As I continue to explore, challenge, navigate and get frustrated (and or excited) over all things GenAI, I continue to believe people should know which tools are available and make informed decisions about whether they may be useful.
The critic in me believes big tech companies are earning billions while influencing how we think and how our children develop, often ignoring the environmental impact in the pursuit of profit. The realist in me sees a growing equity concern between people who know how to use GenAI and people who do not.
I think of it as one person walking to school compared to another catching a train. The person walking spends half their day commuting, which is good for physical health, but then needs to work through lunch and dinner to keep up with demands. The person taking the train meets work expectations during work hours, enjoys lunch, and spends the evening on a leisurely walk with their family.
Let’s try it out! Outdated PowerPoint – Lumen5 & NotebookLM
In just a few clicks, I uploaded this Community Development PowerPoint below (no criticism please; it is old and was a time-scarce creation).
As an educator, I spend a lot of time reflecting on both the challenges and the potential wins. This blog post shares two examples of educational videos produced by GenAI using an old PowerPoint deck, which looked like this:
Lumen5
Output: 2 mins is all you can create with the free version. I am quite impressed – it is much more usable than other video options I have tried. Keep in mind – I did not take time to change images, refine sentences, or reduce/extend the time on each slide – but this can be easily done with GenAI support in the user-friendly edit interface (before or after publishing).
Here is the process: (Remember to save the PowerPoint as a PDF before uploading)
Pros:
• Easy to use
• Keeps your information as it was written and uses your images (I have been looking for a tool that works better with our own content!)
• Offers a range of styles
• Can be edited before publishing, including layout, text, images, and timing
• Background included and can be changed (but overpowering)
• The video is engaging, with visuals that match the meaning of the text
Cons:
• Some text on images does not meet accessibility standards, but this can be changed
• Slides with longer text sometimes move too quickly, but you can adjust this before publishing
• Some of the images Lumen5 offers for use are watermarked
Opportunities: Revamp all your old PowerPoints – a quick edit to improve visuals and edit text as required. Use as a conversation starter in class or for homework. Use the built-in voice-over tool to record a ‘presentation’ that is more engaging than your generic PowerPoint presentation. Add your video to an interactive tool to pause the video after you have asked a question and allow students to respond before playing again. If allowed in your setting, have students use Lumen5 to create their own videos and critique the videos message and content together in class (students need to be informed of the implications of using AI beforehand).
Lumen5 is quite impressive in the fact that its first attempt is not overbearingly GenAI (i.e. unrealistic and irritating), and to add to this, it’s all easily editable.
NotebookLM Video
Output: 7 mins long (a glance will give you the idea)
As the PowerPoint creator, I would review to check details, but I am reasonably happy with the output. I would potentially consider utilising the visual output with my voice as well as another way to engage students and make this exactly how I want it.
Here is the process: (Remember to save the PowerPoint as a PDF before uploading)
Pros:
• Easy to use
• The narrative is convincing and engaging, and the storytelling effect comes through
• No unfitting or generic fake-looking GenAI visuals
Cons:
• Some visuals do not meet accessibility standards, including poor colour contrast and cluttered slides
• Cannot be edited before, during, or after production in NotebookLM
• Each video uses the same format, visuals, and dialogue style, which could easily become repetitive for students. This may be best used occasionally.
Opportunity: Flipped lesson – use a NotebookLM video as homework to discuss in class later. Use the visuals, but use another tool to record your own voice-over. If allowed in your institution, get students to create a NotebookLM video of their own or in groups to share and prompt class discussions. Create a class vote for the most accurate or most controversial etc.
Conclusion
I believe both tools are great options for bringing outdated PowerPoint decks or lesson documents to life. NotebookLM has the potential to become generic with overuse but creates strong scripts. Lumen5 maintains your original material while allowing flexibility and control over the final video slides. It uses your own visuals and others that are natural and avoids the overly artificial look found in some GenAI tools. Lumen5’s flexibility is impressive!
Caution: It is always your responsibility to ensure that any content you upload to AI tools is your own, that you have permission to use it, or that it is already publicly available. Keep in mind that many AI tools use the material and prompts you provide to train their models. This means that anything you upload may be stored, reused, or effectively given away permanently.