Using Prezi as an Instructional Tool
Maria Crystal Martinez, Annabel Nieto, Rene Solis,
Frances Thrailkill, and Esteban Trevino
EDTC 6320 Team 1 Spring 2010
Table of Contents
Instructional Problem to be Addressed
The problem to be addressed is that students are not being engaged or making connections in classroom lessons. A study completed by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory concludes that high school student engagement reveals some major concerns. An increasing number of students are not being engaged in academic work. Fewer than half of the students go to high school because of what happens within the classroom environment. Also, a great majority of students are bored every day, if not in every class.
(North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2009)
Students want more active learning such as peer working groups and interactive presentations. This study reveals many of them are at risk students who will not experience college success. Prezi presentation allows teachers to be able to differently deliver a lesson interactively to target those learners that are not being engaged.
Conceptual Background/Learning Environment
Prezi presentation will teach teachers how to deliver engaging lessons and reinforce learning in the 21st century classroom.
As humans move forward to the unknown so does the use and advancement of technology. There are different elements of technology from the use of television to the World Wide Web. The relevance of the technology in education is to provide the educators a great means of access of information with the simple touch of a button. The usage of the internet has opened the doors for many companies, universities, school districts, etc., to collaborate with one another at a much faster pace rather than waiting for an envelope in the mail. Educational technology also allows the educator to bring real live pictures, events and/or places to the classroom without having to actually leave the classroom. This allows the student to get the feel of the experience or imagine the possibilities of being at a location.
In using the Prezi program, a web based presentation tool, allows the educator to construct a lesson that will get the attention of the learner and motivate them in the experience. The tutorials in this presentation will allow the educator to learn how to log-in and to create a simple lesson to a more advanced lesson.
Intended Audience
Our group decided that the target audience that would benefit from Prezi presentation software would be business professionals, teachers, students and any other individual responsible for the use of presentation software.
There are several reasons why Prezi presentations benefit the target audience. Firstly, Prezi presentation allows the creator to focus on visuals that illustrate key points. Secondly, it is easy to embed engaging, interesting, eye catching YouTube videos into your presentation. Lastly, another main advantage of Prezi is the use of motion that allows you to move around the canvas allowing you to zoom in and out adding emphasis to main points.
Prezi has the maximum support to different computer operating systems since it’s easily embedded to websites, so people do not need specific software applications to view Prezi presentations making it easily accessible to anyone.
This presentation software is unique and will greatly benefit many individuals in the classroom setting and business setting by creating amazing, interacting presentations that will aide teachers and business professionals to create engaging presentations for students and consumers.
Resources
Hardware Recommendations
Normal Use:
Because of the web-based nature of Prezi; Prezi works on any modern computer system running MS Windows, MAC OS, or Linux with on-line capabilities.
High End Use:
For optimum performance, prezi recommends a Windows PC, running a fast processor with lots of memory. Also, running through the prezi in its entirety will help load it into memory, making the second run a smoother one.
Software Recommendations
Images:
Supported Formats: JPG, PNG, GIF
Maximum size: 2880 X 2880 Pixels
Maximum upload size:
* Uploading of multiple files at any single time is allowed.
Video:
Supported Formats: FLV, F4V
Maximum Resolution: HD Quality
Mac users: Quicktime video with .h264 compression can be used in prezi by changing the .mov extension to .flv
* YOUTUBE videos are can be easily embedded by typing in the URL of the video as text. Will only work with active internet connection
Sound:
Supported Formats: FLV, SWF
Sound is played via a video player that is provided within prezi. Some creativity is necessary in order to implement sounds within prezi.
Extenal Files:
Supported Formats: PDF
Other non PDF files can be easily converted into PDF files by using PrimoPDF(free), Zamzar, or CutePDF printer (Free)
All Hardware and Software recommendations were acquired from the prezi user's manual (here)
Assessment
Prezi functions comparable to a power point presentation but is internet based presentation tool that uses a large canvas as opposed to slides. The use of a canvas allows presenters to make connections of the content, create visually appealing and meaningful presentations. Educators can register for an EDU ENJOY free account as long as they have an email address belonging to an educational institution.
As an educator, I looked into Prezi to support the engagement of my students and to increase their retention levels. The possibilities for Prezi use in the classroom are endless. Here are a few ideas:
1. Introducing Lessons
2. Concept Maps
3. Vocabulary Introduction
4. Embedding Videos
5. Student Presentations
6. Collaborative Projects
7. Creating/Reviewing Timelines
8. Zooming Tool
9. Story Telling
10. Brainstorming
For more ideas from educators on how to use Prezi in the classroom go to Prezi’s community page and search from Prezi in the classroom or click on the following link:
For the past couple of weeks I have used Prezi in my Algebra 2 classroom. Students’ initial reactions were positive; most students’ wanted to know how I created the presentation and how they could create one of their own. When I first started using Prezi, I decided to use it as a tool to introduce a topic. The topic introduced was Quadratics, students were immediately engaged. I started by showing students the words quadratic functions on the center of my canvas and then zoomed out to show photos of real world examples of quadratic functions. I showed students an example of astronauts experiencing weightlessness and asked them why they thought the photo was included in the real world examples. I then zoomed out and showed them a picture of an airplane flying a 45 degree angle, and continued to zoom out until the plane was pictured on a graph that demonstrated how weightlessness on earth was achieve. After discussing real world examples, I zoomed to a video clip from the movie October Sky to reinforce how quadratic functions are used. Learning academic vocabulary is important for students of all ages, so the next focus of the Prezi was vocabulary. We discussed various words associated with quadratics and Prezi helped by zooming into specific parts of a quadratic function. After the vocabulary introduction, we moved onto the formulas used and their benefits and this conclude the Prezi. I was then able to embed the Quadratic Prezi on my wiki for students to view at home.
Since then I have used Prezi to introduce vocabulary and plan on having students create their own Prezi for an end of the year review.
Supplemental Resources
| How to create better presentations with Prezi in three steps |
| How to Embed a Prezi Presentation in Your Blog |
| Prezi: A Quickstart Guide for teachers and students |
Prezi Tutorials
Click on the following link to learn more about prezi; video tutorials range from how to create an account to sharing a prezi. Prezi Video Tutorials
References
Chiou, C. (2008). The effect of concept mapping on students' learning achievements and interests. Innovations in Education & Teaching International, 45(4), 375-387. Retrieved on March 27, 2010 from Academic Search Complete database.
De La Paz, S., et. al., Multimedia Environments in Mathematics Teacher Education: Preparing Regular and Special Educators for Inclusive Classrooms. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education v. 12 no. 4 (2004) p. 561-75
Hyerle, D. (1995). Thinking maps: Seeing is understanding. Educational Leadership, 53(4), 85. Retrieved on March 7, 2010 from Academic Search Complete database.
McCagg, E., & Dansereau, D. (1991). A Convergent Paradigm for Examining Knowledge Mapping as a Learning Strategy. Journal of Educational Research, 84(6), 317. Retrieved on March 27, 2010 from Academic Search Complete database.
Morgan Spalter, A. van Dam, A. (2008). Digital Visual Literacy. Theory Into Practice , 47 (2), 93-101. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Münzer, S., Seufert, T., & Brünken, R. (2009). Learning from multimedia presentations: Facilitation function of animations and spatial abilities. Learning & Individual Differences, 19(4), 481-485. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2009.05.001.
Natarajan, M. (2006). Use of online technology for multimedia education. Information Services & Use, 26(3), 249-256. Retrieved from Information Science & Technology Abstracts (ISTA) database.
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (2009). Learning Point Associates. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from Critical Issue: Using Technology to Enghance Engaged Learning for At-Risk Students.
O'Bannon, B., Puckett, K., & Rakes, G. (2006). Using Technology to Support Visual Learning Strategies. Computers in The Schools, 23(1-2), 125-137. Retrieved from E-Journals database.
Park, S., et. al., Promoting Positive Emotion in Multimedia Learning Using Visual Illustrations. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia v. 16 no. 2 (2007) p. 141-62
Ying-Hua, G. (2009). A Study on the Learning Efficiency of Multimedia-Presented, Computer-Based Science Information. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(1), 62-72. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.