eMaze your audience! It's PowerPoint + Prezi + Google Slides on Steroids!

I was fortunate several months ago to learn about emaze, a powerful FREE* tool that can be used in the classroom.  Initially, I thought that it was merely a presentation tool, but in all actuality, it's so much more.  Not only can you create amazing presentations in minutes, but you can also use emaze to create websites, e-cards, blogs, photo albums, and more.  Teachers can engage their class with interactive presentations that make learning more accessible, stimulating, and effective. In fact, I know of an eighth grade class that is using emaze to create its own digital yearbook!

So you ask, "A presentation tool?  Why do I need ANOTHER presentation tool?  I have Microsoft PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, etc.  Isn't that enough?"  But that's just it.  Emaze is not just another presentation tool; it's much more powerful than the presentation tools listed above.  Think of emaze as Microsoft PowerPoint + Prezi + Google Slides together on steroids.  And THAT is what emaze is all about.  Click the link below to learn how emaze compares to other presentation tools.

Emaze vs. Prezi vs. PowerPoint and More!

Creating beautiful content in emaze is very easy as the interface is user-friendly.  There are many templates using various themes available on the website.  Make your presentation stand out of this world with designs, gorgeous animations and 3D and video effects. In addition, there are many finished projects created by educators that are readily available for duplication and each user can edit it to his/her liking.  The possibilities are endless.

And if you ask, "But I created something in Microsoft PowerPoint already.... I don't want to reinvent the wheel.  What do I do?"  Great question!  You can import PowerPoint files directly into emaze and with very little effort. And if you created a Google Slides presentation, all you need to do is download and save the Google Slides file as a PowerPoint (.ppt) file and then import that file directly into eMaze.  It's that simple!  You can add video by uploading the file from your computer and/or mobile device.  Another option is you can add the video's link on YouTube.  In my experience, I have found that the video playback was better after I uploaded the file directly from my computer.  Audio files work the same way; they can be uploaded or you can provide the link from YouTube.

Emaze is a device agnostic, cloud based tool.  It can be used on all devices and in all places, as long as there is a high speed internet connection.  Work and continue presentation projects at school, home, and on-the-go from laptops, tablets, and even mobile phones.  Emaze is currently optimizing its software to be fully compatible with iPhones and smartphones.  Personally, I feel that content creation is easier on a computer than on a mobile device.  Projects can be downloaded in order to present offline in a variety of file formats, including but not limited to: .pdf, .mp4, and .html.

It is very easy to share presentations (and other projects) with students, teachers, and everyone else by email, Facebook, Twitter, websites, and blogs.  Looking for ways to collaborate?  More than one person can edit the same presentation or project file.  However, the current setting for FREE and EDU (Premium) users is that ONLY ONE user can edit a file at a time.  The collaboration feature is only available for business member accounts at this time.  I have mentioned to emaze staff the importance of educators and students being able to collaborate on the same project simultaneously.  I hope that they will add the collaboration feature for EDU users in the near future.

You can learn more about emaze by taking a gallery walk through the following presentation.  (The video within the presentation can be accessed directly at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9nHq9ld6Q&feature=youtu.be.  Have fun creating your "emaze-ing" projects and hoping to see them on the emaze Explore page soon!