I do not like Panraven. I think it is really tacky and extremely non user friendly. I don't like that I can't resize the images or text boxes myself. If it is possible then it needs to be clearer. Not to over-toot my own horn, but I know my way around these types of things and if I am having trouble, I'm confident other people will. I think I have to use HTML to make the text bigger. Even though I can do that, I know many people can't. I would not recommend this to any teacher to use. I think having the kids make a story book with hard materials(i.e. with paper, pencil, coloring, etc.) is much more effective and worth their time. Yes, I can embed it in a blog, but honestly I could careless because, the product is so tacky in the end(no matter who makes it) that I wouldn't really care to share this. I think the backgrounds are weak and it takes to long to load things. Overall of all the things I was introduced this semester, the only thing I gained from this, is that Panraven is a waste of mine and my childrens time. I don't mean to be so hard on it but I refuse to say "I had fun" and "Panraven is awesome" when the truth is I think Panraven is garbage.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Panraven storybook
I do not like Panraven. I think it is really tacky and extremely non user friendly. I don't like that I can't resize the images or text boxes myself. If it is possible then it needs to be clearer. Not to over-toot my own horn, but I know my way around these types of things and if I am having trouble, I'm confident other people will. I think I have to use HTML to make the text bigger. Even though I can do that, I know many people can't. I would not recommend this to any teacher to use. I think having the kids make a story book with hard materials(i.e. with paper, pencil, coloring, etc.) is much more effective and worth their time. Yes, I can embed it in a blog, but honestly I could careless because, the product is so tacky in the end(no matter who makes it) that I wouldn't really care to share this. I think the backgrounds are weak and it takes to long to load things. Overall of all the things I was introduced this semester, the only thing I gained from this, is that Panraven is a waste of mine and my childrens time. I don't mean to be so hard on it but I refuse to say "I had fun" and "Panraven is awesome" when the truth is I think Panraven is garbage.
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2 comments:
Hi, Nik.
I'm a marketing manager for Panraven. Thanks for taking the time to create a Panraven story and provide your feedback.
We do plan to introduce font control and more flexibility with the layouts in the future, as we have learned that is something users would find useful. One reason the font is small is because it is proportional to how it will look when printed. We want to give users the most realistic representation of what their book would look like in a printed form so that when they receive a printed version of their Panraven story, they are not surprised or disappointed.
You also hit on another feature we plan to build out: out library of templates. We continue to add more to the selection, and we have plans to allow users to create their own.
I believe the truly powerful possibility with Panraven in the classroom is the ability for your classes to share their stories with classes from other places around the world. This is something that can't be done with a physical scrapbook.
I welcome your ongoing feedback. You clearly know your way around some of these web 2.0 products.
If you have any further questions or comments about our product, don't hesitate to contact me.
Andy Katz
akatz@panraven.com
Hi Nik;
First, I enjoyed your story. I liked the fact that you embedded it in your blog and the I was able to view it in full-screen mode-- a very effective way to get your story "out there" without having to provide a specific link to Panraven.
I also appreciated your comments about Panraven. As you know, I have some issues with it myself, not the least of which is the slow response times even on very fast networks. This makes using Panraven a problem for many of my rural students who are typically on slower connections. I also wish there were support for Flickr and that the layouts could be more flexible (especially being able to enlarge or delete text fields). However, I think the potential for Panraven is enormous, and I am fairly confident that the Panraven folks are going to address these problems. I agree with Andy' comments about the power of collaboration, particularly in the case of our students here in Alaska. I think it's worth sticking with. I can envision a "library" of books about life in Alaska authored by folks who live here. What a treasure that would be.
The only thing about which I'd strongly disagree with you is the idea of making Panraven a stand-alone app. The power of the tool is the fact that it runs in a browser without the typical issues of cross-platform support, etc. Schools are much more likely to use it if they do not have to worry about installation, support, and system requirements.
I applaud your comments on improving the tool. That's the way things get better.
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