Media Discovery- Slide Show Tools

Google Slides

Usability: 

Google Slides makes it incredibly easy to create and share presentations.

Motivation: 

One of the best things about Google Slides is that it allows users to share and collaborate with other users.  It can also be used with other Google Apps for Education which makes it particularly appealing to teachers whose schools have embraced GAFE.

Pros:

• Free
• Work is instantly saved 
• Teacher can monitor student work and provide real-time feedback
• Users can easily share and collaborate on presentations
• Users can access their work anywhere anytime
• Users can easily add images, video, sound, and animation to their presentation

Cons:

• No offline access
• Presentations are pretty basic

  PowToon

Usability:

PowToon is fairly easy to use; however, it can be quite time consuming to create presentations, especially for first time users. It does offer a variety of templates that can be edited, which makes it easier for users, especially young user, to get started with the tool.

Motivation:

PowToon offers a great alternative to the traditional PowerPoint type presentation. Animated elements combined with music and narration create movie like presentations that are more engaging then traditional slide-decks.

Pros:

• engaging
• includes a variety of ready-to-use templates
• includes a free version 

Cons:

• free version is somewhat limited
• can be time consuming to create

Haiku Deck

Usability:

Haiku Deck makes is extremely easy for users to create presentations that beautiful, simple, and to the point. Because of its limited design options, a teacher could realistically teacher his/her students to use the app in about minutes.

Motivation:

Haiku Deck forces users to focus on the visual aspects of their presentation and to keep the text, bullets, and notes to a minimum. Users must really choose their words wisely.

Pros:

• Includes something like 30 million free photos which available under Creative Commons license
• Allow users to also use their own personal photos
• Clean and simple design
• Offers a free version
• Work is automatically saved

Cons:

• No offline work
• Some users may be turned off by the limited design options

Animoto

Usability:

Animoto is extremely easy to use. First time users are literally walked through the steps to help them create their first video slideshow. 

Motivation:

Animoto offers a great alternative to the traditional slide-deck presentation. It could be a great tool for introducing a new theme or topic or even for creating a visual story. 

Pros:

• offers a free version
• users can add pictures and videos from a number of sources including the Animoto image/video library, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and much more
• offers a large selection of music 

Cons:

• Like most apps, many features are only available for a fee
• Uses in the classroom may be limited

Windows Movie Maker

Usability:

Windows Movie Maker is fairly easy to use; however, like PowToon it can be time-consuming, especially for first-time users.

Motivation:

Movie Maker is a great tool for creating photo/video slideshows. It is also a great tool for introducing students to the world of filmmaking and editing. The project potential that this tool offers for the classroom is limitless.

Pros:

• Free
• Easily add photos, video, music, text, and even voice overs to presentation
• Allows users to add a variety of effects
• Good sharing options

Cons:

• Other than being a little time consuming, I have not found anything that I don't like about Movie Maker.