Prezie: Is It Practical?

[MWeb37]

Hey everyone,

So I am at my school for the first time and am currently in possession of any type of clue as to what or how I am going to be teaching. I am at a very small Middle/High-school outside of Yecheon, and will be teaching grades 1,2, and 3 for middle-school and 2 and 3 for high school.

My question is with regards to Prezie and how practical it really can be in teaching these types of classes. I will admit I am new to it and don't know all of the in's and out's, but I do love the visceral style and organic means of organizing a presentation. However, it seems to me that it might be hard to use with a lot of speaking/listening/fill-in-the-blank type activities as its very linear (figuratively) in how the 'pathway' works.

Does anyone here use prezie regularly for their classes with success? Can anyone give me some helpful tips on ensuring the best use of prezie? I will also admit that I have never really used powerpoint, but prezie seems like a fun way to create lesson plans that can be more interesting for the kids.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[Jrong]

It's very practical. I used it all last year for my Elementary kids. I use it two ways:
A) Most common way I use it is to emphasize target language.  Put up target language: like "morning" with a picture of the morning next to it. "night" with a picture of night next to it, etc. and practice speaking. Like this: http://prezi.com/xxtiwladvftk/4-lesson-1/
This takes about 3-10 min to put together, simple, yet it helps connect word to picture which hopefully helps them remember better.

B) Second most common way I use it for the "what happens next" type prezis. There are a few on here that are incredibly popular with students. I deleted the ones I made for last year, sorry, but hopefully somebody else will let you see one they've made so you'll get an idea. Basically you show the first couple seconds of a short (30sec) animation and then pause the video and ask "What happens next?" Students write their guess on a whiteboard (teams) then you show the rest of the video, watch their surprise, and use it to practice target language.

[astericks]

Prezi is quite practical and useful as a teaching aid.
Here are a few Prezi presentations that I have made.
Feel free to use them.
http://prezi.com/ovrag2lgz7qz/brand-name/ : Brand Names

http://prezi.com/lfb9rmeqqqtn/the-news-newspaper/ : The News

http://prezi.com/ufa2bwrfeusu/describe-and-identify/ : Describe and Identify

http://prezi.com/zfdtkfyngolc/food-idioms/ ; Food Idioms

[Jrong]

Wow, nice stuff, beautiful, actually.

[hev-85]

Would you say that you prefer Prezie over Powerpoint? I have been advised that all my lessons should be powerpoint / prezie based but I am not a fan of Powerpoint personally. Also is it possible to add video clips into Powerpoint or not?

Any help would be great. Cheers

[Jrong]

I think Prezis as easy as Ppt or easier once you get the hang of it (easy, small learning curve). Prezi can take vids just like ppt. Pluses of prezi
*Can access your prezi anywhere as it's stored online (as long as pc you're using in class isn't antiquated).
*The zooming/flying feature is just cool
*You can rearrange the sequence of events much easier

[teachermc]

I agree with the benefits others have mentioned.  I have used Prezi for two years now here in Korea and it has been steadily growing in use.  A lot of teachers who may not use it for every lesson seem to like it for open classes because it may seem more 'showy.'  I also deleted many of the Prezis I used last year, but I have this one to offer as an example.

Though students may prefer the newness of a Prezi presentation, Powerpoint really works for most purposes.  For many of us here our needs to make presentations or materials may be quite limited due to more rigid uses of the textbook.  Technology is great, but it can easily distract the students and/or the teacher from the learning point.