Home Tags Posts tagged with "MS Sway"
Tag:

MS Sway

Good TeachingMicrosoft Tips and Tricks

Turbocharge the 5E Model with Microsoft Office 365

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Ready to blend Microsoft’s Office 365 tools into inquiry-based lessons? Give those lessons a kickstart with Office 365 tools. Take your first steps with blended learning. Turbo-charge the 5E Model with Microsoft Office 365. Make learning more engaging!

Turbo-Charge the 5E Model with Microsoft Office 365

Made of five stages, the model can be better seen with specific examples. Let’s explore these below.

1- Engage

Boredom has a dire effect on learning. Bored students perform less well on tests (Source). In one study, over half of students said school is boring. The 5E Lesson seeks to engage students. This ensures they will retain learning. How can you make this happen with Office 365 tools? One way send students on virtual field trips.

Source: Dance of the Lemurs virtual field trip

Use the new Whiteboard app to speak with others at a distance. Students share ideas and images, having a visual conversation. This can happen, no matter their location (Source).

2- Explore

Empower students to curate content. Creating content on their own or in small groups becomes a natural, next step. Using OneNote Class Notebook, students can investigate aspects of a topic. OneNote makes arranging inputs (e.g. image searches, videos, text) child’s play. Learners can expand on concepts. They learn to pursue interests that deepen knowledge. Cognitive conflict forces students to engage in novel ways of thinking. One way to assist this process is to use digital breakouts. Watch this video by Nico Paphitis. It introduces OneNote Escape Rooms. Create a digital breakout using OneNote. This easy entry to escape rooms captures student interest. Students study details, like pieces of a puzzle. They work in teams, escaping school boredom as they learn.

Unsure of how to begin? View this step by step for math. Other examples abound. A few appear below. You may explore Jeanie Ingram’s ($2.00) tutorial guide. Those guides shown below are free.

Be sure to watch Jill R’s four part video series. You will learn how to craft your own OneNote, digital breakouts.

3- Explain

As learning facilitator, share your expertise with pupils. Scaffold student learning with Microsoft Sway. This can help them analyze aspects of an object, situation or event. A T-Chart makes it easy to compare and contrast ideas. You can create T-charts in Microsoft tools (e.g. Powerpoint, Microsoft Word). Available chart ideas and templates appear online. You can encourage students to make infographics. Use these Powerpoint templates to get you started.

4- Elaborate

Enrich a lesson for gifted students. Extend a lesson for students who need more. Students move at their own pace. Our lessons support them no matter their pace. HyperNotes, adapted from Hyperdocs, offer that opportunity. An excerpt from HyperNotes? Use Hyperdocs with MS Office 365: 

Ready to get hyper about Microsoft Onenote HyperNotes. These activities tap into a student’s sense of independence. They capture the fascination with multimedia. Set students up to create content. Sharing it with other learners is a click away.

5- Evaluate

Ready to measure student learning? Have students use Office 365 tools to create visual representations of their ideas. These creations can take many forms. Creations can be Microsoft Excel graphs of data. They may be live data summaries in Microsoft Forms. For example, students can design digital ebooks with Powerpoint and then export them to ePub ebook format. 5e model office 365

Putting It All Together

You may have read of all these approaches in TCEA TechNotes blog entries. Remember, the 5E Model can be combined with Office 365 tools. It’s easy to imagine any one approach as the only one to use. Blend them to create engaging lessons that showcase student learning.

0 comment
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Microsoft Resource Roundup
Good TeachingMicrosoft Tips and Tricks

Our 2017 Microsoft Resource Roundup

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is here and soon 2018 will be upon us. However, before we jump ahead to 2018, let’s review some of the great Microsoft resources from 2017 on our blog that you might have missed. From Photos to Minecraft to OneDrive and all of the tools in between, these are resource-rich posts that you simply must read!

Our 2017 Microsoft Resource Roundup

Below, you will find a roundup of 2017 blog posts relevant to Microsoft divided into several categories.

Learning in Motion

Supporting Classroom Connections and Creativity

  • Creating Six-Word Memoirs: Student creation of six-word memoirs can help form powerful connections to learning. Discover some technology resources to help them.
  • HyperNotes? Use HyperDocs with MS Office 365: Take Hyperdocs to the next level by creating hypernotes with MS Office 365 or OneNote and ensure that students have access to the information they need.
  • Checklists: Scaffolding Metacognitive Awareness: Available on all devices, Microsoft OneNote brings a host of features to the table. In addition to all the features that Google Keep has (albeit with no reminders feature or grab image text in the free OneNote version), OneNote has many more. Recently, it underwent a radical simplification from OneNote 2016 to the free OneNote app.
  • Creative Commons: Make OER Copyright Simple: Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons licensing have truly opened up the world of publishing and free resources for students and their teachers. Microsoft Onenote can be one of the digital textbook creation tools you and your students use.
  • Podcasting with Microsoft Sway: Podcasting is an amazing way for students to showcase their learning. Use Microsoft Sway and you have a final product that is beautiful and easy to do.
  • Enhancing Parental Access with OneNote Class Notebook: Microsoft listens to teachers and adds three new features. One of the notable features includes enhanced parent access to student work in OneNote.
  • Multimedia ELL Assessments: Using technology for multimedia assessment makes sense. And with OneNote, teachers can easily make Anecdotal Records Assessments for ELL students.
  • Visualizing Our Understanding with Graphic Organizers: Visualizing our learning is a powerful way to ensure retention of what has been learned, and graphic organizers make that happen.

Scaffolding Learning with Minecraft: Education Edition

  • Five Steps to Game-based Learning with Minecraft: If you want to effectively begin using game-based learning with your students and ensure engagement, there’s no better way to start than with Minecraft.
  • Minecraftian Strategies with Marzano: New trends in educational technology can easily work with the research from Marzano on classroom instruction that works and Minecraft: Education Edition.
  • Fantastic Voyage-Minecraft Lesson Planning: Add project-based learning components to these Minecraft lesson plans and see learning and engagement soar in your classroom.
  • Virtual Space Construction Workers: If you are an eligible school district, learn how to get Minecraft: Education Edition FREE for one year with a new Windows 10 device.
  • Creating Worlds of Tomorrow: Wish you had a digital assistant to help you build a virtual world? Now you do. Minecraft: Education Edition (also known as MCEE and in use in 100 countries) now has a mod known as Code Builder, which makes building and creating in the online virtual world as easy as drag and drop.
  • Designing Minecraft Spaces: Encouraging students to design Minecraft spaces allows them to ponder the possibilities of changing their physical world as well.

Tips for Tools You Can Use

  • Seven Keys to Blended Learning: If you’re dipping a toe into the blended learning waters, here are some great ideas to take with you as you help students master core content.
  • Engaging Learners with Microsoft Forms: Dump those old paper rubrics and flip the learning! Empower yourself and your students to use Microsoft Forms for the quick evaluation of academic work. This makes grading easy and simplifies the process for students. Let’s explore some ideas for using Microsoft Forms, as well as review Forms features, in the classroom and/or for professional learning.
  • Windows Tips & Tricks: Want to make your Windows 10 device faster, safer, and smarter? These five tips with assorted tricks will get you started and moving in the right direction.
  • Five OneDrive Tips You Can’t Live Without: Looking for ways to increase your productivity and save time? These five tips for OneDrive, a free resource, can help.
  • Use OneDrive to Back Up Your iOS Camera: Need to backup your iOS photos and videos? Consider using OneDrive as an easy way to store, interact with, and share your camera roll.
  • Get Organized-Productivity Tips for Onenote:  Need help organizing the vast mounds of paperwork generated by your campus? Try using OneNote and the chore becomes a breeze.
  • New PowerPoint Translator Makes Captioning Possible: Accessible learning becomes a reality with Microsoft’s newest offering. See how making same language subtitles make learning accessible.
  • No More Death by Powerpoint: PowerPoint doesn’t have to mean a boring presentation. Learn some new ways to keep your audience engaged and even moved during your presentations.
  • More Free Powerpoint Templates: Find the perfect template to ensure that your presentation is a powerful story that resonates with your audience and achieves your desired goals.
  • Digitizing Paper: In this blog, learn about four powerful tools for iOS to use when you’re ready to digitize the papers in your classroom or office. Office Lens became my new favorite free app, not only because you can scan to a variety of online spaces, but because it now includes immersive reader.
  • Farewells, Docs.com, Hello Enhanced Onenote, Forms and Flows: Learn about the latest Microsoft updates to OneNote, Forms, and Flow and the ending of Docs.com in this must-read blog for MS fans.

Deepening Professional Learning

  • Get Current on Tech Learning: Need to update your college learning? Avoid paying expensive college course fees. In this TCEA Responds, we explore how to make lifelong learning possible, including the Microsoft Education Community.
  • Gamifying OneNote Learning: Take your professional learning to a new and fun-filled level with this game board on OneNote. Gamification makes it easy to master new skills!

Wrap Up

As we move into 2018, don’t forget to stay tuned to more fabulous posts on our 2017 EdTech’s Must-Read K-12 IT Blog! In addition, be sure to join our email list to ensure the hottest new content gets delivered right to your inbox.

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
tech skills
Microsoft Tips and TricksProfessional Learning

Shifting the Conversation: Basic Tech Skills

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Do you by chance know of a good basic list of tech skills that every teacher should know? If so, do you have a formal assessment for this?” asked a TCEA member recently of a colleague. “We’re a Microsoft district,” the member added. In this blog post, we’ll explore a list of expectations for teachers. We’ll also discuss some suggestions for formal assessments.

Shifting the Conversation

When asked what my list of basic technology skills are, I head over to Google, er, I mean, Bing, and do a quick search. There are a million lists of basic tech skills. The real question isn’t “What are the basic tech skills teachers need to have?” but rather: “How do you fundamentally expect them to shift teaching and learning for themselves, each other, and their students?” That question is more fun.

One simple way to shift the conversation involves asking yourself “How do students in classrooms today learn best?” For example, take a look at this chart (Source: Adobe Education Report) about Generation Z students:

shiftingTeachers working with Generation Z have some changes to make in their classrooms. You can break the expectations down in simple ways:

  1. Using digital media (videos/podcasts)
  2. Learning through hands-on experiences
  3. Developing team-building skills
  4. Solving real-world problems

How do these changing expectations impact basic technology skills that all teachers need?

Basic Tech Skills: A List

In the space below, you will find items relevant to the four expectations of teachers today expressed above:

  1. Using digital media (video/podcasts)
    1. Create folders to organize content.
    2. Organize files into folders, copying files from one folder to another.
    3. Work with filenames and extensions.
    4. Record screencasts with Powerpoint and Office Mix.
    5. Record a podcast with MS Sway online.
    6. Capture and share a whiteboard recording (audio+annotation) with Microsoft Snip.
    7. Record and edit audio clips using programs like Audacity (free).
    8. Record and edit video using programs like Shotcut (free).
  2. Learning through hands-on experiences
    1. Model and support the use of digital ink for learning enhancement.
    2. Create models for 3D printing using tools like SketchUp Pro/My.SketchUp (free for Texas schools via TCEA), Tinkercad, and Microsoft Paint 3D.
    3. Make and take in classroom-based maker spaces that incorporate coding (e.g. Creative Coding through Games and Apps (CCGA), TickleApp (view compatible drones) and DroneBlocks (view compatible drones), each of which works with different drones. This type of programming can be introduced to students using MIT’s Scratch and Scratch, Jr.
  3. Developing team-building skills
    1. Rely on GPS-enabled devices for geo-caching activities as a team or create activities for others.
    2. Have students form teams and then make a social justice video using their devices. Then publish the videos online using YouTube.
    3. Engage students in problem-based learning scenarios that require them to collaborate and communicate to solve a problem. Deepen the difficulty by separating them into different rooms (or work with another classroom) and work at a distance using an instant messaging/video technology of choice (e.g. Skype).
    4. Students can also construct virtual representations of learning tasks in virtual spaces (e.g. Minecraft: Education Edition).
  4. Solving real-world problems
    1. Adopt BreakOut EDU methods for use in the classroom.
    2. Encourage students to use Office 365 (e.g. Microsoft Office Suite) to engage in real-world data analysis to solve problems.
    3. Create problem-based scenarios using Powerpoint and Office Mix with built-in assessment.
    4. Enter students in the 3D Design Contest offered each spring by TCEA where they must solve an authentic problem using the design engineering process.

Bringing It All Together

If you’re working on developing teacher skills aligned to student learning needs, then here are three more tips to keep in mind:

  • Engage with Problems: Engage learners in the authentic purpose of solving a problem (problem-based learning/inquiry-based learning).
  • Encourage Collaboration and Implementation: Encourage and support adult learners as they collaborate on projects–sharing their own life experiences–focused on the creation of tangible product(s) with modeling and safe implementation opportunities.
  • Amplify Learners’ Voices with Tech: Amplify human voices with technology as they gather stories and share them (blogging, podcasts, video, media collections).

Conclusion

With these, any professional learning you invite educators to can be enhanced to achieve much of what they need to better meet learners’ needs. Be sure to visit the Microsoft Education Community for access to free professional learning that includes micro credentials (e.g. badges) that teachers can earn and share. And, of course, remember that TCEA Microsoft Innovative Education (TCEAMIE) Master Trainer Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin; mguhlin@tcea.org; 800-282-8232) is available to work with your campus or district to help develop skills with your staff.

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Docs.com
Microsoft Tips and TricksPodcasts

TCEA MIE Podcast #1 – Doc-casting and More with Dr. Tom Grissom

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Listen to the TCEA MIE SkypeChat #1 featuring Dr. Tom Grissom

via SoundCloud or Get MP3 file

Thank you for listening in on the TCEA Microsoft Innovative Educator Podcast! This is the first in a series of  conversations with movers and shakers, educators blending Microsoft technologies into teaching, learning, and leading. My name is Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin) and I am your host for the TCEA MIE SkypeChat. You can find more information online in the notes for this show at www.tcea.org/blog, as well as here.

On May 26, 2016, Dr. Tom Grissom (@tomgrissom) took a few minutes out of his busy schedule preparing teachers at Eastern Illinois University. Tom serves Eastern Illinois as the Director of the Instructional Technology Center (ITC for short). If his voice sounds familiar, you may have heard him via the TechTalk4Teachers podcast. You can access his podcasts on a variety of topics online here.

I approached Tom about one of his presentations, Exploring Doc-casting. Now, if you’re not familiar with Docs.com, a relatively new service from Microsoft, which Tom points out is about a year old from the time I recorded this conversation in May, 2016, it is a great service that allows you to publish resources there. I encountered Docs.com purely by accident while trying to share resources with TCEA Microsoft Innovative Educators (TCEA MIE – http://ly.tcea.org/tceamie1) and was immediately impressed with its features. Consider Pip Cleaves, an educator who shares her perspective on Docs.com:

I work in a middle years school in Inner West Sydney that is running a successful BYOD program. I wanted a way to share a student diary with our student population of approximately 900 students. I didn’t want to share; rather, I wanted to deliver a stand-alone OneNote notebook to any platform.

Earlier, in 2015, I came across the wonderful Liberate Genius resources from Angela Maiers. I was keen to find out how she had delivered the stan- alone OneNote notebook in this resource section. Source: Pip Cleaves, Microsoft Blog

If you haven’t seen Angela’s Liberate Genius resources, you should definitely check them out. They stretch your mind about how to use tools like OneNote and Docs.com together. In our conversation, Tom and I explore some of the actual uses he has for Docs.com, OneNote.com, and Microsoft Sway.

Let’s go back in time to when Tom first began exploring Docs.com…

***

Thanks for listening in to this SkypeChat with Dr. Tom Grissom. I hope you will join us for TCEA MIE SkypeChat #2 featuring Marjolean Hoekstra, the voice behind @OneNoteC and OneNote Microsoft Valued Professional (MVP). Absolutely incredible information and ideas will be shared by Marjolean and I’m looking forward to chatting with her.

In the meantime, if you have some thoughts about how you and your students are using Microsoft Office 365 tools in your teaching/learning environment, I hope you will contact me via Skype at @tceamg or Twitter @mguhlin!

Docs.com Notes

 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail