M. McCleese: English/Digital Media Instructor
Digital Media Apps
These apps and websites can be used to create presentations or complete digital media projects. With the enactment of the new cell phone law for public schools in January 2026, we will have to be creative in how we access information. Still, many of these websites have companion apps that can be used as easily as the websites themselves.
Using digital media responsibly is a vital skill today and one of the goals of this class is to enable students to discern the best methods and programs to facilitate learning going forward
Padlet: a free global collaborative app in which users can create boards and digital canvases for organizing and presenting information.
PechaKucha: a free online and offline global storytelling platform, The PechaKucha 20x20 presentation format is a slide show of 20 images, each auto-advancing after 20 seconds. It’s non-stop and you've got 400 seconds to tell your story, with visuals guiding the way. PechaKucha was created in Japan in 2003 by renowned architects, Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham. The word “PechaKucha” is Japanese for “chit chat.” (From the PechaKucha website)
Canva: a multi-app platform for creating presentations; popular and versatile, Canva strives to provide the most bang for free, though they also offer paid subscriptions at a reasonable price.
Powtoon: a paid app with a limited, free option, this app offers Doc-to-video, AI Avatars, text-to-speech, and more.
Recommended Presentation Apps
I use Canva for most everything creative, but I recommend Google Slides for a quick slide show. A search for presentation apps online will net hundreds of apps that offer subscriptions with very limited free options, so the ones I have listed here are - in my opinion - the easiest and most versatile of the available choices.
If you come across an interesting presentation app not listed here, send me an email with the information.
Old Standbys: Microsoft Powerpoint and Google Slides