Prezi is another fun web 2.0 application
that can be used for school projects, art projects, marketing presentations or
just for fun. It offers an innovative way to present a project. It
delivers fun, active, colorful presentations. It is a great tool for a person
with imagination, looking for something different non-linear. For the individual
with a sense of creativity and enjoys exploring new ways of getting the message
across Prezi is for you.
The difference between Prezi and PowerPoint
is that it is non-linear while PowerPoint has more of the traditional
presentation applications that we are used to seeing especially in the business
world.
At first I was quite impressed by the brightness
and smooth look of Prezi. The platform offers a very different angle at looking
at a presentation definitely different from the linear series of slides that one
can create with PowerPoint. I loved how you can zoom in and out of your frame
set, rotate each frame or create a flow diagram of your topic and include the
content as you are editing.
I spend most of one day putting my Prezi
presentation together at first I did not know how to go about using Prezi but I
followed each of the instructional tabs and started to explore its use. I
played with Prezi like putting together a puzzle with each of the pieces that I
selected I discovered how I can manipulate its use and make it more
interesting. I played with background colors offered and loved how it made the
presentation looked different. I selected the spring color schemed of colors available because it looked like the look that
it gave of coloring with crayons or markers and I wanted the presentation to be
more appealing to the eye and hoped to attract a younger audience. I think that with time Prezi will grow on me,
but I think that its use will be more towards fun presentations to do for youth
programs or even for marketing a school or a library program.
As functionality goes I think I will
continue to stick to using PowerPoint. PowerPoint is very functional and simple
and the data can be inputted quickly and effectively. It is part of the
Microsoft packages so you can save the presentation in your computer or a flash
drive. This is something that I found to be important. While with Prezi, as far
as I can see you have to log on from the Internet to be able to open your
presentation and I am not sure of how safe or protected is your presentation on
Prezi. I understand that because Prezi basic is a free application it is free
for the public to see. Using Prezi may
be a fun tool to explore and play around but in my opinion is not a tool that I
would use for a serious professional presentation.
PowerPoint offer versatility, a high degree
of customization tools and features that makes it possible for the user to keep
its format consistent and organized in each of the slides. The animation, video
links and many of the inserts available are easily accessible. Prezi offers
animation, youtube uploads or other
downloads function and like PowerPoint it offers clipboard, charts and many
other features but it is not easy to tweak the presentation to suit any need or
occasion like PowerPoint.
Maybe it has to do with the basic access application
that is free to the public and it does not offer as many options for creating a
more formal kind of presentation without losing is luster. I think it offers enough options for a nice presentation.
I will continue to play with Prezi and hope
to discover more uses; I may or may not incorporate the Prezi to future
presentations. In the meantime, I will continue to be faithful to PowerPoint
until I find that Prezi or other presentation platforms out there are capable
of meeting my presentation needs.
What do you mean by a "formal kind of presentation?" Could it be because PPT has been the main (and one of the only) presentation softwares we have come to associate PPT with a "good" or "formal" presentation?
ReplyDeleteWhat I was referring as formal is that in the business world a presentation is one that looks professional. The idea of a presentation is to present information. When I was thinking about formal presentation what I wanted to convey that a formal presentation is not about demonstrating all of the bells and whistles is to convey purpose, simplicity and consistency.
DeleteAs you are designing your PowerPoint or any other presentation you must first consider whether the purpose is to entertain, inform, persuade or sell. Whatever you decide always remember what is the formal approach most appropriate to the subject or audience. Keep colors, clip art consistent and to a minimum, select graphic image consistent with colors and fonts used. I have been told that the most effective PowerPoint presentations are the ones that are simple, easy to understand and maintain the audience interested in the subject.
This is what I mean about formality. I am still new at this but I think that PowerPoint is more of a formal type of presentation due to the elements mention. Prezi to me portrays itself more artistic, entertaining and it's approach is more independent less formal.
I would also like to add is that as I looked at Prezi, I could not see myself using the platform for a presentation for where I work at psychcare. I could not see myself creating a presentation for Health insurances to discuss the purpose of "Encompass" through Prezi. I find Prezi to be like a wild teenager still trying to figure out who he/she is. Not a stable middle age individual that has settled down and wants to take thing seriously. I hope I make sense. I still like it and is so fun to use, but the verdict is still out for me as to how, when and where I would use it.
DeleteI think you made a good point about PowerPoint being the go-to for making a presentation quickly. It's easy to spend a lot of time in PowerPoint, but I think it's even EASIER to spend a lot of time thinking about the customization of Prezi just because there is more to customize.
ReplyDelete