Bringing Stories Alive with MS Sway

Facilitator(s): Miguel Guhlin | Twitter: @mGuhlin | TechNotes Blog | 10/10/2018

Return - http://ly.tcea.org/learnsway

Your students can bring their wildest ideas to the screen as they build storyboards, discuss plots, and write, present, and digitally publish their work. Join us to learn how Microsoft Sway can challenge your students with hands-on opportunities to develop their collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

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Session Outline

Guest Co-Host: Kathi Kersznowski

Meet Kathi (@kerszi) | Read her blog

Kathi Kersznowski is a Technology Integration Specialist in southern NJ. She is a blogger, national presenter, keynote speaker, proud MIE expert and Master Trainer, and insatiable enthusiast about everything EdTech, STEM/STEAM and Educational Leadership.

What is Microsoft Sway?

Sway...

...is a presentation program that allows users to combine text and media to create a presentable captivating presentations
...allows for collaborative document creation! Multiple users can connect and build together
...creations are stored on Microsoft's servers and are tied to the user's Microsoft account
...you can embed video from YouTube, audio you created yourself with an editor like Audacity or recorded via the Web.
...features Creative Commons copyright friendly content for embedding
...works on most devices, including via your web browser! It also integrates with Nearpod. There are also apps for Android and iOS! Get started with it at Sway.com

Get Started with MS Sway

Get a Free Office 365 Account or Microsoft Account

1.Go to Office.com/teachers (or use your existing Microsoft account)

2.Enter your school email address

3.Click on Get Started

4.Click on I’m a Teacher

5.Check your email for a confirmation link

1 - Latest Updates

Get the latest updates via the Microsoft Sway blog. Learn more.
The iOS version of Sway has been updated. Learn more.
Office 365 subscribers can see a breakdown of the number of readers who glanced at a Sway, who gave it a quick read, and who sat down and gave it a deep read. Office 365 subscribers can also see the average time spent on each Sway and average completion, which is smartly calculated based on how much readers interacted with that Sway’s content. Learn more.
Free online course, Digital Storytelling with Microsoft Sway, available via the Microsoft Education Community (MEC) on MS Sway. Learn more.

2 - Digging Deeper

Research-Based Activities Sway makes Possible

"By charging students with tasks that require creativity, analysis, and applications, teachers move the focus away from themselves to an emphasis upon their learners. Student-centered products enable learners to showcase their new knowledge and skills in relation to a particular topic in an infinite variety of ways.

Examples include:

Constructing a multimedia-rich presentation to teach learned content to others
Creating a newsletter or flyer that highlights key findings on a given topic
Making a digital documentary that demonstrates content knowledge
Creating a digital story to describe reflections on a particular topic
Producing a Sketchcast demonstrating mater of a topic or concept through narration, text, sketches

Ready to Create?

You can create content using any one of these options:

Create new from scratch
Search a topic and let Sway get you started with content from Wikipedia
Upload a file (like Powerpoint) and see what Sway does (here's an example)

Sway in the classroom

10 ways to use Sway in the Classroom

Sway is 100% teacher friendly and can be used in variety of different ways. Check out my top ten ideas below to get you thinking of ways to use Sway in your teaching.

Presentations – Teachers and students can use Sway as a presentation tool for learning
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
Picture Books – get students to create a storybook using Sway
Experiment and Research Reports – use sway to show research, experiment videos and results. You could even make your next science report using Sway
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
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)
Book and Film Reviews – This multimodal tool makes a wonderful platform for students to create literacy focussed tasks such as reviews and analysis pieces
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
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
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.

In the Classroom

3 - In the GT Classroom

A recommendation author MaryAnn Woods-Murphy shares about engaging gifted and talented students is that teachers can do the following:

"Personalize learning with technology: Khan Academy, for example, offers students an individualized approach to learning that uses mini-lessons and videos to help them move forward independently. Students need to be freed from the confines of brick and mortar to allow them to soar and learn at their own pace." Teachers can use mini-lessons and videos embedded in Sway to organize content for students that allows them to explore on their own. What's more, it can be used to move forward.

Content Differentiation

"The stuff we want to teach or want students to know"

Students can use the Audio Recording feature to answer and explain text-based questions or thinking (Source) relevant to a picture. Learn more about podcasting with MS Sway as well as see some podcasting ideas.

Differentiated Assignments

"A personal sense-making activity (transform information into knowledge)"

Check out this example of using Sway for Reading portfolio creation in the middle school classroom. Dianne Krause shares, "Eighth grade students conduct a large scale Reading Workshop/Genre Study. This year, with Office 365 available to each student, we were able to use Sway as a singular portfolio housing for the variety of assignments that the students produce over a period of ten weeks.

From the standpoint of the educator, students were able to generate several formal written assessments of varying length, multi-media formatted creative projects, and a formal log of book reviews all in one spot. From the student perspective, it was a single large-scale project where they could infuse whatever theme format they chose, creatively displaying their work while flexing their tech-savvy muscles."

Interest-Based Choices

"Dig deep in an area of interest specific to learner"

Study weather, grammar, poetry and Newton’s Laws of Motions using Sway. Students can explore any aspect of a topic then share their insights and take-aways via Sway.

Communication Tools

"Connect, Communicate, Collaborate with others at a distance"

Want to collaborate with a classroom from across the globe? Use Sway as an easy way to accomplish that. With Sway, you can share edit rights to a document with others. That means more than one class can work on the same Sway at a time, embedding multimedia and other content. Or, you can embed multiple Sways into one, creating an anthology of presentations created anytime, anywhere.

4 - Resources

Real Life examples of Sway

Enhancing Professional Learning

More Classroom Examples

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