Students’ experiences in learning and using Prezi in higher education

Abstract

This paper documented the findings of an exploratory, qualitative case study and investigated students’ opinions about learning Prezi and their first experiences in using Prezi in Higher Education. A total of 13 students who were determined as eligible participants through a purposeful selection method were recruited. They responded to 10 interview questions that were analyzed by two researchers using content analysis. The results demonstrate that students’ experiences in acquiring practical knowledge of Prezi and creating Prezi presentations resulted in the identification of four major themes including usability, usefulness, organization and drawback. The eleven sub-themes emerged from these major themes include the following easiness, difficulty, future use, collaboration, mobility, attractiveness, zoomable user Interface & infinite canvas, effectiveness & efficiency, customization, cost and language. This study shows that although the price and limited language options of Prezi are the drawbacks, the innovative features of Prezi convert presentations from boring and linear fashion into stimulating, impressive and effective fashion. The learning and using process of Prezi are straightforward for even students who have just used traditional presentation tools such as PowerPoint.