Presentation software?

claxxix

Hi all,

I am going to begin my first lecturing job at a University in the coming months. I am a bit bored of PowerPoint and want to source a free software that will allow me to give the same type of exciting presentation that I have seen with Prezi. My problem with Prezi is that you have to pay for the privilege of storing my own presentation on your own pc. If you use a free account then then your presentation is freely accessible by anyone online. If the Prezi software could be bought outright that would be fine but instead you have to pay a monthly fee which I find unacceptable.

Any ideas, thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks,
Claxxix

MOd: Moved to main forum for a bit more visibility

Red Alert

Congratulations on the new job! It'll be a busy few months come September, so hold on tight

The other non-powerpoint options are mainly a clone of Powerpoint, if you're on a Mac you may get more mileage from Keynote which does make visually attractive presentations.

The bigger question though is "Is the slide presentation a good teaching tool?". My experience to date is a resounding "No", but that's just the opinion of one person. I personally have found slide presentations limiting and I end up feeling as though I have to cover all the slides in the deck. Worse still, many rooms have really sub-optimal projection: bad screens, poor positioning, image way too dim. Audio systems where installed are usually indistinct and often inoperable.

When I stopped using slides apart from for showing pictures, or an in-class calculation exercise, I found that my lecturing became more fluid and the in-class experience more interactive. Students were actually taking notes and asking questions, as opposed to dozily following handouts. (Even the 6-to-a-page layout actually is idiotic when you look at it with a critical eye - most of the page is wasted to squeeze them in.) But, this approach does rely in part on making short outline notes for students (I do 2 pages for 1 lecture) and having activities ready. Students also have to be conditioned to take their own additional notes from the get-go for this to work.

I'm a computer nerd, and use a system called LaTeX Beamer to make any slides I need... Don't forget some other in-room technology: the venerable overhead projector is often the best option for doing out worked examples.

Most importantly, what's above is only my opinion. Find your own style of lecturing, but don't feel pressured to have slides at all or rely on them exclusively. Also, don't feel that you have to follow the style of your PhD supervisor or any other staff, but have a think about your own lecturers: were there one or two lecturers whose approach helped you learn? This quick 2-page paper by the American educationalist Dick Felder is worth a read, and his workshops if he ever comes to Ireland again are really good:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Columns/PowerPoint.pdf