Sway is a presentation tool that offers an alternative to PowerPoint or Word, though it has qualities of both. The default layout is comparable to an extended infographic that is flexible enough to include various file types and media. Slides can be grouped in aesthetically pleasing ways or treated as separate images, and text can be added to the background of Sway. There are a variety of useful design templates, but the tool is very user-friendly, so it is not hard to start from scratch either. Video and audio can be embedded directly into the presentation, and it is possible to embed one Sway document into another. These features make it more engaging than many other methods of presentation.
In my classroom, I could use Sway presentations as study guides, with optional media added in for students who are particularly interested in some aspect of the topic. In a cyber school environment, I think it would be helpful for ungraded homework since it would be more engaging than a website describing the tasks students need to complete. I created the Sway presentation below for a cyber school AP Computer Science Principles class to make a necessary task more enjoyable and streamlined. (The link to the full presentation is below.) In a traditional classroom setting with access to computers, students could follow the steps on a sway document to check if their own essay meets all the criteria of the rubric by embedding Google Forms within the Sway presentation. This would be more hands-on and hopefully provoke deliberate reflection in a way that including a rubric with a packet of directions likely would not.
Sway presentations are most clearly associated with Domain 3 of the Danielson Framework, Instruction. The less familiar format and the wide range of capabilities can make these presentations more engaging to students (3c). The possibility of embedding quizzes into the presentation using Google Forms or another tech tool makes it possible to use formative or summative assessments for students while instructing (3d). Sway is easy to edit, and can be tailored to meet the needs of the classroom quickly and effectively (3e). Finally, Sway can be used to communicate information to students using various media, and it can prompt student discussion and reflection by including relevant questions (3a, 3b).
References:
Microsoft. Sway. Retrieved from https://sway.office.com
The Danielson Group. The Framework. Retrieved from http://www.danielsongroup.org/framework/
In my classroom, I could use Sway presentations as study guides, with optional media added in for students who are particularly interested in some aspect of the topic. In a cyber school environment, I think it would be helpful for ungraded homework since it would be more engaging than a website describing the tasks students need to complete. I created the Sway presentation below for a cyber school AP Computer Science Principles class to make a necessary task more enjoyable and streamlined. (The link to the full presentation is below.) In a traditional classroom setting with access to computers, students could follow the steps on a sway document to check if their own essay meets all the criteria of the rubric by embedding Google Forms within the Sway presentation. This would be more hands-on and hopefully provoke deliberate reflection in a way that including a rubric with a packet of directions likely would not.
Sway presentations are most clearly associated with Domain 3 of the Danielson Framework, Instruction. The less familiar format and the wide range of capabilities can make these presentations more engaging to students (3c). The possibility of embedding quizzes into the presentation using Google Forms or another tech tool makes it possible to use formative or summative assessments for students while instructing (3d). Sway is easy to edit, and can be tailored to meet the needs of the classroom quickly and effectively (3e). Finally, Sway can be used to communicate information to students using various media, and it can prompt student discussion and reflection by including relevant questions (3a, 3b).
References:
Microsoft. Sway. Retrieved from https://sway.office.com
The Danielson Group. The Framework. Retrieved from http://www.danielsongroup.org/framework/