Using Prezi in Class

Prezi's are snazzy, they've got movement and geometry and zooming.  Pretty  much, when I discovered them a few weeks ago, I was totally ready to leave powerpoint in the dust.  Below are some tips for using Prezi's in the classroom.


Back to School Night
-Using a Prezi is a great way to introduce families to your classroom and what they can expect in the year to come.  It's visual and engaging and way more fun than lots of paper hand outs.


Teaching
-Along the same lines, presenting new concepts to your students through a Prezi is great and engaging.  You can even embed videos and images.


-Prezi's also work really well with a Smart Board. Sort of.  A plus is that you can use the tactile function of a smart board to move between slides and play videos.  A minus is that because Prezi is hosted online, there seems to be some difficulty when trying to use an ink layer on the Smart Board.


Student Work
-Teach students how to use Prezi, not only will it give them another means of showing you what they know, it can be a great lesson in layout and visual appeal.


Whatever you are using a Prezi for, here are 2 dos and a don't:

1. DO use color and play around with text.  The way Prezi is set up allows for coherency amongst the slides. 
2. DO use a template (my favorite!) when you're starting out.  I have found that they really help with laying out my ideas. 
3. DON'T go crazy with the panning and zooming and rotation.  You don't want to make yourself or your viewers sick.  Remember, Prezi is another way of presenting information. It's new and exciting (and in my opinion way better than powerpoint), but you still want the information to be what shines through. 

Here's a link to a simple Prezi I did for MAT 631.