Using Microsoft Sway for Digital Newsletters

[Chris_Hofer]

Well, I don't live near a beach...but those trees sure are swaying!  Queue the segue...  

For almost two years, I've been sending out newsletters to our faculty via e-mail.  I've utilized both Outlook (creating tables to hold content completely from scratch) and then Publisher.  I even posted this blog, Creating an E-mail Newsletter, attempting to get ideas from the Community on better ways to communicate information.

I recently got some help from awilliams‌ and also reviewed a presentation by snufer‌ about

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‌.  So, I logged into my O365 account I have through our Technical College, and I started creating my first Sway.  In searching through the templates, I found one for Newsletters, and it was just what I was looking for.  I could add articles, photos, quotes, etc.  I also liked the fact that it had some built-in interactivity (like cycling through a group of photos).  Once I got comfortable with the interface, it was relatively easy to add content wherever I needed it.  And best of all, I could grab the embed code to paste into a Canvas page.  We'll now be directing our instructors (via Global Announcements) to our "Newsletter Archive" (part of a public Canvas course we have set up for them to access) to view the newsletter.

Here's a sampling of my first Sway: