Create flashcards in Canvas using Microsoft Sway

DrNufer
Community Coach
Community Coach
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As I'm learning Microsoft Sway, a lightbulb flashed during one of the tutorials.  You can compare two pictures by sliding a line to the right and left.  This is nothing new; websites have been doing this for years now (see: 27 Before And Afters That Show The Power Of Special Effects).  And now we can utilize this effect through Sway.  But what I thought is that we can use this feature not just for comparing before and after features, but we can create decks of flashcards.  Now this is not as streamlined as if you had a dedicated program for making flashcards.  But it works.  This is akin to how you can use a screwdriver to open a can of paint - it's not exactly what a screwdriver is made for, but it can work as such.

The first thing I did was to create a 600x400px canvas in photoshop.  If you don't have that program then gimp is a free alternative.  I put a marker at 50% horizontal just as a reference, and then I put a question on the left half and an answer on the right half.

photoshop.png

I created three question cards and then one card to go on top with the words: Slide right for answer.

question.png

question copy.png

question copy 2.png

answer.png

Next I logged into https://sway.com/my​ and created a new Sway.

sway.png

Select Comparison under Cards > Group.

comparison group.png

This will give you a card that allows you to select the two images that you want to compare.

add an image.png

Click on Add and image and upload the images you created.  Select the content card as the top image and your [Slide right for answer] card as the bottom card.

upload.png

first comparison.png

Now you should be good to go with flashcards in your Sway.

flashcard1.gif

flashcard2.gif

flashcard3.gif

Grab your embed code by clicking (upper right corner) Share > Get embed code.

embed code.png

Put the embed code in the html editor of a content page in Canvas and the entire Sway will load right in the course.  If you make changes to your Sway, they will be immediately reflected in the Canvas course.

embedded.png

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