My preferred tool for creating slide decks is Google, which offers the most flexibility and user-friendly design — while being completely free. It’s also useful for creating templates that others can use across grade levels, copying to their own Google account for editing. Google Slides is also one of the most commonly known tools, with G-Suite being used by businesses and school systems alike.
However, other cloud-based slide deck tools are available, typically with limited features for free accounts. One other commonly used tool is Prezi, which helps users to create video presentations, slide decks, infographics, and more. Prezi is well loved for the ability to simultaneously film one’s self and text or images on a slide, allowing the presenter to point to different visuals. However, this feature is not available in Safari, so I was not able to access it at this time. Instead, I used Prezi to create a slide deck that showcases some of my favorite children’s literature. Prezi has a user friendly design, built in image searching, and visual tools (e.g., sliding for font size). It also has features that help you align and size your images really easily. It was actually easier to ensure all my images were the same height or size in Prezi than it has been in Google. There are many built-in templates, but you are also able to start from scratch. Prezi is an excellent tool to add to one’s toolbox for any visual media that you may need to create. One limitation of Prezi is that images, PDFs, or videos cannot be downloaded without a paid account. An embedded PDF of the presentation is below due to ODU WordPress limitations on embedded HTML, or you can see the original Prezi here.
Disability-in-LiteratureI also tried the tools eMaze and Haiku deck. These have similar limitations to downloading one’s presentation without a paid account. Both tools used drag & drop to add a limited number of elements to a slide, with different features than Prezi. For example, eMaze allowed you to add frames to images quite easily, but did not allow you to use filters, alignment, or check to ensure the images were the same size. It was difficult at times to place images where I wanted them on the slide. Haiku had the most restricted design, with a limited array of templates that could be used. That being said, Haiku could be appropriate for users who are making their first slide presentations, as the program really walks you through the process.
As for me? I’m probably going to stick with Google Slides for many of my projects. But Prezi and Canva, both explored for the first time this semester, each have their own strengths that lend themselves to infographics, specific types of presentations, or as alternatives when Google Slides is not available or more structured support to create a slide deck is needed.
Featured image credits: StockSnap. (2017, August 6). Boy-laughing-reading-kid-child-2604853 [Photograph]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/boy-laughing-reading-kid-child-2604853/
Love your presentation, Audra. Planet Earth is Blue is one of my recent favorite discoveries. I also think that Prezi has some great options, but I was super overwhelmed by it. Did you look at Genial.ly at all? It was actually really nice.
Yes, Prezi definitely could get overwhelming. I played around with Genial.ly this morning after you recommended it. I like how easy it is to insert buttons, arrows, and audio from other sources, including Spotify. That’s pretty impressive. I also liked the integration of graphs, so that it was easy to edit the graph’s appearance and spreadsheet side by side. I think graphs are one of the biggest weaknesses of Google Slides, for sure, so it’ll be good to have another tool in my back pocket for presentations that include them. Thanks for recommending that I go back and check it out!
I use Google Design for some of my projects because I really need the alignment tools. I agree with Tiana that Genial.ly was worth the look.
I did go check out Genial.ly this morning after Tiana’s recommendation! It’s definitely a stronger tool than many of the others. I liked the ability to insert things really easily, from buttons and arrows to the integration with Pixabay and Unsplash.
I love your presentation! They are always so beautifully designed. I just read Show Me A Sign- great read!
I used Prezi a lot in undergrad and used to sway that way for all of my presentation needs, but after graduating and throughout teaching I exclusively use Google Slides. I liked exploring this week! eMaze was one of my favorites.
Yes, I’m a big Google user too! I remember when I first learned I could easily change the size of any Google Slide to create basically anything I wanted…. I have Set Me Free, the follow-up to Show Me A Sign, as an ARC from Scholastic because I attended one of their ALA webinars. I’m so excited to read it!
I do admit the simplicity of Google Slides is nice. It was overwhelming to look at some of these new tools this week, and I feel like I only squeezed a decent presentation out of Canva and gave up on genial.ly and prezi because they were too “busy.”
I really like your choice of presentation topic! I work in a school library, so I’ll be sure to note some of those book recommendations.
Thank you! I love these books because they are all by authors with the same or similar experiences, so it all just really rings authentic. I am definitely a big fan of Google Slides and use it for everything from newsletters to adapted books to slide presentations. I can see where there’s a lot going on in some of the other tools, which could be problematic with younger ones.