Our Prezi and Powerpoint Presentations- Becca

By Rebecca Shook

            We all presented our own subject matter for the first time using PowerPoint and Prezi presentations.  I really liked seeing everyone present their content and thought the topics that everyone chose were all very interesting in their own right.  As far as the technology used to present these topics, I really liked the winding around of the Prezi’s! It kept me engaged and I always wanted to know where it was going to go next.  The videos, I thought, were the best part of everyone’s presentations because they were unique and brought forth some of the personality of the individuals in our group, which I though was fun!

            I don’t think that using new technology is the best idea when presenting content to the class.  I thought there were a lot of technical difficulties that distracted from the presentations and I thought that some of the topics just did not mesh well with the Prezi format.  I liked seeing everyone present using this new technology, but I feel that we were all so worried about using it for the first time, that it took away from the flow of our presentations.  We weren’t able to use the teaching strategies that we have been learning in other classes because we were preoccupied with the board, what slide we were on and having to be ready to push the button to move the presentation to the next step.  It was our first time teaching our own content, and the first time, for most of us, using unfamiliar technology.  In fact, aside from using color well, I don’t remember anyone using any teaching strategies except for Shannon questioning the class about the state of Oregon and Beau giving us handouts. 

            After seeing everyone’s presentations, I would improve my presentation by not focusing so much on the Prezi, but instead focusing more on the actual content I am teaching to the class.  I thought my Prezi, through the use of pictures, video, and defining key processes in the water cycle, spoke for itself, and that was not the goal of this presentation.  The goal of the presentation was to use Prezi as a backdrop to the presentation of the content.  We weren’t presenting the Prezi, we were presenting the topic and that is where I went wrong.  I thought that for my topic, the format of Prezi worked well.  Next time I present this topic I will slow down, go into more detail and get the students involved!  Also, having a clicker or someone moving the presentation forward for me might be useful so I can move around the room more.

            I think I will enjoy using prezi as a presentation method once I am more familiar with it and the proper way to incorporate it into my content.  It can add a nice visual perspective to a presentation and make learning more exciting.  On the downside, it is not made for all topics and technical difficulties can really take away from precious learning time.  Having a back-up plan when using technology would always be helpful in the event that difficulties arise!  I am not extremely familiar with the ways students can get involved, but I think there is a way to navigate a prezi so if you click on a picture it will transport you to whatever is hidden there.  You may be able to get the kids involved by having them choose where they want to go on in the prezi, or what they want to learn about first, kind of like a choose your own adventure!

            After this project I don’t believe there is one good way to present lecture material.  I believe it is dependent on the topic being taught, the teacher who is teaching, and the students receiving the information.  Prezi, Smartboard, and PowerPoint are all great ways to present information to students in their own ways.  I hope to become familiar with all the different ways to back up my lectures, and would love to be able to choose from them depending on the topic I am teaching.  I believe that using technology to present information, if done right, is a really effective way to help present information, especially in this day and age!