Presentation+and+Communication+Tools

=ActivStudio / ActivInspire Promethean Interactive Whiteboard Software - with a Tablet PC=

The ActivStudio/ActivInspire software that comes with the Promethean Interactive Whiteboards provides all of the functionality and interactiveness that powers the whiteboards. If you do not have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, but have a digital projector and a Tablet PC. then you can still use the software via the tablet. You will be able to move items around on-screen, draw/write with the stylus/pen and utilize all of the features of the software without having a board.


 * Ideas/Uses**
 * use the interactive whiteboard software without the whiteboard
 * if you want to use some of the features of the software periodically or for specific units (rather than everyday), then this is a simple alternative
 * great way to access and use ActivVote hand-held voting devices when you don't have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom


 * Limitations/Things to Consider**
 * need to have a Tablet PC to effectively use the software (although you can use the software with a USB ActivTablet and a regular laptop - Nick has one if you want to try it out)
 * need to get the software installed on your machine by Tech Services

= = =Prezi=

Prezi is an online presentation and mind-mapping tool that is free. Go to prezi.com to make an account and give it a try. The website has two tutorial Prezis and it's recommended that you work your way through both (it should take about 10-15 minutes total).



Basically, Prezi gives you a large blank page to work with, where you can layout the big ideas - the bigger the idea the bigger it should be visually in Prezi. This is the mind-mapping part of the program. Next, you fill in the details and fine points or each of the big ideas. This can include all of the basics including text, images and video clips. Finally, you add in a Path which defines how one would progress through the big ideas in presentation mode. Note that this is different as you can go off-the-prescribed-path just by clicking on something else. In this way, Prezi is non-linear - you can go off the path to explore the important details surrounding a major point, and then return to the path to continue with the presentation. It's dynamic and functional, and quite a bit different from PowerPoint or KeyNote. It's also quite easy and straight-forward to use - younger students could get into using Prezi quite quickly.


 * Ideas/Uses**
 * use as a free mind-mapping tool with students
 * use for presentations which could be linear or non-linear
 * Prezis can be exported as simple interactive videos and embedded on webpages


 * Limitations/Things to Consider**
 * free version only allows you to create and post Prezis online through their website (you must have an internet connection)
 * purchased version allows you to download their software for creating and using Prezis locally on your machine (without an internet connection)

=Ubiquitous Presenter=

Ubiquitous Presenter (UP for short ;-) is an interesting extension from PowerPoint that has been developed and used in by some US colleges and universities. Imagine, if you will, that your PPT presentation is displayed on your students laptops/tablets live, as you go through the slides. Also imagine that your presentation/lecture is live and interactive - students can respond to questions you pose or make their own notes on the slides as you go. Now imagine that student responses are transmitted back to your machine (again live) so that you can see student responses as they are submitted (students can type text responses or even ink with their tablets on the slides). You can then select student responses to display for everyone, to discuss, analyze. . . whatever! You can even switch over to a blank slide at any time, for you to make your own notes, sketches, etc. Your lecture is now interactive. . . and recorded/archived along with student responses (if you like) so that everything that was done can be accessed and viewed asynchronously. It's rather difficult to image/picture all of this on a wiki - it's much better seeing it for yourself (ask Nick for a demonstration).


 * Ideas/Uses**
 * great tool for presenting a lesson/class in the event of a school closure - students can join and interact with the live lesson or can access the archived lesson afterwards
 * interesting tool for making a PowerPoint lecture/presentation more interactive where student/audience responses can be recorded and shown


 * Limitations/Things to Consider**
 * need to pre-setup the presentation within UP and upload it to a server (in California)
 * any PowerPoint presentation can be converted to UP, but you lose the animated transitions (this means that if you want individual points in a list to appear one at a time, then these should be changed to be on separate slides)
 * need to get the software installed on your machine (ask Nick for help with this)
 * the interface is all done through a browser - therefore students do not need any new software installed on their machines in order to access or interact with a UP presentation

=XtraNormal.com=

XtraNormal is an online (or free downloadable software) animation tool which allows you to quickly create 3D animations with your own dialogue. On the website, you can quickly get into building an animation simply by selecting the scene, number of actors, and start typing in the dialogue. There are controls for moving the actors and controlling the camera, so there is a lot of versatility. You can also download their free software as well to build your own animations - this gives you more tools to work with, more actors and scenes to choose from, and speeds up the process of building an animation as the image processing is done on your own computer rather than on the net.




 * Ideas/Uses**
 * students can animate/model scenes from plays, stories, novels
 * you can create humorous/interesting introductions or animated sections for presentations
 * students can explore pronunciation of words vs spelling by trying to get the actors to say words correctly by spelling them phonetically


 * Limitations/Things to Consider**
 * digitized voices can sound robotic (there are others to choose from)
 * pronunciation can be stilted (you can "fix" the pronunciation by altering how some words are typed in, with a little experimentation)