Resource Wednesday: Sway-online presentation creator from Microsoft

 Free https://sway.com 

Reimagine the way your ideas come to life

A new online presentation creator from Microsoft that is getting attention from the education community.  I am not a big Microsoft fan, but this actually look excellent.  For me to recommend a Microsoft project mean I must be pretty darn impressed, I am even surprised myself.  It’s free, doesn't require installation and works on all browsers and devices.

Sway by Microsoft is an intelligent app that helps you express your ideas on an interactive, web-based canvas. It’s integrated with the web, social networks and your devices, making it easy to drag and drop your content from a variety of sources right onto your canvas. The built-in design engine integrates that content into a cohesive layout without any hassles. From there, you can easily modify the design to create a look and feel unique to you. The results will look great on any screen and can be sent to coworkers or friends as effortlessly as sharing a link.

Checkout the video and see how it works:  

Eventually you will be able to sign in using your eID, but that is not possible at the moment, so you need to create an account.

10 ways to use Sway

Sway is 100% teacher friendly and can be used in variety of different ways. Check out Pip Cleaves form the Australian Teachers Blog top ten ideas to get you thinking of ways to use Sway in your teaching.

  1. Presentations – Teachers and students can use Sway as a presentation tool for learning
  2. eTextbooks – create your own eTextbook with links, information, videos, images and questions. You can then direct students to different website, using Sway as the base learning pathway
  3. Picture Books – get students to create a storybook using Sway
  4. Experiment and Research Reports – use sway to show research, experiment videos and results. You could even make your next science report using Sway
  5. Artwork or Multimedia Portfolio – Use Sway as a product portfolio to show a number of your own creations. Spend some time to explain what your project was, and why you created it
  6. Dictionary – Sway would make n awesome picture dictionary for English as Another Language or Language Other Than English students. Set groups the task to create dictionaries complete with audio tracks (uploaded to sound cloud)
  7. Book and Film Reviews – This multimodal tool makes a wonderful platform for students to create literacy focussed tasks such as reviews and analysis pieces
  8. Professional Learning Resource – Create a Sway for professional learning by bringing together links, help, examples and advice for teacher colleagues with which you are working
  9. Flipped Learning content delivery – use Sway to deliver your unit of study. Bring all the content together and allow students to view it at home in one space. Share the link, and you’re done
  10. School Showcases – Bring the best of your school together, simply choose images, text and video then embed your Sway on the front page of your school website. What a cool new way to share your school’s success.