#102 Useful Microsoft in Education posts this week

There is a lot of buzz about using Minecraft in the classroom at the moment. Teachers have been experimenting with different ways to use it in the classroom for some time now, and they have found that Minecraft: Education Edition is a great vehicle for learning in their classrooms. But, the two big questions that most teachers ask are:
How does one go about finding already-created lessons on using Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom?
How does one create a lesson from scratch using Minecraft: Education Edition?
Here are a few guidelines to follow:

Recently, in a professional development session, I introduced a group of educators to Microsoft Sway. They were delighted with the application after creating a Sway introducing themselves. The plan was to then join Microsoft’s great one-stop-for-all space, the Microsoft Educator Community, and add the Sway they had created to their profile. I thought I would capture this process in a blogpost.

Microsoft's popular building-blocks game gets a tool to help students learn how to program.

A graduate education course at the University of Alaska Southeast is showing teachers how to implement Minecraft in their classes. Course professors say it could help engage students in science, technology, engineering and math.

So it happened that the day I was going to give a test, I couldn't, so I needed to quickly get together some review questions for the students to work on. (Sorry, I wasn't ready to start the next unit with them, and besides, it was the first class after the long Easter weekend... shoot me, I'm a nice guy.)
Into my archive files I go... I found a test from back in 2003 that was highly algebraic -- just the skills they needed for the test and nothing else. No "thinking" questions, as it were. We'd spent the last week or so on word problems and questions that try to stretch and make connections. I just wanted to makes sure their algebraic skills were strong & sound.

This week, we walked you through how to get started quickly with, make the most of, and master every app in Microsoft Office. Maybe you missed one, or want a quick guide to all of them. Well, here you go.

Quick video explaining how to join the Microsoft Educator Community.

I first met Office Mix a few years ago, before I had the required Office 2013 or higher. I loved the demo I watched, cried a bit that it wouldn’t work for me, and then forgot about it. Now that I’ve upgraded to Office 365, I’m eager to use all the features that got me so excited back then.

Microsoft OneNote is a powerful tool for freeform note-taking. The unique structure of OneNote helps you collect, organize, and share your notes. Here are the best ways to gather information from anywhere.

App-Smashing is made easy with Microsoft Sway and Office Mix. These tools can be used in classrooms to bring any presentation to life.A