presentation software has centered around PowerPoint style editors for at least the last 20 years (Parks, 2012).
While using PowerPoint in the classroom was considered to be cutting edge, it is now seen as the epitome of boring. Comments from students include statements such as “Not another boring PowerPoint presentation.” Using PowerPoint typically fails to capture students’ interest and/or to excite them. It no longer works as a tool to engage students in your lecture unless it involves more sophisticated elements such as movement (Clark, 2008).
Other options for presentations are available; one such option is Prezi. Prezi is an internet-based presentation software that allows you to store your presentations in the cloud. There are many advantages to using this software, including the fact that it is cloud-based and that it is more exciting than the standard presentation software. Prezi is very visually-oriented and always enhances a presentation that is well-designed. It is still important to design a presentation that is appropriate. Just as a PowerPoint presentation can be badly designed, so can a Prezi. It is important to focus on using Prezi in a way that enhances the information being presented rather than hinder it.
Prezi is based on the concept of being able to zoom in on items in the presentation (Settle, Abrams, * Baker, 2011). Not only is this visually appealing, but it is practical as well. It tends to capture the audience’s interest and presents information in a way that is less linear in structure. It can be used to emphasize the hierarchical nature of information and the connections within topics. Again, if you simply want a bulleted list, Prezi is probably not the best presentation utility for you. However, if you want to highlight the connections between topics and want a very visually oriented presentation, then Prezi is the correct choice. It can be used to emphasize the hierarchical nature of information and the connections within topics (Harris, 2011).