Prezi

=**PREZI**=

[|**http://prezi.com**] **(**Sign up page)

**Prezi.com Tutorials:**
[|**http://prezi.com/learn/getting-started/**] (basics)

[|**http://prezi.com/learn/presenting-and-publishing/**] (presenting and publishing)

[] (tips for workflow)

**Sample Prezi presentations:**

 * []**

**YouTube Video tutorials:**
[|**http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z98WBuZh_s**] (bubble menu)

**Educational Objectives of Prezi:**
Demonstrate proficient use of technology tool Demonstrate ability to synthesize information to present major ideas in clear and concise manner Use critical thinking and higher level thinking skills to present learned content in a meaningful way Demonstrate understanding of subject area content by presenting to peers

**Prezi can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom:**

 * Students can create a presentation explaining a scientific process (for example: the water life cycle) by importing clip art and photos and adding text. Final presentations can be shared with the entire class.


 * · Students can create a presentation as a culminating project for a Social Studies unit. For example, a timeline of an historical figure can be created using pictures of important milestones of the person’s life.


 * Students can develop an original story in Language Arts and then tell the story using text and imported images. Students can draw their own pictures, scan them, and create jpg files that can be imported as well.


 * · Students can research a state, country, or culture and create a presentation. After researching specific information about their topic and searching for appropriate images, the images can be imported, the text added, and path added to complete the presentation//.//


 * Teachers can explain a difficult math concept by creating a presentation that shows relationships with different sized text and emphasizes a procedure by focusing in on it. Zooming in and out of a formula between the entire formula and the individual parts can help clarify the process for solving the problem.


 * I tried Prezi by creating my own presentation: []**

I decided to make a presentation about Prezi that I might be able to use to introduce it to the staff at my school. I signed up for a free educational account, EDU Enjoy, which allows for presentations to be private and provides 500MB of storage for my Prezi presentations. (There is a free version, a $59 version that provides more storage, a Pro version for $159 and an educational Pro version for $59.) I watched the tutorials on the Prezi.com website for the basic features, presenting and publishing, and workflow. I watched a few of the Prezi presentations available on the Showcase tab to get some ideas. Then I opened my first project and began writing down words and ideas that I thought described Prezi. I clicked on the bubble menu to edit the font size, move and turn the text around using the Target Zebra tool, and grouped some items together using the Frame tool. I decided to import one image, so I did a screen print of the bubble menu, created a jpg file in Windows paint, and imported it into my project. Next, using the Path feature, I assigned numbers to all of the items to set the flow of the presentation. I was anxious to see what it looked like so I clicked on the Show bubble. I repeated the same process about four or five more times, moving things around, reordering some of the items, resizing text until I was satisfied with the presentation. I downloaded the file using the download feature so I could view if from my computer rather than the web browser. I spent approximately 1 hour to create by presentation after viewing the tutorials. I then explored the Group feature and viewed more sample presentations. I also had an opportunity to have two of our gifted students try Prezi. Without any advanced notice and no preparation, these two students came to the computer lab and logged into Prezi. By the end of the 45 min. class period, both students had viewed the tutorials and had almost completed their presentations.

**Challenges:**

 * Prezi sometimes doesn’t respond as expected (at least in my experience) and must be exited and reopened to work properly. (My jpg file may have contributed to this.)


 * ·J PG files may need to be resized to less than 2880 pixels to avoid editing issues that occur when jpg files are too large.


 * · Obtaining student email addresses for the sign up may require administration approval.


 * · Some students may have difficulty with the non-linear nature of Prezi. Setting up frames to represent //slides//may help those students who are used to PowerPoint or other linear related programs.

**Technology Integration Lesson Plan:**
Collaboration with 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher - Civil War

Objective: To demonstrate understanding of the events of the Civil War by creating a timeline of at least 10 major events of the war using Prezi presentation tool.

Procedures:
 * 1) Students review their notes and use their textbooks and other available classroom resources to list the major events of the Civil War.
 * 2) Students use the laptops in the classroom to search for pictures and clip art that represent the events on the students’ list of major events and save into their student directory.
 * 3) Teacher signs up for Prezi and creates a //Group//. Import student email addresses into the Group following procedures on Prezi website. This allows the teacher to view the students’ Prezi presentations and share with the class.
 * 4) Teacher demonstrates basic editing tools in Prezi using the laptop computer and the LCD projector.
 * 5) Students sign in to Prezi with their student email addresses and view the tutorials on the LEARN page in Prezi.
 * 6) Students use basic editing tools in Prezi to create their timelines using laptops in the classroom. Clipart and images are imported and text is added.
 * 7) Using Prezi, students add paths and frames to guide the flow of the presentation.
 * 8) Students will download their final project to a network file.
 * 9) Students will view and assess classmates’ final projects.

**Recommendation:**
I would recommend using Prezi as a presentation tool. It is very easy to use. It may take a few tries to understand how all the tools work but this takes very little time. The presentations have a professional, contemporary look. It is a good tool for demonstrating what the students have learned and is another way for parents to see what their child has learned. The educational version allows for private presentations so they can be viewed only by invited users (parents, classmates, and administrators). The presentations can also be published on the Prezi website if it is deemed safe by the administration. For basic student use the free or enjoy versions are sufficient. If more advance features are desired, the Pro or Educational Pro version would be the best option.