Free Microsoft Office Add-ins for Educators

Just in time to start off the new school year, several new supporting tools are now updated for teacher use. You can read some summaries below but first check out this review by Christopher Dawson of ZDNet Education – Microsoft creates Office addins that take 1:1 to the next level. Also more Microsoft Goes Back to School news at the Microsoft Blog.

The Microsoft Interactive Classroom (IC) Add-in for PowerPoint 2007 & 2010 and OneNote 2007 & 2010 bridges lessons delivered in PowerPoint to students using OneNote in 1:1 classroom settings, or large lecture environments.  It enhances the learning experience by enabling educators to insert polling questions (multiple choice, yes/no, or true/false) into their presentations when creating lessons, increases student engagement by allowing students to answer in-class polls, and supports agile teaching practices through the sharing of ink annotations and slides within the students OneNote Notebook. https://www.microsoft.com/interactiveclassroom

The Mathematics Add-in for Word 2007 and 2010 and OneNote 2010 uses dynamic 3D graphs and charts to help educators illustrate complex math problems and concepts.  From algebra and pre-calculus to physics and statistics, teachers and students can unravel equations and visualize formulas through 2-D and 3-D graphs. The add-in helps students plot functions, calculate numerical results, and dynamically solve for "x".  Users can also take advantage of the awesome Ink to Math capability in OneNote 2010 to convert and solve handwritten equations. ‒ www.microsoft.com/mathematics