Home Microsoft Five Microsoft Tools You Haven’t Heard Of

Five Microsoft Tools You Haven’t Heard Of

by Miguel Guhlin
Microsoft

Have you heard about these Microsoft tools? When I first heard about them, I was shocked. I had spent so much time looking in one direction that I failed to realize the rich ecosystem of tools that Microsoft has built that can enhance teaching, learning, and leading.

Tool #1 – Docs.com

Docs.com enables you to keep organize and share your creations with others. Those creations can include Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Office Mix, as well as Sways, PDFs, and OneNote notebooks. Once you publish them, anyone can see them and get them. Docs.com also allows you to create “journal” entries that are actually Sways, featuring images, videos, and text.

Microsoft

You can organize anything you publish on Docs.com, as well as stuff from other people, as “collections” and make those available. And after publishing a certain amount of documents, you can get your own web address. What’s more, Docs.com also includes analytics that track how many views/visitors you have had to your content. For an example, check out mine.

Learning application: Publish templates for OneNote notebooks or Sways for students/staff to get and modify, then re-publish those via Docs.com for others. Or publish a Sway as a newsletter that anyone can read online.

Tool #2 – Microsoft Snip

While video reigns supreme for screencasting, there are times when you simply want to capture a screenshot, annotate it, and record audio about that annotation. If that is the case, then MS Snip may be what works best for you.

Learning Application: As students turn in more work in digital format, use Snip to annotate (write on, highlight in various colors) and record your reflections. And invite students to do the same with each other’s work.

Tool #3 – Skype Translator

With Skype Translator, the world becomes more understandable. Skype’s online translator can “help you communicate in 7 languages for voice calls, and in more than 50 languages while instant messaging.” It works on Windows 7 and above. With it, you also have access to Skype, which enables you to contact others around the world at no cost. You can also have group calls with a maximum of 25 people, although the Skype for Business/Education version allows for more.

Learning Application: In a second language class, encourage students to use Skype Translator for multi-language interactions with other classrooms around the world. You can rely on Mystery Skype to make connections with diverse cultures in distant locales.

Tool #4 – Microsoft Edge Browser

Looking for uncluttered, white space-friendly web pages? Or maybe you want to save items for reading later or annotate the site, highlighting key ideas? While today’s web pages often pack a ton of content into each pixel your students look at on their devices, the MS Edge browser makes it easy to turn off superfluous content, save it for later reading, and annotate it. In addition to reading view, you can also save web pages for later reading, which are synchronized across all Windows 10 devices like MS Surface tablets and computers.

Need to take notes on a web page? Not a problem! Whatever annotations you make can be saved directly to your OneNote notebook (such as a Class Notebook you are using with your students), Favorites, or Reading List!

Learning Application: Encourage students to publish their creations online, then interact with the content other students have created, adding their feedback and annotations.

Tool #5 – OneNote’s Digital Ink to Text Conversion

At a conference earlier this year, I experimented with handwriting my notes directly on my Surface tablet, then converted the notes to text using the “Ink to Text” option in OneNote. What an incredible feeling to see my hastily scrawled notes find expression as typed text!

Across multiple experiments, students who wrote out their notes by hand had a stronger conceptual understanding and were more successful in applying and integrating the material than those who took notes with their laptops.
And, since my Mom introduced me to the idea of a “pilón,” which means in Spanish to throw in an extra one for free, allow me to offer one more:

Tool #6 – Get Office 365 Free for Teachers and Students

If you are a teacher or student, even if your school district has not yet adopted Office 365 tools, you can get Microsoft Office Suite, online version plus one terabyte of storage, for free! All you need is your school district email account to get started. This is great since OneNote 2016 is available for free and you’ll need the Microsoft account to get take advantage of other special offers. And, of course, this will also give you access to the Microsoft Education portal.
What learning applications can YOU imagine with Microsoft Education tools?

You may also like

Leave a Comment

You've Made It This Far

Like what you're reading? Sign up to stay connected with us.

 

 

*By downloading, you are subscribing to our email list which includes our daily blog straight to your inbox and marketing emails. It can take up to 7 days for you to be added. You can change your preferences at any time. 

You have Successfully Subscribed!