Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint

 

What the resource is and what you need to make it work…

PowerPoint is one of the presentation software. It is really famous as presentation software which can make interesting and affective presentation of any subjects. PowerPoint, originally it was called “Presenter” actually, was developed by Forethought. In 1978, both of this software and the company was acquired by Microsoft Corporation. There is the great number of users all over the world, and so many schools, companies and organizations have this software in their computers as well. When you want to get this software, you should buy the package of the Microsoft Office, which including Word, Excel and so on, to pay money and download them to your computer. When you start to use PowerPoint on your own computer, you have to sign up your user name, although it is not difficult. If you use PowerPoint on common computer, it is not necessary to make difficult registration and you just click the icon of PowerPoint.

How the resource can be used by teachers …

Teachers can use this software in various situations. It is frequently used when a teacher introduces new information to their pupils. There is wealth of content, for example word art, animations, designs, and so on, which can emphasis on important information and make presentation interesting. We can put information on PowerPoint not only text but also pictures, movies, sounds, maps, graphs, charts and so on. Moreover teachers can link to the internet on PowerPoint as well. For example, if a teacher link to YouTube directly, he or she does not have to download movies from website. Or for example, if a teacher uses a particular website like there are English learning exercises, he or she can go to the website and show them to pupils. We can share our own presentation with other people. If you click on “broadcast slide show” and have Windows Live ID, you can show your presentation to other people. People who get the link of presentation, he or she can watch it even if he or she does not have PowerPoint.

How the resource can be used by pupils …
Pupils can use this software as an oral communication’s task. The way of using this software is not so difficult. If pupils can type at a keyboard and use mouse, they definitely can be to user of PowerPoint. Pupils can make slides as much as they want, even they can make only one slide, thus there is no pressure to make presentation so much. Most of schools have this software in their computer, so they can make it in their school by themselves. Also there are guidance how to use PowerPoint, therefore pupils can refer to it even if they have unclear points.

Other considerations when using this resource…

The useful tool of PowerPoint is outline system. You can use this tool to organize information. To use this tool, you can find the lack of information easily or check whether contents of your presentation math for the aim of the class. What is the negative point of PowerPoint is that there are the contents too rich. In the case of people use these contents which emphasis on specific things effectively, the presentation should be meaningful and intelligibly. However in the case of people use these things too much, for example he or she uses animation to every text or puts various colors in the same sheet. What is important is to distinguish between important things and less important things. PowerPoint is good material for presentation, but users have to mention how to convey information to other people effectively. Also if a teacher uses PowerPoint in his or her class, they should pay attention to interactive communication a between teacher and students. People who give presentation in front of other people tend to concentrate on what he or she speaks and using PowerPoint.

Miki Shirabe

Prezi presentations in your classroom

Today the world includes a lot of technology. The school world also needs to use technology when educating pupils. This means that every teacher needs to have knowledge about different technology to use in the classroom. Technology can make a lesson interesting and fun for the pupils. Prezi is one way of bringing the ICT into a classroom.

What the resource is: Prezi is a new cloud-based presentation software. It was released in 2009. Prezi is a presentation everyone can work with online and it is also possible to download the program and use it offline. There is only one page to work with, you write your main idea here and then you build the presentation from this. The most special thing with the software is the zooming navigation. This awesome tool lets the user zoom into the most important things of the presentation. It is also possible to open an internet link in the program for example a YouTube movie.

What you need to make it work: The main Prezi program is for free. So the user does not need to pay anything when using the program. There is a version of Prezi that the user can buy. This version lets the user get more tools and space but this is not necessary. The first time when using Prezi, the user needs to sign up. After signing up, there is a short movie to watch. The name of it is how to make your own presentation. In the program there are molds that the user could use. It is good to work through the internet because that makes it easy for the user to work with the presentation on different computers. The user only logs in on Prezi.com and then he or she can find his or her presentation that already is made or almost finished there. The drawback is that you need an internet connection.

How a teacher can use it: All teachers can use this kind of presentations with their pupils, from kindergarten and up to the university. In primary school, Prezi is a good material to use when introducing a new topic or a theme. The zooming navigator can help the pupils to be focused on the right things. It also helps the teacher give the pupils clear information about the subject. When the teacher shows maps and talks about a sequence, the zooming is perfect. The teacher can also use Prezi for storytelling. The teacher reads a story and the pupils can follow by listening and watching pictures in Prezi. It is like turning a page in a book but in a modern way. Every child is able to see the pictures at the same time and very clearly.

How the pupils can use it: For younger pupils this program can be a little bit tricky to manage. The pupils need to be at least a fourth grader to use Prezi by their own. By using Prezi, the pupils have different options to present their knowledge and make fun presentations. This is a way of reporting and showing their results of a subject that they have been working with. Prezi shows the pupils’ creativity because there are so many options to choose between.  

My final thoughts: Prezi is something new for the pupils. It is a program they have not seen before, and this makes the lesson interesting and the teacher can get the pupils attention easily. Prezi will not cost the school anything. The only thing the teacher needs is a computer and an internet connection. These are things almost every school in Sweden has today.   Prezi can make the lesson more clear and could engage more pupils in a lesson. It can be used both by teachers and pupils. Prezi is a good ICT resource to use in the classroom.

Sofie Pettersson

PREZİ

Ebru Altun

Introduction

Prezi is a presentation software which resembles power point.  Power-point has many users all over the world. Generally, power-point and Prezi are created with the same aim which is to create more dynamic and interesting presentations. With this software, people can make the visualization of information possible.  Visualization of the information helps to make learning easier.  According to Edgar Dale’s learning pyramid, people can only learn 5% of the information when they just listen to it, they can learn 10% of it, when they are reading and they can learn 20% of it when they see something which related to subject with audio-visual methods. Learners pay more attention when they see something about the topic you are talking about. Prezi is distinguished from power point by its zooming user interface. . With this interface, Prezi users can zoom in and out of their presentation and this option contributes to the dynamic and effectiveness of Prezi.

You can download this software to your personal computer and then use it or another way in which you can make a presentation is by using this website ( http://Prezi.com/ ). You need to register an account to access it. When you pick a username and a password you can use Prezi to make more entertaining presentations.

In Prezi, there are three different choices in relation to how to use it. You can take a  free account with public license. In this account, everyone can see your presentation and they download it. Other accounts give more useful choices to users.

When you use power-point, you should use your computer to make the presentation or you can use another computer which must have Microsoft Office Programs. In Prezi, there is no need to have this software in your computer, if you have ethernet connection, you can reach your presentation only by using your username.

When you use your account, you can see all your presentations in the same page. You can change them or you can make a new presentation with a new Prezi tab. 

               You can use ready-made templates or you can create new ones related to your presentation.

In Prezi, there are different tabs, you can add frames, you can change the color of your templates by using a template tab. You can add pictures, diagrams or something like them by using images tab. You can add videos by using a media tab. These tabs help to make more efficient, interesting and dynamic presentations.

In power-point, all pages are placed in a sequence so you can follow this order while in Prezi, you can edit the path and can select the order of slides in the presentation.

In Prezi, you can invite others to watch or edit the presentation. You can make presentations with others who are invited by you or they can edit your presentations. When you finish your presentation you can send a link of your presentation to your friend. Or you can share it in Facebook, in Twitter or in Linkedin.

How the resource can be used by teachers

Every student is different from the others and every student can learn more easily with different way so teachers should use different methods in class. According to researches, trying to teach something with lecture or by reading is not beneficial. Lots of teachers prefer the lecture method to teaching. Lectures can be more efficient when using some presentation software. Teachers can use Prezi to make presentation about their teaching subject. In this way, students pay more attention to the subject and they can learn more easily, the learning environment can be more entertaining and the students do not get bored. Without visualization of the information, having only lectures or reading can be so boring and students lose their attention-span very easily. Probably in 10 minutes, students focus themselves on a different object or they start talking each other. In this condition, teaching does not come to its full realization.  If the teacher prefers lecturing, s/he should make a presentation at least so that students can pay more attention when they see something about what they are talking about.

How the resource can be used by pupils

Pupils can use Prezi with the same aim. When they have a task they can use Prezi to make presentation so they can express themselves more easily and they can use Prezi as a tool which supports what they are talking about with photos, videos, diagrams…