Prezi

I first heard about Prezi several weeks ago from a friend who is always in Elementary Education. She had suggested it to her 17-year-old sister, who proceeded to make a presentation for her junior level English class. The teacher was so impressed, he had her show it to the entire class and explain how she made it. After learning that, I decided to try it for myself.

It really is an interesting program that produces a very unique presentation. It is very simple to add text, including editing and rotating. Photos or drawings can be uploaded to supplement the text. Youtube videos can even be added to make it extra interesting.
The part that makes Prezi so unique is that you can set a path for the presentation to take - that is, the order that the "slides", or bits of information, are shown. You can create a large roadmap full of the information and the path created zooms in on each piece. What appears to be tiny, minute scribbles can be turned into a full "slide" for the viewers to see. One great example from the showcase can be seen here.

This isn't a program I would recommend for very young students to create for themselves; it is very complicated and even I had some trouble getting used to it. However, it would make for a great presentation on any topic for the students. And I believe high school students would enjoy making their own to spice up their presentation for class. Going through the showcase, I found science lessons, math tutorials, presentations about the positives of technology, etc. The possibilities are endless for this program.

Even though it is a complicated program, they have several tutorials for every level on their Learn Center page. I would definitely recommend watching a few of the videos before getting started.

So far, I think the only downfall about this program is how complicated and intricate it is. I don't believe it is not a program for young students to use themselves, but there are many ways to use it in a classroom of any level.