Office Mix

It's rare that I get excited about Microsoft products. Generally I am more into new hardware than productivity tools. However, with the release of Sway and Office 365 there are some real potential for Microsoft to change the way we do things as teachers.

One product, however, has gone somewhat under the radar. This is probably as its not an app or tool or even an upgrade, but an add-on for PowerPoint called Office Mix.
(Edit: Hopefully we'll see some more of this with Office 2016)

We've all sat through death by PowerPoint and even the most innovative educators use PowerPoint or something similar. However PowerPoint is a tool designed for synchronous learning - where the learner and teacher are co-located in time and space. This has worked well in classrooms up to now, but things are changing. The flipped classroom movement, MOOCs, Khan Academy and other attempts to leverage technology to delivery education typically demand that learning become asynchronous. To do this, you need technology that means learning anywhere, anytime.

As a flipped advocate and a flipper myself, I am excited about a tool like Office Mix. It allows me to do, in a very simple way, what I used to have to do with Camstasia. It is no where near as powerful, but nor is it as difficult to learn.

Microsoft's innovative educator program has brought together an ebook about this and other topics. I'll let you read it for yourself. Hopefully I'll have a hands-on review of Office Mix soon!

Using Office Mix to Improve Learning from Microsoft Education UK