HIT: Presentation Software

[Ann Landau <jhs263k@NS2.CON2.COM>]

Happy New Year!
        Thanks to all of you for sending your advice on presentation
software programs for Middle School.  Here are comments received.
Hyperstudio was widely recommended, but many of you liked mPower and Astound.

>We love Hyperstudio, it is very versatile and you can import all sorts
>of pictures and graphics into the program. There are also some nice
>teacher-idea books published with step by step hyperstuido projects.
>

I like HyperStudio and the kids take about 20 minutes to pick it up.
    There is also another tool called Digital Chisel which I have seen
demonstrated.  It is awesome, but obviously more technical and powerful then
HyperStudio.


>Hyperstudio is great and certainly appropriate for your grade level.  Claris
>Works is memory limited and will balk after too many slides are put into a
>slide show presentation.  Consider PowerPoint.  I think it's simpler to use
>than Hyperstudio.  But then you can't do the animations and more elaborate
>things with it as you can with Hyperstudio.

>Microsoft PowerPoint and Lotus Freelance are both excellent and very easy to
>learn to use.

>If you are using windows, another program you might want to look into is called
>Superlink V2.00

>SlideShow with ClarisWorks is also good, but limited.

>Hyperstudio is simple to use and you can EASILY do all you wish....we do...I
>use it with third grade and up...

>We use Hyperstudio, Corral Draw, and Power Point in our school with
>Grades 4-8.

>Kid Pix Studio is good for allowing students and staff to get
>comfortable creating screen images and then sequencing them. I have my
>fifth graders work on creating a four panel story/joke/riddle cartoon so
>they can get the idea.

>most of our students are adept at
>Hyperstudio by grade 6 so we are offering them options for greater
>creativity with Astound--We also have Powerpoint which a student uses for
>a simple "lecture" type presentation--Our teachers love that too.
>
>We've used a program called Persuasion with our Macintosh computers.
>Teachers and students have used it, and it has the options you've
>listed.  I've put together a program myself and can tell you that it
>is pretty easy to learn and to use.

>You might want to check out the mPower program.  We are using it in our
>high school for a video production class, and we also used it to develop
>the senior graduation video presentation last spring.  It is VERY EASY to
>use (my instructor for my night class said that it was much easier than
>Hyperstudio or Hypercard--

>We are just starting Powerpoint presentations with grade 7 on Macs including
>pictures from digital camera.  Much, much easier, in my opinion, than Hyper-
>studio, although hyperstudio does more things, i.e. scrolling text, sound
>bytes, etc.
>
>You should take a look at Astound.  It beats the socks off PowerPoint
>and Presentations.  We have it and the kids love it, the teachers are
>really impressed with it.  Id does all you ask...video clips, pictures,
>sound, voice, etc.
>

Ann Landau                            jhs263k@mail.con2.com
Esther Clarke Hunter JHS 263          ann_landau@fc1.nycenet.edu
210 Chester Street
Brooklyn, New York 11212