current students who are digital natives
- Easily learned and user friendly with templates available for first time users
- Imports PowerPoint
- Differentiates instruction and products produced
Disadvantages
- Limited number of fonts and colours
- Time consuming
- Internet based
- Prezi sickness from too much zooming and transitions
- Flash may take away from the professionlism of the presentation
The rubber band below represented my feelings at the beginning of my adventure with Prezi. I felt that there were so many rubber bands or components to Prezi that I needed to learn. I now believe that there are rubber bands to be removed as I learn more and more about Prezi but not as many as I first thought. I am now excited about the many possibilites and rubber bands that are still present and undiscovered. I look forward to using Prezi in the classroom when I have another face to face classroom. However, I do see the possibility of using it with distance students. Instead of posting videos on an isolated topic, I can now create an entire connected lesson on a bigger topic in the form of a mindmap. In other words, I look forward to finally using what I have learned into my practice. I want start creating lessons now for a biology course that I am not sure I will be teaching. Hopefully, I will find out before my next set of courses start in July. What else is there to fill my time now that I have almost completed two of the courses that I am taking now.
Lastly, I am excited to present this technology tool to my learners as another option to present their learning. Instead of writing lab reports using a word processing program or a handwritten one, they can express their learning in a digital manner. In is still working on literacy outcomes but far more engaging which I believe leads to deeper learning and retention. The only thing that I worry about is what my colleagues in the math and science department will think about lab reports being presented in this manner. As an undergrad studying biology, we were not even allowed to colour our diagrams in our lab reports. It should be an intersting discussion that I look forward to.
