I consider myself to be somewhat savvy when it comes to learning new web-based tools, especially when the interface is fairly intuitive and online help is provided. Depending on the system, I may begin with whatever “getting started” tutorials are provided, or I may just poke around until I figure out what to do. The beauty of most cloud-based tools is that you really can’t break anything. You can just try various features and delete what doesn’t work.
If, however, you plan to use these tools with students, I do think that it’s important to be as knowledgeable as possible about the features. Even if a feature doesn’t initially challenge you as teacher, there is always the possibility that it will prompt questions from students, and you will have to know how to guide them through it.
I found Prezi to be a fun and simple tool, and I liked that it allowed me to use some creativity to present very basic information. Given that my work often requires me to develop brief tutorials to teach students how to do things like search a database, navigate a web site, etc., I could see embedding short Prezi presentations to guide students through step-by-step processes. I don’t generally make assignments to students since I either work with them on demand, or in one-time instruction sessions, but if a student had an assignment to create a presentation for one of his/her classes, I might suggest Prezi as an alternative to PowerPoint.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI like your mind set on how you can't "break" tools like this. That actually makes me feel better about how hard some of these tools are for me to use. I know that if I do something wrong or mess up I can just delete it and try again. This is truly one of the great things about technology and completing assignments on the internet. I think I enjoy good old powerpoint a little more than Prezi, but really I am sure that just comes from being familiar with it and knowing its ins and outs very well. I have been using powerpoint for about 6 or 7 years maybe more and it just fits there into my comfort zone. However, I do think that if you know how to work Prezi then it could be a really fun tool that kids actually enjoy. When we do projects in my classroom sometimes the kids don't actually enjoy using powerpoint, I don't know if it is because it is the same thing every time or what but they tend to get bored. I really think that if they understood and became familiar with Prezi it could capture their attention and open up a whole new world when working with presentations. I think the challenge here would be to get them on that familiar track. I actually had trouble myself learning Prezi and so they might have an even harder time learning it. For my students I think it would be something we would have to spend a lot of time on before they really "got it" and could use it all the time.