Presentation tools
What are they?
Online presentation tools can be used by teachers and students wishing to create and share presentations in online spaces. They enable users to upload PowerPoint or Word documents, photos, videos or other media. These can be organised into a slide show or other presentation to share with a public or private audience. Online presentation tools enable sharing with a wider audience and reduce the need to email large PowerPoint or other files.
The presentations can usually be emailed to others or embedded in a blog, wiki or website. Often other functionality exists, such as the ability to record a voice-over or sound track.
What do they look like?
Working online
Glogster
How it works: Glogster can be used to make interactive posters including graphics, photos, videos, music and text. Users can experiment with creating a 'glog' without signing up and can register if they wish to save it. Registration involves choosing a user name and providing an email address and password. Users are also asked to provide their name and birth date.
Safety information: Users need to verify they are over 13 years of age. The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) define inappropriate content as 'any content that contains racial hate, nudity, pornography or anything unsuitable for an audience of 18 years and younger.' A process for the removal of inappropriate content is in place.
PhotoPeach
How it works: PhotoPeach is free online presentation software which users can use to make their own social slide show, add music and zoom in.
Safety information: Sign up includes user name, email and password. Privacy information advises that parental permission is required for users under the age of 13 to join the site. Information regarding appropriate content is available in the terms. Users can browse publicly shared content which has been uploaded by users and featured by PhotoPeach. It is not possible to search for presentations.
Prezi
How it works: An interactive presentation tool that acts like a large sheet of paper rather than a traditional slide show, allowing the user to zoom in and out of different sections. The free version allows creation and sharing of Prezis and up to 100MB of storage space. It is also possible to present a Prezi offline and this does not involve additional software.
Safety information: Users need to sign up to a paid account to create content that is private or that can be shared with only selected individuals.
SlideRocket
How it works: SlideRocket allows users to make presentations by uploading existing PowerPoint presentations, organise their presentation library, share presentations securely with colleagues and edit collaboratively, and measure how they are used. To share presentations, users may share the unique web address created, embed the presentation in a blog, wiki or website or send an invite. The free version allows unlimited presentations to be created with storage space of up to 250MB.
Safety information: SlideRocket allows users to determine whether the recipients of their presentation can forward it, print it, watch it full screen, require a password to open it and how long they can see it for. Presentations can be saved securely or publicly. The sign up process includes a significant amount of personal information including email address, password, first and last name, country, phone number and details about company, industry and job title/function. The site is oriented towards business, rather than educational use.
SlideShare
How it works: SlideShare allows users to upload and share PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and other media and share with others either privately or publicly. Users need to sign up to save presentations. Completed presentations can be embedded in a blog, wiki or website.
Safety information: Presentations are searchable and there is some inappropriate content. The site includes advertising. Sign up includes user name, email address and password.
VoiceThread
How it works: VoiceThread enables users to upload content including PowerPoint presentations, photos or other media and easily record a voice-over for each slide.
Safety information: Users can choose whether to make their presentation private or public. If private, presentations can only be accessed by invited parties. Presentations need to be made public to be visible on a blog. There is also an education version which has some paid options which may provide additional convenience and safety.