I switched to org-reveal from beamer.
Beamer clutters your slides with too much markup.
(I ended up with much more markup than text in my slides).
Moroever, Reveal offers features that no pdf reader offers at least under windows :
- separate frame for notes, timer, next slide
- ability to synchronize other clients on the master display
(your students can connect and their slides move as you move yours)
And it is very quick to compile a deck of x100 slides, where beamer can take minutes.
To answer the first question :
- load bootstrap in the <head> section of your slides
- then you can add div's with class col-xs-6 for example and split your frame in 2 columns.
I load bootstrap, mathjax and some personal js and css. It is working pretty well.
It is not as clean as beamer out of the box, but it is more efficient.
With a good css, it should be as clean as beamer.
Fabrice