TeachersFirst Digital Presentation Tools

Remember when presentations meant poster board, markers, and hoping the glue stick held everything together until class? While there's still a place for hands-on displays, digital presentation tools have opened exciting new possibilities for how students can share their learning—and the best part is that all the powerful tools in this collection are completely free. These tools — including popular platforms like Google Slides, Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva Presentations, and Nearpod — typically follow a linear, slide-by-slide format that guides viewers through ideas in a structured sequence. Built with the audience in mind, they bring together text, images, and video into polished, shareable displays perfect for student project presentations, book reports, research presentations, and teacher-led lessons. By giving students a choice in how they present their "aha!" moments, we not only increase engagement but also help them develop the modern communication skills they'll need for a digital-first future. Let's empower our learners to move beyond the bullet point and start telling stories that truly resonate!

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Powtoon - powtoon.com

Grades
K to 12
6 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Powtoon is an amazing, free, animated presentation tool. Sign up for your free account, then choose from one of many templates available to edit, or start from scratch. Next, start...more
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Powtoon is an amazing, free, animated presentation tool. Sign up for your free account, then choose from one of many templates available to edit, or start from scratch. Next, start making magic! Create your title and description. Modify slides by changing text, font, image holders, and props. Preview your creation at any time with the play button. Stop and make changes as needed. Change styles easily by choosing a different style within the program. Select from Powtoon's royalty-free music options to enhance your presentation. Share the finished presentation via social media buttons on your page to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and other popular pages or export to YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then using YouTube may not be your best option. Use the embed code provided to easily embed on your website or blog, or share your Powtoon using the URL provided. Exports are not included with the free membership plan. An email is required to register and use Powtoon.
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tag(s): animation (62), digital storytelling (162), movies (52), multimedia (59), slides (38)

In the Classroom

Challenge older students to create their own PowToons. Students can use PowToon to share their ideas or to "prototype" an idea. Students can create videos to show math processes, explanations of complex concepts, review new learning, teach others, explain scientific processes, tell stories, or present research. The possibilities are really endless, and students will come up with hundreds more uses. Flip your classroom using PowToon presentations. Use PowToon to create teacher-authored animations for students in ANY grade. This is a great way to present new information or ideas for discussion. It is an easy way to share information with the class when a substitute is in your classroom. Embed your PowToon creations on your website or blog for students to review at home. Use a PowToon on the first day of school to explain class rules or give an exciting introduction to the year ahead. Use PowToon to create movies or presentations for back to school night or conference nights to display on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teacher-librarians can ask students to create PowToon book reviews to share kiosk style in the library/media center.

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Storyboard That - Aaron Sherman and Clever Prototypes, LLC

Grades
4 to 12
20 Favorites 2  Comments
   
Find an easy, interactive tool to create storyboards at Storyboard That. Choose between three and six frame storyboards and build a storyboard using the free library with drag and...more
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Find an easy, interactive tool to create storyboards at Storyboard That. Choose between three and six frame storyboards and build a storyboard using the free library with drag and drop technology. Before you begin, you may want to look at the example storyboards for business and teachers. With a free account, you can create two storyboards a week with the classic storyboard layout. To share and save storyboards, you must register with an email.
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tag(s): charts and graphs (194), creative writing (126), digital storytelling (162), writing (309)

In the Classroom

Enhance learning and demonstrate how to create a storyboard using Storyboard That on your interactive whiteboard or projector. As you and your students create a class story, show them the different selections of characters, settings, dialogue boxes and more. Show them how easy it is to edit anything in the frame. Have your students use "Storyboard That" for anything from brainstorming for a video story they want to create to a final copy of a story, report, comic, or poem. This is a highly engaging way to teach your students about story elements, dialogue, character development, etc. Challenge students to create a storyboard of a book or short story recently finished in class as a review of characters and story plot and extending their learning. World language students can create storyboards and label the images, or tell the story in the language they are learning. "Storyboard That" has a growing collection of lesson plans and you can also contribute yours. Math teachers can use the interesting storyboard characters to explain word problems and capture reluctant student's interest. Have your students complete biographies for famous people. Tell the story of different famous events in history or explain their understanding of cell division using this easy program that produces entertaining results. Autistic or emotional support teachers can have students storyboard interpersonal behavior skills.

Comments

david, TX, Grades: 9 - 12
As of January 2013 teachers can now create a private classroom where their students data is secure and the teacher has more control. -Aaron (Founder/CEO of Storyboard That) *Editor's Note: this feature is available as part of the Classroom Portal Section which is a paid add on. This review highlights only the free portions of the site. Aaron, , Grades: 0 - 12

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Presentation Tube - Dr. Alaa Sadik

Grades
K to 12
6 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Add narration to your PowerPoint presentations to create a great resource for any use. Download Presentation Tube and use the video presentation recorder to produce high quality, easily...more
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Add narration to your PowerPoint presentations to create a great resource for any use. Download Presentation Tube and use the video presentation recorder to produce high quality, easily shared, interactive videos. Combine all parts of the lesson: video, PowerPoint, images, Web sites, and even handwritten notes into the presentation. Upload and publish the finished video presentations to Presentation Tube. You can also post the URL or use the embed code on your own website, Facebook, or X (formerly Twitter).

In the Classroom

Be sure that your teaching style fits the use of Presentation Tube before using in the classroom. Easily create presentations for students to access. Be sure to play with the software before using to create your first real product. Provide links to presentations on your wiki, blog, site, or other courseware site. Time is always short in the classroom, and sometimes it's hard to make time for oral presentations. Have the students use Presentation Tube to report out their research, and you and their peers can watch it and grade it any time. Or, have students post their Presentation Tube to your web page or TeacherTube and they can view, and peer evaluate the projects. You may want to create your own rubric with student input for this. See a selection of rubric makers "http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/rubrics/create-rubrics.cfm " here on TeachersFirst. Another idea would be to have students create a Presentation Tube for the results of their research, and then pause and comment during an oral presentation to the class. Students with speech difficulties or challenges with English fluency will appreciate the opportunity to prerecord their presentations without an audience. High school students can also narrate a portfolio slide show for Art school applications or a show of accomplishments for college applications. Students can package book reviews or author reports to be shared in the media center. In primary grades, have students narrate their portion of a whole-class slide show, then share it with parents and grandparents by url. They can practice oral reading as they share their story slides.

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Mentimeter - Mentimeter

Grades
3 to 12
3 Favorites 0  Comments
  
With the Mentimeter presentation tool, you can create free polls, word clouds, real-time question and answer sessions, and quizzes that provide instant feedback from audiences or classes....more
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With the Mentimeter presentation tool, you can create free polls, word clouds, real-time question and answer sessions, and quizzes that provide instant feedback from audiences or classes. All of these can be in person, remote, or hybrid. After joining with your email address, your dashboard will appear. Use the top menu bar to find Featuresand then Q&A click it, and you can watch "How to Create" video (about 5 and a half minutes). Choose from various templates and themes, create a question and a set of answer choices, or participants respond with their words. When finished the slide will provide the URL and ID code for your presentation. Participants choose or enter their answers using a mobile device or their computer. You can generate a QR code quickly for the fastest linking. View results instantly (a plus for interactive presentations or classes). Results can also be embedded on a website. The most popular mobile platforms support Mentimeter. The free membership provides 50 participants per month, multiple question types, and results and freedback from the session. Each individual poll/project allows 34 Slide types, Q & A, Quick Layouts, and Collaborative workspace.

tag(s): assessment (139), Formative Assessment (45), polls and surveys (41), presentations (30), word clouds (12)

In the Classroom

Mentimeter is helpful in the classroom as a formative assessment tool. Educators can interact with others inside the classroom, remotely, or during blended classroom sessions. Because the poll address and ID code number appear on the beginning slide of your creation or can be given verbally, it is effortless to create and provide to classes. Survey students during activities and lectures to check for understanding of essential concepts. Responses can also be open-ended by creating your poll without any choice of answers. Students can only vote once per question with this tool unless you check the box about answering more than once during the creation of the answer slides.

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Prezi - Prezi

Grades
3 to 12
7 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Prezi is a web-based presentation tool that uses a zoomable canvas to help users organize and present ideas in a dynamic, visual way. Unlike traditional slide-by-slide presentations,...more
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Prezi is a web-based presentation tool that uses a zoomable canvas to help users organize and present ideas in a dynamic, visual way. Unlike traditional slide-by-slide presentations, Prezi allows creators to show the "big picture" and then zoom in on supporting details, making connections between ideas clear and engaging. Users can choose a template or background, follow guided prompts, and quickly build a presentation to share. Prezi also offers an Explore gallery where teachers and students can view and reuse presentations created by others as templates. The platform works on any device with a web browser and supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same Prezi at once. A free education plan is available with a verified school email and includes private presentations, while standard free accounts have public sharing and limited storage options.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (269), graphic organizers (55), slides (38), visualizations (15)

In the Classroom

You could map your entire lesson, chapter or unit in one Prezi. Once you introduce the concept with this tool, you can go back to it often with your students as you move to different parts of the unit. It would provide a great way to connect prior knowledge with the next step if you share this on your interactive whiteboard or projector throughout the unit. Or you could post it to your web page or give kids the URL so they can review as often as they need it. Try having the students map a concept or chapter with this tool. In history class, create timelines of relevant events, or in science or math class have them map steps in a process. Have students create Prezis for different events, and then have them post the link to their product on a class blog or wiki. Add a peer review component and require students to comment on at least two other Prezis. The possibilities are endless!

If you have gifted students n your class, offer Prezi as one alternative for sharing extensions to the regular curriculum. If they already know the material, have them investigate a related process or example and share it in the form of a Prezi.

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