Microsoft Sway is a digital storytelling made simple: Professional presentations, newsletters, and portfolios in minutes.

🔍 What does it do?

Microsoft Sway is a web-based storytelling app that helps you create interactive reports, personal stories, and newsletters. Unlike PowerPoint, which is slide-based, Sway is a scrolling digital canvas. You provide the content (text, images, and videos), and Sway’s built-in design engine handles the layout, ensuring it looks great on any screen- from a desktop to a smartphone.

 

🎓 Why is it useful?

• No Design Skills Required: You focus on the story, Sway focuses on the design. With one click of the “Remix” button, you can instantly change the entire look and feel of your project.

• Accessible by Design: Sways are easy to read. They include an “Accessibility View” that optimizes the screen for high contrast and screen readers, making it inclusive for all learners.

• Modern Newsletters: It is an extremely useful tool for school newsletters in Falkirk. Parents can scroll through updates and watch embedded videos of school life directly on their phones.

• Web-Based Sharing: You don’t “send” a Sway; you share a link. This means you can update the content even after you’ve sent the link, and everyone will see the latest version.

 

⚙️ How does it work?

1. Launch: Access directly at sway.office.com using your Glow login details or via the waffle menu in OneDrive in Glow.

2. Start from Scratch or a Document: Click + New Blank to start fresh, or upload an existing Word or PDF document and watch Sway “transform” it into a web page automatically.

3. The Storyline: Use the “Storyline” to add “Cards.” There are cards for text, images, video, and even “Stacks” (groups of photos that you can tap to flip through).

4. Design & Remix: Switch to the Design tab to see your work. Click Styles and then Remix! to cycle through different fonts, colors, and scroll directions (Vertical or Horizontal).

5. Share: Click the Share button. For school newsletters, ensure you select “Anyone with a link” so parents can view it without needing a Glow login.

 

🚀 Beyond the Basics

• Digital Portfolios: Pupils can use Sway to curate their best work over a term. They can embed audio recordings of them reflecting on their writing alongside photos of their physical work.

• Interactive Reports: Instead of a poster, pupils can create a scrolling report. Use the “Comparison” card to show “Before and After” photos of an experiment using a slider.

• Virtual Trips: Create a Sway about a country or historical period. Embed Google Maps (using an embed code) and YouTube videos to create an immersive research hub for the class.

• For Admin: Create a “Living Document” for staff or pupils. Because it’s a web link, you can update the school calendar or policies in the Sway throughout the year without having to re-send emails.