Prezi

I first heard about Prezi a couple of years ago. I was facilitation a workshop on using Kidblog, and one of my participants mentioned it as an interesting tool for students to use in the classroom. I meant to check it out then. I really did. I just never got around to it. I say that about so many things. There is just so much to learn and explore!!! I actually forgot all about it until last spring - one of the presenters I saw at the CSSE conference used it in his presentation (I didn't realize that's what it was at the time). Then I participated in a workshop about a month ago where presenters used it and I thought to myself  "I've got to check this tool out."

I signed up for an account right away, but it was only when I was asked to present at a Teacher-Librarian workshop in my School District that I got around to it. I'm presenting on Kidblog again, but I only have 20 minutes and it's a different audience than my last one, so I decided to re-tool my presentation and figure out how to use this Prezi-thing. It's pretty neat, and easy to figure out, although I'm a little concerned that I'm going to make my audience a little dizzy. I could figure out how to change the order my little circles were shown, but not their location around the hub. I'm pleased with how it turned out for my first try, but there are a few things I'd like to tweak. Maybe next time.

As far as usefulness in a Grade 5 classroom, I don't know if I would recommend it. Using it to greatest effect might be a more suitable task for junior high or high school students. I need to think about it some more before using it with my Grade 5's, but I think I will introduce it to my Grade 7 classes. If we have time, it might be a useful tool for them to use when preparing their project presentations.

So, here's my first attempt - 21st Century Writers: Kidblog and Wikispaces