Blog : Presentation and Animation Tools

Tool: Powtoon

Website: www.powtoon.com

Rating:

PowToon sets out to make animated video affordable and accessible to a wider audience. While the output might not always be the most professional, particularly on the cheaper packages, it certainly enables inexperienced individuals on limited budgets to produce engaging videos. The prices for PowToon vary from 7 euro per export to monthly plans starting from 20 euro a month (depending on requirements eg HD quality and length of video). For education institutes there are a variety of plans available, the most suitable however would be the classroom plan which enables 60 students and 1 teacher to use the software for 7.50euros a month.

Usage

As PowToon is an online application, it can only be used if connected to the internet so you will struggle to for example to edit your PowToons whilst on the move, you can still view PowToons that have been saved out as video files. Powtoon requires and the software itself cannot be downloaded to your computers as it is an online application, if you are a premium user you can download your finished videos and view them offline. It is accessible on portable devices but again it requires internet access. Powtoon presentations are generated as an XML file which can be played in the Powtoon online viewer, exported to YouTube or downloaded as an MP4 file. The key thing to remember about PowToon is that it produces video. Pesentations look the same on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Review

Many users have stipulated that while creating the videos is straightforward and the output looks good it is a lengthy and time consuming process trying to ensure that the timing and the manipulation of the animations are correct.

Tool Evaluation

Tool: Canva

Website: www.canva.com

Rating: 

Canva is a graphic design tool for the Web and for iOS. Users create an account (with an email address or by linking their Google or Facebook account) and then follow a tutorial, which orients users on how to get started and how to use the tool’s many features. Users can upload their own images and create their own layouts or choose from a selection of built-in images and design templates. Once users have finished creating, their designs are automatically saved to the cloud and they’re accessible from the user’s home page in the app or on the website. Users then can export their creations via email, as Facebook posts, or via Twitter, and they can download their images in JPG, PNG, or PDF format.

Usage

For students, Canva can be used as a go-to creation tool for class projects, it can be used to create posters and  presentation in an original and artistic way. Canva is also a useful tool for adding captions to images or for simple sharing via social media. The flexible features for creation and for export make this an excellent tool for helping even a novice create and share slick, simple graphic design. The tool has great templates built in for social media posts (like templates sized for Facebook and Twitter profile images) and it’s easy to use the tool to connect via social media.

Review

“The only flaw I have so far been able to find with Canva is that it is a new player on the market. As such, I would be very worried if I was in competition with it. While it doesn’t have the comprehensive level of development you might find in others, it does have more than enough features, good enough for any school. -ICT coordinator at Hillcrest College

Tool Evaluation

Tool: Hakiu Deck

Website: www.hakiudeck.com

Rating: 

Haiku Deck is a simple and straightforward application that can be used to create presentations. This tool is one that has received a lot of positive feedback from educators as it takes some of the very basic features of PowerPoint and puts them into an easy-to-use app. Due to this Haiku deck is familiar and hassle free to use for anyone with basic PowerPoint experience. Finished presentations created via Haiku are very much more aesthetically pleasing than alternative presentation applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint and furthermore because this is an app-based application it is very convenient for educators who travel a lot.

Usage

Haiku Deck allows users to incorporate many features in order to create stand out presentations. To do this the application offers a choice of themes and high-quality Creative Commons licensed photos to enhance the visual display of the presentation. It also allows users to import photos from photo roll on iOS devices, from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Dropbox in order to make the presentation more specific. Applying fonts, image settings, layouts and colour palettes are all easily accessible and allow for quick editing of the presentations. As Well as this Haiku Deck makes the sharing of the final product a simple process. Decks (the final presentations) can be shared via email, Twitter, Facebook or embed in a blog, they can also be displayed with an iPad, a projector, a smartphone, or any web browser or easily exported to PowerPoint, Keynote, or PDF.  Finally, users can alter privacy settings, which make it easy to control who can view your deck right from the app.

Review

This software works really well on a variety of platforms and especially well on IOS devices via the app. The free version offers a wide range of free images and templates. Overall, it is a really efficient and effective way to produce presentations that are different and will stand out. Due to the simplistic nature of this application, it is perfect for both students and teachers to use as it does not take much time to learn and start putting to use.

Tool Evaluation

Tool: Piktochart

Website: www.piktochart.com

Rating: 

Piktochart is an online tool for creating infographics. Combining charts, graphs, text, and graphics, users can easily assemble and present information using the drag-and-drop interface. Users choose a template, or theme, and then fill it with their own information. Using Piktochart’s bank of icons, images, fonts, and other design tools, organizing and sharing information can be fun and engaging. Icons and images are organized by subject, including education, entertainment, people, and shapes. Once completed, each template can be saved for future editing, and the finished product can be exported as a PNG, JPEG, or PDF file. The free user version can work on up to five themes at a time. The education pricing for an individual  is 35 euros for 12 months or 110euros for 30 accounts for 4 months. The paid accounts offer a larger range of features and templates.

Usage

Picktochart can be used by students to learn concepts of grouping, graphing, and visually representing pieces of information. By putting together a Picktochart infographic, they will interpret data and then create a combination of text, images, and charts or graphs to share with others. Furthermore by discovering what’s visually appealing to their audience, students will improve their awareness of how other people learn thereby helping them with future presentations. Educators can use it in their lesson plans and in-class presentations. Used well, it can distil information into understandable chunks and students should respond well to its sleek design.

Review

“Piktochart templates are set up to work well with all kinds of data, and students will be excited once they see their own research looking so slick and professional. The design is fantastic, with modern, charming icons and fonts, and it’s not too difficult to make seriously high-quality infographics with Piktochart. That said, it’s not totally intuitive, and the guidance offered can be confusing. But if they poke around enough, students will figure out how to use Piktochart for school projects, class presentations, and maybe even just for fun.”-Teacher

Tool Evaluation

Tool: Thing Link

Website: www.thinglink.com

Rating: 

Thing Link is tool that allows educators and students embed audio, video and rich media links directly in images and share them across the web. This tool is free to use and very simple to operate. An effective tool encourages interactive thinking and collaborating. In the classroom, setting it can be efficiently incorporated into group work and every day teaching plans as a way to engage students. Thinglink is a cloud-based tool so there is no need to download and install software with files being on a specific computer. Due to this, users can access the service through multiple devices using several operating systems. Products are stored on the ThingLink site so students or educators do not necessarily need a web site to publish however the option to share to social media or other websites is featured and can be utilised if need be. Furthermore, ThingLink supports multiple languages, including English, French, Japanese, Finnish, Spanish, Chinese, Swedish, Italian, Hindi, Russian, Portuguese, German and Polish making it a diversely useful tool.

Usage

ThingLink can be used by teachers or students to designate parts of sites or pages with pictures and videos that will produce a pop-up with a description and or a link to something else on the web when they are scrolled over. To do this students and educators use rich media tags to incorporate links to other sources such as YouTube, wiki,etc. By doing this educators and students make static images interactive and henceforth learning becomes more engaging. ThingLink also allow users to track analytics of the images and links that they have shared so users can keep track of how their images/videos have been received.  ThingLink is easy to set up for all major web publishing and blogging platforms, including WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Wikispaces and Drupal., ThingLink offers plans targeting education with a free plan that is very adequate for educational purposes and very easy to access. Sign up and account creation is straightforward and can be done ahead of time by educators on behalf of students. The design interface requires little training and is very simplistic in design.

Review

“Students can create, collaborate and communicate and engage in critical thinking and problem solving. It is an amazing tool that is transforming teaching and learning. It’s a tool that can be used for annotating images and defining through multimedia, students can use mobile apps for iOS and Android to quickly capture life’s moments with wifi and overall it helps students develop 21st century skills.”- EdTech

Tool Evaluation