Bonding through Blogging: I have enjoyed using Microsoft Sway with my classes at school

Sway is a free, online, presentation web app - part of the Microsoft Office family of products I have been using with Grades 6,7 and 8 at my school. . It is also available as a iOS app. All you have to do to get started is go to this URL https://sway.com/ and join up by creating a Microsoft ID. Then just explore! What I love about Sway is that it allows one to combine text and media to create an online presentation with a difference! You can pull content locally from your device, or from Internet sources such as Bing, OneDrive, YouTube, Facebook etc. One can add videos, text, images, sound…you name it. Before you know it you have a lovely presentation!

Here are some of the ways I have used it in class

1. An assignment

I set the Grade 7s and 8s an assignment on social networking using Microsoft Sway. The aim was two- fold – for them to experience using Microsoft Sway, and for them to investigate the dangers and advantages of social networking. I presented them with the assignment using a Sway as a demonstration so that they could see it in action.

Here are some of their Sways:
Why teenagers like Facebook

YouTube and Teenagers

Why is Facebook risky?

Using social media as a teenager

2) Digital storytelling

With the Grade 6s we used Sway for digital storytelling. The class had previously written fractured fairy tales using Microsoft PowerPoint and illustrated them with a programme called Storymaker2. We added the finished products to Sway to display the stories. Here are some of the Sways:

Little Red Riding Hood