Reflection on Prezi

I think what makes Prezi so successful (in its creative possibilities and potentials) is also what serves as its pitfall: with so much to do, a beginner can easily get lost. Of course, this is not strictly Prezi's fault--they offer up the interface, and it is up to the user of the software to figure it out. Unfortunately, many of the tutorials (Lynda included) give too much information too fast (in that, in trying to be comprehensive, they give all the information). For example, the Prezis that they use as illustrative examples of what Prezi can do far exceed what a beginner could probably do with Prezi under reasonable time constraints. After learning about the triple-layered 3D background feature possibility, I naturally wanted to utilize such. My (conceptual) idea: my significator card would be the wide background image (the toilet project); inside of the toilet would be the next layer, a map of Cabot Koppers; inside of the Cabot Koppers map there would be imbedded the spread of Tarot relays, giving a poetic narrative of the accident/disaster.

This simply was not possible--at least not at first, as one truly needs to master the basics of Prezi through trial and error before one can advance into such a horizon. First of all, as Lynda notes, the 3D background images need to be saved as a certain kind of file and pixelated in a certain manner in order for them to work effectively. They do not tell one how to do this, however, and trying to figure out how to properly adjust screen captures (I still lucky to know how to even screen capture!) to fit the proper specs was rather impossible. Eventually, I came to terms with what I am: a Prezi novice. I chose a template, adjusted creatively here and there so as to personalize it a bit and, though it is still not as complex and visually striking as it could be, I am happy with what I produced. There is perhaps an excellent pedagogical point here concerning electracy (or becoming-electrate) that, for the reasons of convenience, we will relate to literacy (or becoming-literate): one must learn how to read before one can undertake the complexities of Shakespeare or Proust, Derrida or Barthes.

Naturally, it would be pleasant if Prezi offered up comprehensive, step-by-step guides to the interface that were separated by skill level (maybe something to the tune of: Prezi for Idiots; Prezi for Beginners; Intermediate Prezi; Advanced Prezi; Prezi and Beyond). Trial and error works, too, and this indeed served as an experiment (doubly so for those of us that had not worked with Prezi--to completion--before), but the stress may have stemmed from the fact that it was nonetheless an assignment, as well. I look forward to the next time I use Prezi, as I know how to use the basics and, as such, will perhaps be more confident and capable in being able to go a step further. There is obviously a lot of possibility and potential in Prezi; it's simply a matter of what present skill-horizon stands before a given user.