Open source and free presentation software for education

 

Powerpoint slides are commonly used in education, this is largely due to their ease of use and versatility. The intuitive user interface of Microsoft PowerPoint and its Open Office equivalent are easy to use for instructors who possess only limited computer knowledge. Apart from the implementation in face-to-face training, the slides can also be converted to online formats. Here a short summary of possibilities:

 

Open Office to Flash

Microsoft PowerPoint slides can be converted to Flash format (swf) in only a few clicks. The Open Office equivalent to Powerpoint called Impress (http://de.openoffice.org/) is able to open and save Powerpoint slides to Flash format. The downside, any animations and multimedia elements contained in the Powerpoint presentation will be lost during the conversion process. The fast and simple conversion process however is still a strong argument for adoption.

 

Open Office to HTML

Nearly as simple as the conversion to Flash, is the transformation to HTML format. A navigation can also be included, as well as content declaration of slide titles. The slides are thereby converted into images. As an option, one can select the generation of HTML with or without frames.

 

On-line service Slideshare

The service is very similar to Youtube. The user creates an account at Slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/), through which he can upload presentations to the Slideshare service. Slideshare converts any uploaded presentations to Flash format, and makes the newly created presentation available to the user within their account. The user can then choose how he would like to publish their work. The author can choose to keep their work private, in this case only they will have access to the online document or he can publish his work and make it accessible to specific user groups or the entire public.  After publishing the author receives a specific address that he can use to invite groups etc. to view his work. The service also provides the user with HTML code that helps him to implement the presentations in personal web pages or learning environments. In contrast to the Open Office solution, this method includes a player, to navigate through the slides.

 

Online service Authorstream

This service is comparable with Slideshare. However in Slideshare it is possible to view the presentation in full screen mode which is favorable when viewing larger illustrations. Furthermore music tracks can also be added to the slides. (http://www.authorstream.com/)

 

AuthorPOINT Lite for PowerPoint

AuthorPOINT is a program with allows you to convert your PowerPoint files to flash presentations. The lite version is free of charge and has an interface to the Authorstream Web service (http://www.authorgen.com/authorpoint/index.htm)

 

This article only highlights a few of the possibilities, which are available when using PowerPoint of Open Office Impress products in education. Perhaps you know of a few free tips and tricks, and would like to pass them on to the community? We would love to hear from you, please send us your ideas.

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