All About Microsoft Sway

An introduction to Microsoft Sway and 5 ways for teachers and students to use it!

Microsoft Sway is a FREE web based tool that allows both students and teachers to create interactive presentations and other content very easily and seamlessly.  Since it's web based, you can access it from any device at any time!

Access Sway by going directly to sway.com.

Sway provides you with three different options to create a Sway:

1. Start from scratch.
2. Start from a template.
3. Start by uploading a previously created document from your computer.

A Sway can be shared with specific people or groups, those in your organization with the link, or with anyone that you share the link with.  In addition, users can add collaborators to their Sway to work together to create powerful content.

Here are 5 ways that teachers can use Sway:

1. Create a HyperDoc within Sway to share with students.  Make sure that it’s visually engaging and contains learning experiences that include all of the resources that your students could need.
2. Create presentations with content to share with your students.  Include videos, text, Flipgrids, etc and teach directly from your Sway.  These can be shared with absent students so they don't miss the content from the days they are out.  These can also be housed in a resource library (ie. OneNote) so students can access each day's Sway with the content for that day as they need them.  Since they update in real time there is no need to press the “save” button! Students will always have access to the latest information.
3. Collaborate with other teachers and create a virtual professional learning library with resources from conferences or with learned content throughout the year.
4. Flip your classroom by using Sway to provide your students with the content using videos, text, and other interactive media, to review at home and then use class time to dive deeper and practice.
5. Create your classroom newsletters and share the link directly with your parents.  This is a great way to keep your parents informed about what’s happening in your classroom.  Include links to field trip forms, flyers for PTA meetings, etc. The sky's the limit for what can be included!

Here are 5 ways that students can use Sway:

1. Create book reviews.  I LOVE this idea!  Teachers could then take this a step forward and create a “Class Book Wakelet” to showcase virtual book reviews for their classes over the school year.  If another student needed a book recommendation, they could go to the Wakelet and view all of the book review Sways created by their classmates!
2. Create digital portfolios within a Sway.  Sway allows a platform for students to showcase their best work and share it with an authentic audience.  Imagine them being able to showcase their growth over the course of the year!
3. Use Sway to create a presentation instead of using PowerPoint.  Students have access to this free, intuitive tool to create presentations that are engaging and interactive.
4. Create science lab reports using Sway.  As a former high school science teacher, I wish that Sway was around back then!  Students can use Sway to upload their data, videos, and audio to show the demonstration of their learning while working through labs in their various science courses.
5. ELL students can create digital picture dictionaries as they learn the English language.  Because all forms of media can be uploaded into Sway, ELL students are able to share their learning in various forms.  This provides them with an opportunity for repetition as they not only type and speak words from the English language, but they can also upload audio and video as well.  

Did you know that the Microsoft Educator Community offers a ton of free professional learning resources on any and everything related to Microsoft you could ever want to learn, including Sway!  To learn more about Microsoft Sway, visit the Microsoft Educator Center (education.microsoft.com), create your free educator account and search for and complete the following three courses:

How do you use Sway in your classroom with your students?  

Learn more about The Microsoft Infused Classroom by visiting infused.link/learnmore.