What is it, in a nutshell?
Prezi is like PowerPoint insofar as it is a presentation tool; however, whereas a PowerPoint presentation is essentially linear in nature -- one slide after another -- Prezi facilitates a more relational or spatial form of presentation. Prezi is rather like a concept map, with the ability to pan around or zoom in on the various parts of the map. The best way, though, to understand Prezi is to see one in action, such as the one below. Click on the arrow icon to start moving through the Prezi presentation.
Background
Prezi was developed by a start-up company in Hungary in 2008, and the product was launched in April 2009. By the fall of 2009, Prezi was creating a stir in the online community.
Specific types or brands
Prezi is the most successful of many applications that feature "pan and zoom" technology, including the following:
Functionality
Prezi has both a desktop and an online version, and the two can work in tandem -- that is, you can create a Prezi presentation --which are simply called "Prezis" for
short -- online, then download it to your desktop version to edit it offline, and then upload it to the online version again. I found the online version to be a bit easier to use, and faster, than the desktop version (as well, with the online version, you can upload PDFs, which you currently cannot do with the desktop version). The online version is compatible with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari.
Learning how to use the application might seem challenging at first, because the very nature of a Prezi presentation -- relational rather than linear -- is so different from that of other presentation tools. To put it another way, creating your first Prezi will probably be more challenging conceptually than technically.
Prezi can incorporate images (e.g. jpg, png, gif) up to a maximum of 2880 by 2880 pixels or 50 mb per file. It can also embed YouTube videos (but an Internet connection is required to play these videos during the presentation). Text can also be added by simply by clicking on the “canvas” and typing, but the font formatting options are limited. Positioning, aligning, and resizing elements is done via a built-in tool called the "Transformation Zebra." A Prezi presentation can be saved in a Flash-based stand-alone format to, say, a USB key and shown on a PC that does not have Prezi installed on it, or can be published to the web. A Prezi presentaton cannot be created or edited on a Mac computer, but the final product can be viewed on a Mac.
A user can move through the components of a Prezi presentation either according to a set "path" that its creator has developed or, alternatively, can hop from one component to another in whatever order he or she chooses.
Prezis are usually constructed so that they have a narrative or “path” that the viewer or audience follows (i.e. a “recommended sequence” of viewing the images); however, it’s also possible (and perhaps sometimes preferable) to allow a viewer to “explore” the images in any order he or she chooses.
Impact on Teaching
Creating a Prezi presentation takes longer than creating a PowerPoint presentation for two reasons. First, the interface -- specifically, the "Transformation Zebra" -- will take some getting used to; this technical challenge, obviously, will diminish with a couple hours of practice. Second, designing a Prezi presentation is conceptually more challenging than PowerPoint because it lends itself to more complex arrangements of ideas, images, and facts. This challenge, though, is really an opportunity: a Prezi presentation conveys not just content (like a PowerPoint slide) but relationships among different content elements.
Impact on Learning
Like a concept map, a Prezi presentation has the potential to help students understand the context or system in which something has meaning -- and context, as the image to the right perhaps demonstrates (roll your cursor over it) -- is sometimes highly revealing. Unlike a static concept map, however, Prezi allows a presenter or user to pan around and then zoom in on specific parts of the system in question.
Accessibility Issues
Prezi presentations are based on Flash, and are threfore not readable by screen readers such as JAWS. For users who have issues using a mouse, Prezi does have keyboard alternatives for all actions.
Best Practices
Audiences often respond to Prezi with "Cool!" and "Wow!" (and also, occasionally, "It made me dizzy"), and undoubtedly these "spectacle" aspects of Prezi can help to maintain interest in a presentation. It's important, though, not to let the "wow" factor overwhelm or replace the instructional design of the presentation.
As suggested above, the power of Prezi is that it can allow you to present a system or network of ideas, facts, images, etc., in a "spatial" format that highlights the relations among the members of the system, just as a traditional concept map does. However, unlike a traditional concept map, Prezi also facilitates zooming in and out, that is, viewing the system as a whole and then viewing a specific members of that system -- viewing the "texts" within their context. Hence, when constructing a Prezi, it might be helpful to initially envision it as a static concept map, so that the overall system (and the relationships among its components) is coherent and logically organized. Then, begin to imagine the ideal pathway through the system, bearing in mind that you don't just need to move from component to component to component, but that you can zoom out occasionally to "re-orient" the viewer, and that you can return to the same component several times to reinforce it or to provide a kind of "anchor" for the viewer. In short, create a Prezi presentation first by imagining it as a painting (spatially oriented, like a painting by Hieronymous Bosch) and then imagining it as a story (temporally oriented, like a story or journey). An example of a Prezi presentation that is effective in both regards -- spatially and temporally -- is here.
Hardware and Software Requirements
To create or view a Prezi presentation, you need to have the Adobe Air installed on your computer. As well, the pan and zoom graphics of a Prezi presentation will move more smoothly if you have at least 1 GB of RAM. Additionally, when creating a Prezi presentation, I've found it very useful to have a screenshot or "web clipper" application such as SnagIt, Evernote, or OneNote installed, so that I can quickly and easily capture the images that I need, either from the web elsewhere. Also handy, though not essential, would be an image editing application such as PhotoShop.
Support and Training
Prezi.com offers a number of well-conceived video tutorials as well as a text-based manual.
Financial Cost
Prezi employs a "freemium" pricing model, which means that it offers both free versions and paid versions, with the main difference being the amount of online storage provided:
- free "public" version ( 100 MB of storage)
- $59/year (500 MB storage)
- $159/year (2000 MB storage)
However, Prezi also offers discounted pricing for students or instructors:
- free "education" version (500 MB of storage)
- $59 "education" version (2000 MB of storage)
Current Usage at UW
At present, Prezi is gaining ground among students, as an alternative means of making presentations. At a Management Science class that I recently attended, two of five student presentations employed Prezi. I don't know of any instructors who have started to use Prezi, but many have expressed interest. At a recent workshop devoted to Prezi, 7 of the 15 attendees were faculty members.
Current Usage Elsewhere
Prezi is being touted as an alternative presentation tool at hundreds of universities. Prezi.com is currently hosting about 600 Prezi presentations from higher education institutions, including Harvard University, Cambridge University, and the University of Toronto, A doctoral student at the University of Madrid used Prezi for her dissertation defense (and reports that it went well).
More information
- Video tutorials from Prezi.com
- Manual from Prezi.com
- Learning with Concept and Knowledge Maps: A Meta-Analysis
Implementability
Prezi doesn't require any knowledge of programming or hardcore technical skills, but a user will need to know how to save or clip images from the web. Typically, a user would probably have to play with Prezi for four or five hours, before feeling comfortable using the program.
The bottom line
Prezi has the potential to enhance student learning by combining the sophistication of a spatial representation with the simplicity of a linear narrative.
Here's one more example of an effective Prezi. As always, click on a part of the presentation of your choosing in order to zoom in on it, or click the arrow sign at the bottom of the presentation frame in order to follow a pre-set "path" through the presentation.
