Your Japanese word of the week is...

"shukudai" 宿題 which means homework.  Having taken two weeks off for the practicum and now being in the home stretch before school ends, the homework load is piling up.  Particularly for this week, with 3 presentations and 3 other assignments due.

I'm not complaining though, really...  there certainly is a lot but I'm actually revelling in how technology has transformed how nice I can make my assignments look.  Everything from producing sample worksheets to presentations is now all done in the computer which in some ways takes the mystique out of doing things but also means the quality goes through the roof.

Gone are the days when presenting meant printing paragraphs on paper, attempting to cut them out with straight edges, and gluing them down on construction paper.

In fact, even PowerPoints are being out paced by newer, slicker, and more innovative presentation methods.

One that I learned about two weeks ago is Prezi.

Essentially a giant board, it offers a place to lay out presentations that progress in an organic fashion with views that zoom in or out, pan, and rotate as you move along.  The most amazing thing, however, is that it's incredibly easy to use.  It really is a triumph of design and while it isn't as powerful as PowerPoint or other types of presentation methods in terms of manipulation, it's a got style that very few, if any, other presentation methods can offer.

Check it out; I highly recommend it.