30 Tools in 30 Days: Day 23 Microsoft Sway

Day 23: Microsoft Sway

On this lovely Thanksgiving Day, we spend time with family and friends and give thanks for all that is good in our lives. In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to create a something that captured what I’m thankful for and would showcase the huge number of pictures I take throughout the year. I used Sway from Microsoft to create a visual portfolio of pictures I took as part of my 2016 Photo A Day Challenge. (Learn more about the Photo A Day Challenge from blogger FatMumSlim here. Love, love, love it!!)  Check out my 2016 portfolio below.

https://sway.com/s/NhgkpQI8sNDZ6CVp/embed

Sway is part of the Microsoft Suite of tools. It is a free app that requires a Microsoft account. With Sway you can create interactive portfolios, presentations, reports, blog posts and more. It took me about an hour to create my 2016 Photo A Day portfolio.

Here are a few of my favorite features.

  • Use the templates for a quick design or customize settings including layout, font, and color pallet.
  • Format your end product using a horizontal or vertical scroll.
  • Group media and customize how they display and how your viewers can interact with the content.
  • Add co-authors for collaborative work.
  • Embed media such as images, video, audio, and text.
  • Set up your final page to auto play or be completely interactive.
  • Control access and editing rights.
  • Share your creation through social media channels.
  • Embed on your website or blog.
  • Export your final product as a Word doc or PDF.
  • Integrates with OneDrive.

The controls were fairly easy to use and intuitive. However, I did struggle a little bit with some of the formatting tools but I think that was more user error than tool issues.

There are many different ways you could use Sway in the classroom for yourself or with your students.

  • Create a class website showcasing student work.
  • Student Portfolios.
  • Digital stories or interactive fiction.
  • About Me projects and Resumes
  • Visual research reports
  • Visual lab reports

Sway allows you and your students to create unique interactive media. It is very similar to Adobe Spark Page. I have to play with each of them more to see which one I like better. I am an Adobe girl at heart but I am open to new tools. In short, Sway is fun and easy to use. I am very happy with my final portfolio and will use this tool again.

Have you used Sway? Share your ideas or creations in the comments!

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