Prezi is an online presentation and video maker that offers an alternative to PowerPoint and Google Slides. Prezi has three different products: Video (incorporating photos, gifs, and presentation slides), Present (more visually interesting experiences using a unique zoom transition animation), and Design (for charts, reports, maps, infographics).
Current known uses in the sector
Prezi can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools, Pre-Arrival to create engaging visual information for Newcomers.
Video overview
Pricing
Prezi has a free version that allows you to store up to 5 projects. They have additional pricing levels for individuals, students & educations, and businesses.
Ease of use & Accessibility
Prezi can be used through their website or downloaded software (Mac and Windows). Prezi Video automatically creates a transcript of your video, available on the video’s view page. You can also download the subtitles from the video admin page.
Snapchat is a photo, video, and instant messaging app. A key features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients.
Current known uses in the sector
Used predominantly with Newcomer Youth who use Snapchat with other youth, as a way to message with them, as well as share relevant content, information & orientation materials in creative, visual ways.
Snapchat can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools as a tool to engage Newcomers who use Snapchat and prefer to message through the app.
Video overview
Pricing
Snapchat is free.
Ease of use & Accessibility
Easy to use.
Mobile friendly
Snapchat is a mobile app available on Android and iOS.
Privacy/security features, including data security and message encryption
Snapchat does not offer end-to-end encryption and therefore is not a completely secure method of communication. Staff should take every reasonable measure to ensure that clients are aware that they are not communicating through an entirely secure channel and to remind clients not to share personal information through these means.
According to Common Sense Media’s Privacy Evaluation for Snapchat, “they collect personal information such as name, username, password, email address, phone number, date of birth, and other information collected automatically when users visit the service. The terms say that Snapchat does not sell personal information to third parties, but the terms do state that Snapchat and third-party partners may place advertising on the services.”
LinkedIn is networking and employment-oriented social network for job seekers, professionals, and businesses. Most use it to build professional networks, find business contacts, connect with recruiters, and use their LinkedIn profile as an online resume.
Current known uses in the sector
Promoted as a tool for Newcomer to build networks and connections, many organizations provide workshops/webinars on how to use LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is also a key outreach and marketing tool for nonprofit professionals and organizations to share information about their work and services.
There are a number of LinkedIn groups used for personal networking, mentoring, and employment-related settlement information and orientation.
LinkedIn can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools as a tool to share information with Newcomers as well as help them access employment and professional networks.
TikTok is a video-focused social networking mobile app and service. Users share short entertaining or informational videos.
Current known uses in the sector
TikTok can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools, Pre-Arrival to create engaging video/visual information for Newcomers.
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service which is also used for digital messaging. Business for Instagram focuses on additional analytics and products and services, while Creators focuses on individual Instagram content creators.
Instagram is not just for personal use, it can also be used as an educational tool. For instance, you can ask your students to capture photos or videos of their class work, homework, assignments, school activities, post those in their own account, or a class account, and have discussions about the posts.
Current known uses in the sector
Instagram can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools, Pre-Arrival to create engaging visual information for Newcomers.
Video overview
Pricing
Instagram is free.
Ease of use & Accessibility
According to Instagram, they have a number of “features and technologies that help people with disabilities, such as vision loss and deafness, get the most out of Instagram.”
Mobile friendly
Instagram is mobile-focused and as Android and iOS apps.
Privacy/security features, including data security and message encryption
Vimeo is an online video sharing and social media platform. It is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch, create and upload your own videos to share with others. You can also use it to curate other people’s videos to share them with Newcomers. Videos can be embedded in your website, and you can create YouTube playlists of your own or other people’s videos to share.
Current known uses in the sector
Webinar recordings
Introductions to programs and services
Livestream, via YouTube itself or through Zoom and other livestream/video conferencing tools
Orientation, explanation, and how-to videos
Simple “talking head” videos where you share information or provide orientation
YouTube can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools as a tool to share a variety of types of videos with Newcomers, created by you and others.
Vimeo is mobile friendly via its smartphone app or mobile web browsers on smartphones.
Privacy/security features (including data security and message encryption)
According to Vimeo, you can share videos “with an unlisted link. For added security, you can lock your videos with a password. You can also specify which websites have permissions to embed your videos… We never sell your data to third-party marketers, we protect your account with enterprise-grade security, and we let you control the privacy of your videos on and off Vimeo.”
YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform owned by Google. It is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch, create and upload your own videos to share with others. You can also use it to curate other people’s videos to share them with Newcomers. Videos can be embedded in your website, and you can create YouTube playlists of your own or other people’s videos to share.
Current known uses in the sector
Webinar recordings
Introductions to programs and services
Livestream, via YouTube itself or through Zoom and other livestream/video conferencing tools
Orientation, explanation, and how-to videos
Simple “talking head” videos where you share information or provide orientation
YouTube can be used in Citizenship Preparation, Community Connections, Employment-related, Information and Orientation, Library Settlement Partnership, Settlement Workers in Schools as a tool to share a variety of types of videos with Newcomers, created by you and others.
Video overview
Pricing
YouTube is free to use, upload, and share videos and playlists.
There is no login required to view videos. However, if you want to upload videos, create a YouTube channel, and create your own Playlists and take advantage of YouTube’s advanced features, you should create an account with Google and login. YouTube also offers a paid service (YouTubeRed), which allows you to watch videos and listen to music without advertisements. YouTube also has a Nonprofit program with additional benefits.
Ease of use & Accessibility
YouTube is a simple and well-designed website. The help page (see YouTube Help Center) allows users to find an answer to their questions.
YouTube supports a pop-out button, expand/shrink button, and screen reader, TalkBack, full page zoom, high contrast settings, and chrome accessibility extensions to increase accessibility.
Mobile friendly
YouTube is mobile friendly via its smartphone app or mobile web browsers on smartphones.
Privacy/security features (including data security and message encryption)
Videos can be set to:
Public, which means the video shows up on YouTube, in YouTube and other web searches and can be viewed by anyone
Unlisted, which means that the video won’t show up in YouTube searches and someone needs the direct video link in order to view the video. These videos can still be shared and embedded on websites.
Private, which means that the video is not public or shareable in public. Only people the video is shared with can view the video.
If you do not want to allow a video to be embedded by others onto other websites you can restrict video embedding.
In order to upload videos and create playlists you must create an account on YouTube. You can sign in YouTube with your Google account. Google services ask for your personal information (e.g., name, phone, birthday, age, location,and username) and want you to make your profile publicly visible. Google uses cookies to identify your browser and device and to present appropriate ads, remember search preferences, and offer options based on user data. In addition, they also use people’s information to maintain and develop Google services, and protect both users and Google from malware and spam. See Google Privacy Policy.
Make sure you do not use a personal Google/YouTube account. Your organization should have an account, or you should create a separate account that is specific and only for work-related videos.
Multilingual capabilities
Videos can be created, shared, and viewed in any language. YouTube also allows you to create and add captions in any language to include with your videos. YouTube also uses speech recognition technology to automatically create captions, including translations, for your videos. These are generally not completely accurate and should be reviewed before encouraging Newcomers to view the translated captions.