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The tree reminds me of the tree of knowledge, with a couple of red apples on the branches and the words Key, Results and Plan around the tree. There is a play symbol which takes you to an instructional video. It is free to sign up for the site, and the sign up process is made even easier with the ability to sign in to Prezi via your Facebook account. The concept behind Prezi is simple; it is a “virtual whiteboard that transforms presentations from monologues into conversations: enabling people to see, understand, and remember ideas.” It is also described as “... a presentation tool that helps you organize and share your ideas.” On the site there are different sections, one specifically for Education. The slogan for this page reads “Engage your class”. Other areas are Businesses, Conferences and Non-Profits.

You can use this site to create your own presentations. There are different membership options. With the free option you can edit your presentations. You also get 100 MB of cloud storage, in which to keep your finished items for future reference and use. You can present on or offline, and you also get a free iPad app. All presentations that you create are publically accessible. The Enjoy version is $4.92 per month, with a free 30 day trial to see whether it is for you or not. With this version you will get the option to make your presentations private, as well as 500 MB of storage space. The support service guarantees a faster response, and you will be able to use your own logo on presentations. The most expensive option, the Pro membership is $13.25 per month and you will get 2GB of cloud storage. You can create private presentations and have the option of securely working offline. You can use your own logo and can also take advantage of the premium support service. This package also offers a 30 day free trial.

Pros

1. 1

   You Can Find Great Ready Made Presentations and Ideas

   For people who want great presentations to use in the classroom, but whom, like me, perhaps aren’t so adept at putting things together, these are fantastic.

   All presentations made by non-paying members are publically accessible, meaning that you can easily browse through and find inspirational content. Some presentations will be suitable for you to use in their entirety, meaning that you have great visual content that you can use in your classroom to engage and stimulate your students. Use the Explore tab to search. When you search you can filter your results to only show those presentations that are reusable. I tried a couple of different searches. Searching for reusable presentations on prepositions yielded over 1,000 results. Handy icons told me how many people had viewed the presentation along with how many “like” ratings had been given to a presentation. I could also see who made the presentation and when it was made. Clicking on a presentation gave me option to make a copy, share, or, if I was logged in, to leave a comment. Using the search term 'present perfect tense' also gave me over 1,000 choices. For people who want great presentations to use in the classroom, but whom, like me, perhaps aren’t so adept at putting things together, these are fantastic. With such a lot of content you may find yourself searching through presentations for longer than you intended, but you will surely find something that is just perfect for your requirements. On the whole, the presentations have good content and excellent visuals. The vast majority are easy to follow through and to use in your own lessons.

2. 2

   Anyone Can Browse Existing Public Prezis

   There is no requirement to be logged in to look through all the existing presentations that are publically accessible.

3. 3

   You Can Create Presentations for Free

   If you cannot find exactly what you are looking for, or you have a clear idea in your mind of what you want your presentation to look like and contain, you can create your own presentations for free with the basic membership plan. You can also edit your presentations. You must be logged in to be able to do this. Whilst using the free option means that your presentations can be viewed by all, this is also great as it means you are sharing your fabulous ideas with other teachers.

4. 4

   The Blog Provides Useful Updates

   You can read all updates about the service, applications and functions in the blog. If you are a regular user it is easy for you to keep abreast of any changes.

5. 5

   There are Detailed Instructions on How to Create Prezis and Use the Site

   With instructional tutorials and numerous help pages on a variety of topics you can easily and quickly learn how to use the site and create your own presentations. There is a premium support service, but this is only available for paying members. There are community help pages also, where you can ask others for assistance and guidance.

6. 6

   There is an Ability to Import from PowerPoint

   If you already have all your materials saved in PowerPoint files, you are able to easily and conveniently transfer your notes across, meaning that you do not have to completely redesign and retype existing material.

7. 7

   The Software is Compatible with Most Computers and Browsers

   Most computers and netbooks have the minimum system requirements needed to use the Prezi software. There are instructions on the site as to how to check your individual system. It will work with Windows, Mac and Linux systems. The Prezi software can be used in most browsers, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

Cons

1. 1

   You Must Pay a Yearly Subscription

   For the Enjoy and the Pro memberships you must pay a yearly subscription fee, although costs are shown as a monthly figure. When you sign up for a 30 day free trial you must remember to cancel this within 30 years, or you will automatically be billed for a whole year at the end of the trial period. This is also a recurring yearly fee until you cancel, although you will be sent a reminder before your renewal to allow you to cancel should you so wish.

2. 2

   It May be Time Consuming to Learn How to Use

   If you are wishing to create your own presentations in Prezi you may find that you spend a lot of time at the start learning how to use the software and getting to grips with all the features. However, once you have invested this time, future presentation creations should be much quickly and simpler to manage.

3. 3

   You Still Need to Prepare Additional Materials and Plan Your Lessons

   The resources do not remove the need for lesson planning, and you will likely want to put together other supplementary materials. The presentations provide the focal point for part of the lesson.

I really like the fact that you can easily and quickly search for existing presentations that are able to use as they are. I found many presentations that I would be delighted to use in my classes, and many more with great ideas for me to take away and change into something a bit different. I do think that presentations help to explain things well and stimulate learning and I would love to be able to try out many of the materials that are already made. I think these would save me a lot of time preparing my lessons, and give more of a focus to many topics. Visual aids are so useful in the classroom, and Prezi helps to make using visual aids even more straight-forward and uncomplicated. Whilst there would still be additional preparation needed for a class, I think there are some great starting points and ideas on this site. Although there are many of the functions I would not use, people who are more technologically minded than myself would probably find this a wonderful site. The free membership option gives a decent amount of storage space, and although there are of course more features with the paid membership options, a paid membership is not essential to appreciate the many benefits of this site. There are great user guides and tutorials to help you make the best presentations that you can, and you can edit any materials at any time.

Have you ever used any of the existing materials on Prezi, and how did you find your students responded to them?

Do you use it to create presentations? Would you recommend any of the different membership options to other teachers?

This is a guest review by an independent author. This review reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of BusyTeacher.org as a publication.