Tech Tuesday - Prezi





It's Tech Tuesday, and today I'm sharing software that may change the way you look at presentations.
Prezi software offers a new way of presenting information.  As the website states, "Unlike static slides, Prezi combines motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to engage your audience and help them remember your message."

Where to find it?

You can access prezi by going to www.prezi.com.  Then log in or register as a first time user.  You can also log in through your Facebook account.

What will you find?

Each prezi begins with either a template, or a clear canvas, on which you will organize all your media.  As you construct your prezi, you can create it to show the whole canvas, zoom in on a particular area of the canvas, or zoom in even further for more detailed information.  You create an order for the information you are presented, similar to slides, and change the order as needed.
Before beginning your first Prezi, you can take the interactive tutorial, which takes you step by step through the creation process.  It is user-friendly, and can be a very quick process, depending on your needs for the topic at hand.  Prezis can be saved for later, or if finished, are published publicly.  There is also the option to download the prezi to your computer.
Here is a copy of the Prezi I created on collection development.  My goal for this prezi was to show my process for selecting new materials for the library and how the orders are processed by the school site.  I also wanted to show how there are other ways of acquiring materials for the library, and finally give a plan for improving collection development statistics.



There are several levels of membership, from free to business pricing.  With the free public account, you can create and present all your presentations online, however, they are visible to the public.  Also, there are only 100 MB of storage.  This is not a problem if you create, download, and then delete presentations as you go.

What I like about Prezi

There are several things to like about Prezi.  First, there are a variety of templates offered, to fit your different presentation needs.  You can select a fun and playful format, or a very tailored and professional one.  Second, once you get started, it is fun to play with all the applications.  You can insert links, documents, videos, and more.  Third, because the presentations zoom in and out, they grab the interest of the audience, and keep their attention.  I use the free public account, however, I am debating upgrading to the Enjoy account, which allows you to control privacy settings, and provides support.

So if you are tired of slide presentations, give Prezi a try.



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