Is Prezi as good as Keynote?

I will start off by answering my question, "No."  For the presentation that I created, Prezi was not as beneficial as Keynote.  Let me further explain my reasoning.

I created a Keynote to supplement my presentation on Nonfiction author Jan Greenberg.  I was easily able to storyboard the presentation and "drag and drop" to add images and videos.  It was easy to duplicate a slide and change the necessary information.  I appreciated that themes provided a great starting point with consistency in font and style.  Links were simple to add and easy to use in presentation mode.  My favorite features of Keynote are the ability to add presenter notes to your slides and customize the screen so that the presenter can see these notes, but the audience does not.  I love to be prepared and want the comfort of my notes quick at hand.

I then used the same media to create a Prezi on the same topic.  Prezi was very new to me, so I spent some time experimenting before I put together my presentation.  I really liked the ability to zoom and move around the canvas during my presentation.  I felt that creating the path was a bit tricky because I often had to create frames to get all the elements I wanted on the screen at the same time.  I also took a tip from an article I read that mentioned the importance of letting your audience know where on the canvas you are.  (So, I zoomed out to show the larger canvas before sooming back in to another element.)  I did not like the limited font/style choices that were available.  When using Prezi, I had to add steps by uploading all images before adding them to my presentation.  I really missed "drag and drop"!  I think that the most discouraging thing about Prezi was that I could not add presenter notes to guide my oral presentation.

I discovered that I can upload a Keynote presentation to Prezi and "prezify" it.  I did try this and was happy with the results.  I still have the slide format, but now can zoom into particular elements of the slides when appropriate.  I now have the best of both worlds, but still NO PRESENTER NOTES!

In summary, I feel that both Keynote and Prezi have their place in education.  When used at the appropriate time, they both can convey information in engaging ways.  Prezi may be better for showing details in photos/images (like in art classes where zooming would be a huge benefit, or in a history class where you want to highlight details in historic photos).  Keynote is still my favorite when it comes to preparing a visual for oral presentations.

Below is a video of me presenting my Keynote presentation on nonfiction author Jan Greenberg.   Please take note that the presentation itself is only a visual to the oral presentation.  I wanted the audience listening to what I had to say, rather than reading it off the screen.



Next, is the Prezi presentation on the same topic.