CALI 2012: Presentations with or without Powerpoint
Presenters: Meg Butler, Sarah Jaramillo and Maureen Cahill
Select a presentation app that serves your pedagogical goal.
Free versions of these applications. $10 for the Keynote app from the Apple Store. The free apps may use their own branding.
What does this application do really well? What does it not do really well? Truly better than Powerpoint?
Prezi: Not Powerpoint at all. Totally different way to approach a presentation. Not a set of slides. Non-linear, single canvas. Cannot export to desktop. Also you cannot hide your presentation from public. Does offer added benefits for academic use. There is an iPad app for Prezi. Bad Prezi presentations may cause dizziness, disorientation. Font selection is pretty limited. Not many templates to start with. Must create animations separately and then import into presentation. Only supports a few audio formats. Can’t connect to an external spreadsheet.
Sliderocket: Offers features not available in Powerpoint. Can collaborate on a presentation. Can easily embed videos and audio into presentation. Single user is $24 a month. Can only get an academic discount if you are already signed up for the academic version of Google Apps. Connects well with Google Analytics.
Sparkol: “Fun” presentation app. Web-based presentation application. Can save files to your local drive (either PC or Mac). There will be a Sparkol logo on your presentation. Must work with the provided templates, you cannot customize them. Won’t import from Powerpoint effectively.
Zoho Show: Part of the Zoho office suite. It is the free app that is most like Powerpoint. Has some features not available in Powerpoint. Templates are more professional and sharper. Make it very easy to collaborate on the same presentation. Can make presentations private or public.
Keynote for iPad: Works on iPad. Must choose one of the provided templates. Can copy images in from Safari or your image library on the iPad. Can only embed videos from your iPhoto library. For charts you can edit the data inside the presentation.
XMind: Mind-mapping software. May be a great way to demonstrate relationships between government agencies, etc. for legal research presentations. Can create organizational or flow charts. Limited ability to import video/audio files.
