Microsoft Office Mix: An Innovation with Interactive Education in Mind
PowerPoints have become the dreaded symbol of boredom in classrooms across the country. I remember vividly the contagious yawn, with the inevitable snore, that marked complete disengagement of students throughout my education. EMS educators have been “laggards,” as described by Everett Rogers’ Theory on the Diffusion of Innovation, being among the last to infuse technology into instruction. A booming sub-field in education, educational/instructional technology, is revolutionizing learning for the 21st century workforce.
Creating a Mix for a Blended Classroom Environment
Technology has the ability to inject energy and engagement into a lecture, just as glucose and dextrose can perk up a hypoglycemic. Educators can now utilize the familiar software environment of Microsoft Office PowerPoint to create innovative and interactive presentations with the Microsoft Office Mix add-in to Microsoft Office PowerPoint.
Microsoft Office Mix allows for the insertion of quizzes in a variety of formats including multiple-choice, short answer and true-false. Microsoft has partnered with third-parties, such as Khan Academy, to incorporate more tools for educators. Additionally, a Web viewer app allows for webpage content to be embedded directly into a presentation. A screenshot tool makes it easier to “snip” screenshots without extensive cropping.
Along with increased video functionality, a screencasting tool is available to record a video-recorded screenshot. Screencasting enables utilization of the ink-pen tool, recording a virtual lesson similar to those published on Khan Academy. This feature will make the production of quality online learning components an easily acquired skill set by educators.
Integrated Learning Management
Learning Management Systems (LMS) are often impractical for EMS educators because of the financial investment or time investment of learning a new interface. Microsoft Office Mix is a free add-in available to any user with Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2013 or higher. Once the add-in is installed it produces an additional tab within the ribbon, where all of the Mix capabilities are available. This familiar interface does not require quite the same “learning curve” as a Learning Management System. With a Web-based publishing environment provided by Microsoft, using Mix is virtually an LMS integrated utilizing the PowerPoint user interface. Customized permission granting is available to users and a link can be easily shared via email or social media. If your institution requires the use of a particular LMS, Microsoft Office Mix can still be utilized because the finished products are published as web-based interactive presentations. To view a gallery of sample Microsoft Office Mix interactive presentations, visit the Microsoft Office Mix website.
Justin Eberly, BS, EMT, EMS-I, CDEI, is an educational technologist by passion and an e-government IT professional by vocation. He brings a multitude of valuable perspectives to foster an environment, conducive to learner engagement, through the utilization of technology in EMS Education.
