Power Point and Key Note are fine programs, I have nothing against either program. The problem that schools and students run into with Power Point and Key Note is that when you create using those programs you have to save your work to a local drive or save it in an email or other online storage space. The other short coming of Power Point and Key Note is that they are difficult to use collaboratively. They're not designed to allow multiple users to collaborate on one project. The following are some alternatives to Power Point and Key Note that will resolve one or both of the problems I've mentioned. All five are web-based programs which offer online storage as well as easy sharing and publishing options.
The fairly obvious alternatives are Google Presentation and Zoho Show. Both services are free, can be used collaboratively by many users, have auto save features, and are integrated into full suites of productivity tools.
The following three programs are specifically designed as slide show creation tools intended offer transition and design elements superior to those found elsewhere. Slide Rocket, which went public yesterday, offers a wide array of customizable transition options. You can read more about Slide Rocket here. Empressr is another online service offering fantastic transition and editing options. Empresrr's best feature is the wide array of sharing and publishing options that it offers. Read more about Empressr here. Finally, 280 Slides is interesting because it looks and acts very similar to Key Note, yet it is a completely web-based program. If you're looking to move into cloud computing, but want the familiarity of Key Note, 280 Slides might be a good option for you. You can read more about 280 Slides here.
What have I missed? Do you have a favorite slide show program that people should try? If so, leave a comment and tell us about it.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Alternatives to Power Point and Key Note
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3 comments:
Thanks for this post - it was most fortuitous. I have been having a discussion with a colleague about PowerPoint, in which he was saying that I should use a program that was ubiquitous rather than a propitiatory program. But at the same time, I do not want to download Open Office because I am quite happy with Microsoft Office. So I'll have a go with some the programs you have suggested and see how I get on.
I'm interested to see how 280 Slides allows for more student collaboration, which becomes difficult when attempting to use Keynote for group work... however I think it's important to recognize that the "bells and whistles" of transitions may capture student attention, they do not ensure quality student work is being produced.
Interesting.
I will have to examine these sites.
Thanks for the tips
Kevin
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