Prezi Reflections

There were many effective uses of presentation demonstrated in our last class period. For me the most effective presenters used captivating pictures that supported their topic, clear and concise text, as well as being comfortable and familiar with their topic. The ineffective presentations for me included little or no pictures, poor use of text, and lack of color and artistic creativity.

One of the presentations that stood out to me was Becca’s, I liked her use of visuals, her video, and her rap song. I felt like this was a well-thought out and prepared presentation. I also felt like Dok’s pictures did a nice job of representing his topic but and also brought some appropriate humor into the presentation

After viewing everyone else’s presentations, I can see specific ways that I could have improved my own Prezi. Prior to the presentation I did not clearly understand that the Prezi was to do the main job of presenting and I was suppose to act as an aid to what was being shown. I think I did mine in the exact opposite way and if I were to redo it I would definitely have a lot less text and more pictures that showed and explained in detail what I wanted to teach. I could have been much more creative with having video and pictures “teach for me”, instead of taking the approach of a more traditional, old-school presentation.

Even though I do not feel like I used Prezi to it’s best advantage, I did enjoy using it and figuring out at a basic level how to create a presentation. I think one of the benefits Prezi offers teachers is it’s ability to incorporate the use of pictures, music, and media to entertain students and hopefully give them a better understanding of the subject. The biggest con of Prezi for me right now is that I am still a beginner and it takes more time to sit down and create a Prezi than doing a normal lecture.

I don’t think that there is a “best” way of presenting, for me it is whatever is most suited to the subject you are teaching at the moment and what format is going to be most effective for your students. That said, I do see myself using Prezi in the my future classroom because I personally enjoyed the creative side of designing the presentation and think that it does allow you more innovation than simply speaking from a lectern. I will use Prezi again because I think it allows you to reach your students using a more entertaining method. By communicating with them in a more current mode, they will possibly have more access and a deeper understanding of the topic being taught.