Flow Through Your Presentation with Flowvella

I get so excited when I use an app that works with our LMS!  I used Flowboard in the past in a very limited capacity. It is now Flowvella – and wow – they upped their features! Love it!

Flowvella allows a user to create an interactive presentation by adding navigation, videos, PDFs, and image galleries. 

The presentations are then stored in the cloud and are available to your audience to view, comment, or share. If you wish, you may even password protect your presentation.

Recently, I created a Flowvella for my course and added various YouTube videos I wanted the students to view. I was able to easily upload it to their cloud service, then I received an embed code which I used to embed into our course on Moodle:

Students may view the presentation as shown or full screen. The videos are embedded right into the presentation. Sweet!

With Flowvella Education (the $4.99 version for educators), you can:

CREATE AND CUSTOMIZE
• Add transitions to your web links
• Add and arrange objects on your screens
• Add photos and videos
• Pinch, zoom and crop your photos
• Send your objects forward and backward
• Add links to screens or to the web
• Add photo galleries

SHARE, VIEW AND PRESENT
• Export to PDF, print via AirPrint
• Present straight from your iPad, connect to a projector, or use AirPlay
• Flows work OFFLINE and are SAFE without an Internet connection
• Share your presentations with anyone via URL or PDF
• Share via Facebook, Twitter, email, or copy the Flow URL and paste anywhere

I am a fan of anything that makes the content visually appealing and easy to use for the teacher and students. Flowvella has my vote!

SlideIdea…Not Just Your Ordinary Slide!

My last post was on do’s and don’ts for creating presentations. As I wrote the post, I came across a new tool that I love!  It is SlideIdea. It is currently an iPad app and enables users to easily create beautiful slides or import from existing slides.

“SlideIdea offers an in-app widget store where users can seamlessly browse and download the widgets they’re looking for. Additionally, SlideIdea offers free and professionally designed templates to help you cut design-time in half.” (SlideIdea)

The transition templates are unique and engaging. “Say goodbye to complicated audio-slide recording software. SlideIdea makes it easy to record, publish, and share your very own SlideCasts. Simply record your speech while you present, then with the touch of a button, publish your SlideCast directly to your SlideCast webpage. To top it all off – SlideIdea provides every user a free personal SlideCast webpage for easy sharing and hosting.”

I admit – I enjoyed the new templates and transitions…but that’s not what caught my eye. It wasn’t until I used 3 fingers to swipe to bring up the whiteboard integration tool. This is what made SlideIdea stand out from some of the other presentation tools!

Simply click the word “whiteboard” and the screen transforms to an interactive whiteboard:

 

It is simple! Just project your presentation through the projection system/Apple TV, use 3 fingers to swipe to the interactive whiteboard, and when you are done writing, drawing, or whatever else you want to do, simply click the back arrow and it will bring you back to the last page of your presentation! Now that is sweet!

Although SlideIdea is currently only available for an iPad or Windows 8, they will be coming out with Android and smartphone apps in the near future:

All Presentations are not the Same

QuintanaRoo / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

Have a classroom presentation coming up and want to try something new to engage your learners? There are many options for you! Some of these options incorporate PowerPoint, and others are a PowerPoint alternative. My advice? Pick one and test it out!

Prezi

The above link to Prezi will bring you to a presentation ABOUT Prezi. You see, Prezi is not just a presentation tool. It is non-linear and, if created correctly, tells a story by engaging the viewer using zoom and focus. Prezi has many tutorials available, content can be shared and viewed on or off-line.  You can also CLICK THIS LINK to view Prezi’s tutorial channel.

Haiku Deck

I am a huge Haiku Deck fan! In fact, I used Haiku deck to create all of my lecture slides this semester. CLICK HERE to read my blog post about Haiku Deck. The app is amazing. I created my slides and imported into PowerPoint so that I could also embed video and active links. I saved the slides as well as a .pdf to upload to my class Moodle shell.

Google Docs

Google Docs allows users to create slides similar to PowerPoint. Although I am not a huge fan of the themes/layouts, it is easy to use and the collaboration feature is very nice.

Keynote

Keynote is Apple’s version of PowerPoint. I like it much better than PowerPoint. To me, it is more visually appealing and I like the choice of transitions and themes.

Powtoon

Powtoon creates animated video presentations. “To make your video, simply drag and drop the characters to the movie area and add text. A great feature is the ability to import straight to YouTube, no hassle, no fuss.” -AvatarGeneration View this simple video created by FixUp:

…or this one about Cloud computing:

Slideshare allows you to easily share the slides you have created on a blog or Moodle site. Voicethread  also allows the user to create slides with audio functionality. Collaborators may input a voicethread as well to a slide or picture.

What I enjoy are the tools that allow the instructor to not only present information, but engage the audience. Some of these tools are apps, others are web-based. Some of the tools push content to student devices so that they may follow along and others will not only push content, but will engage with questions and feedback.

Doceri :   CREATE hand-drawn lessons, presentations and graphics and SHARE them as still images, PDFs or audio/video screencasts – or mirror anything you’ve created to Apple TV via AirPlay. (via Doceri)

Mighty Meeting :  Share slides, images and whiteboards, push content to student devices

Create presentation videos using ShowMe, Explain Everything, or Screenchomp.

Try presenting using Presentain. Launch the Presentain app and use your smartphone as a clicker and presentation tool. It pushes content to student devices and allows them to engage with polls. Nearpod is very similar app that pushes content, adds polls but also has the ability to send web pages to student devices, then click off and back to the slide show with instructor control. Watch this video for more information!

Add Some POW to your Presentations!

Want to add some POW to your presentations? Powtoon is a fun alternative. It creates animated videos and presentations that move and slide. It is free for limited length and characters. It allows you to choose your background, transitions, music, font, and image additions. Here is my sample:

User friendly? You may have to judge that yourself. They do offer a training guide. I attempted to create a PowToon without the direction and it took me a few tries to get the transitions correct without too much overlap. I wasn’t thrilled with the timing and know that if I was creating it for a special event, I would take the time to work with it more.

To make the PowToon easier, you can opt to use their pre-made samples and edit from there. I used a blank slate. Either way, I like the result and enjoy being able to make something that is fun to watch!

If you end up creating a PowToon, I’d love to share your end result!

Related articles

• 40 Sites and Apps for Creating Presentations (teacherlingo.com)

Haiku Deck

I came across an app that is easy and a great tool for teachers – Haiku Deck. Haiku Deck is a presentation tool that is elegant and simple. There are a range of fonts and layouts available. It’s as easy as clicking and typing.

My favorite part of the app is the picture tool. When words are typed in, the app automatically finds pictures to apply to the background. The app pulls from millions of free, stunning Getty images. In fact, USA Today reported that Haiku Deck has over 35 million free Creative Commons licensed photos.

I enjoy the fact that I don’t have to open a browser and search separately for photos. It’s all-in-one! The presentations can be shared in Twitter, Facebook, embedded on a blog or website, or saved as a .pdf. Haiku Deck allows you to add speaker notes, or public notes for online viewing. Haiku Deck comes with 5 templates or create your own. There are others available for purchase. Give it a try!