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Mouse Mischief can transform teaching and learning in the classroom. Mouse Mischief integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, allowing teachers to create interactive presentations that engage and excite every student in the classroom. Approximately 5-25 students, each with his or her own mouse, can answer multiple choice questions and draw on a shared screen. You can download Mouse Mischief free of charge.

Three compelling reasons to use Mouse Mischief in your classroom

  1. Actively engages students and supports collaborative learning

    With Mouse Mischief you can spark student curiosity by incorporating interactive technology into the curriculum. Students have fun learning while seeing visual representations of their answers on a shared screen while using colorful mouse pointers (like a robot, snowflake, guitar, and many more shapes). You can enable collaborative learning when using Mouse Mischief in Team mode; in Team mode, all members of a team need to work together to agree on an answer before it can be selected.

  2. Improves classroom management and overall student participation

    With Mouse Mischief you no longer need to wait for raised hands; you can immediately see your students' answers on the screen. Mouse Mischief helps make it easy for all students - even those who are often quiet in class - to participate regularly without the fear of saying the wrong answer. This can allow you to have better visibility into the progress and comprehension of your entire class so you can adjust your lessons on the spot.

  3. Is familiar to use and easy on the classroom budget

    Because Mouse Mischief integrates into familiar PowerPoint technology, you do not have to spend time learning new skills to use it. Additionally, you can set up your classrooms to play Mouse Mischief lessons without purchasing expensive hardware; many schools already have mice, and both mice and USB hubs are available at many stores where computer accessories are sold.

Read a teacher’s perspective on how Mouse Mischief impacted student learning in the classroom.

Start Some Mischief

Q. What is Mouse Mischief?
A.

Mouse Mischief is an add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 that allows teachers to create and play multiple-mouse lessons that students interact with on a single display, individually or in teams, by using their own mice.

Multiple-Mouse tab and ribbon in PowerPoint
Q. What are some of the ways I can use Mouse Mischief to make lessons engaging?
A.

You can use Mouse Mischief to create yes/no slides or multiple choice question slides for students to answer by clicking the right answer with their mice, and then you can display the results pane to show them how well they did. You can also create polling slides with no pre-defined right answers. Drawing slides can be created where students can cross out, circle, or color in answers, draw lines to match objects, and create new drawings or complete old ones. You can set a timer to have students race to see who can finish an activity first. Additionally, you can play lessons in Team mode, where all students in a team need to work together and agree on the right answer, while racing against other teams. There are various ways Mouse Mischief can be used to make your lessons more engaging! The only limit is your imagination!

Q. Where can I find out how other teachers are using Mouse Mischief and how students have responded?
A.

Read a case study of a pilot program in which teachers integrated Mouse Mischief lessons with traditional blackboard lessons here. You can also learn more about how teachers in your area are using Mouse Mischief by joining your local Mouse Mischief community.

Q. What are multiple-mouse lessons?
A.

Multiple-mouse lessons are lessons created with the Mouse Mischief add-in. You can create them in PowerPoint and include multiple choice or drawing question slides that approximately 5-25 students can engage with by using their own mice.

Q. Where can I get more multiple-mouse lessons?
A.

Browse our sample lessons in math, language arts, and social studies here or download Mouse Mischief lessons that other users have created in the multiple-mouse category on Office.com.

Q. How many students can participate in a Mouse Mischief lesson?
A.

Depending on PC variability and USB hardware, the number of students participating in a Mouse Mischief lesson may vary from approximately 5 to 25. Click here to see the system requirements. To ensure the best performance on drawing slides, stick to a smaller group of simultaneous users as you may experience performance degradation with larger groups.

Q. How can I as a teacher control my classroom when using Mouse Mischief?
A.

As a teacher using Mouse Mischief you have access to Presentation Controls at the bottom of the screen that allow you to control the pace and flow of your lesson. You can use the controls to pause the lesson to explain a point, or to clear all student input and reset a screen. If students are taking longer on an activity, you can nudge them along by switching on a timer. If students are going off-task, you can also use the controls to hide all student cursors and get the attention of the class back to you. You can use the results function on the Presentation Controls to both display and hide results.

Q. What version of Office PowerPoint and Windows do I need to use Mouse Mischief?
A.

Mouse Mischief works with PowerPoint 2010 and Office PowerPoint 2007. You will enjoy the best performance for Mouse Mischief while using the Windows 7 and Windows Vista operating systems. Mouse Mischief also works on the Windows XP SP3 operating system, working with approximately five mice in this scenario. For more information on software — including a free trial download of Office — please refer to the system requirements.

Q. How do I connect multiple USB mice to the computer?
A.

You can connect the mice with a USB hub, either one that draws power from the computer or one that is powered by an independent source. If using wireless mice, we recommend powered USB hubs. Please refer to the Setup Advisor for more details on hardware and setup.

Q. Is Mouse Mischief available in my country and my language?
A.

Mouse Mischief is available worldwide in the following languages: Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish.

Q. Does Mouse Mischief integrate with learning management systems and interactive whiteboards?
A.

These are all areas we are continuously researching and we look forward to your feedback. Currently, whiteboards can be used only to display Mouse Mischief content; there is no input integration between Mouse Mischief and interactive whiteboards.

Q. Can I use keyboards with Mouse Mischief?
A.

A single keyboard is supported for the teacher to use to control the lesson. Multiple, uniquely identified keyboards and other peripherals are not currently recognized by Mouse Mischief.

Q. Is Mouse Mischief related to the Windows MultiPoint Mouse SDK?
A.

Yes, Mouse Mischief is an application that has been built on the MultiPoint Mouse SDK.

Q. Where can I get other multiple-mouse applications?
A.

Visit the Windows MultiPoint Mouse SDK Showcase, where you can download and experience the latest multiple-mouse applications.

Start Some Mischief

Download Microsoft Mouse Mischief (Thai)

Before you may install or use the software you must accept the license terms below. If you do not accept the license terms, installations will not proceed. You may print the license terms by clicking the "Print" button below. After installation, the license terms are available by returning to this page.

Once downloaded you may install Microsoft Mouse Mischief. The installation process will be displayed in English. You will be presented with two sets of software license terms in English during installation. The license terms displayed here supersede the license terms presented in the installation process.

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After accepting the license terms, you should download a copy to your computer. You may then download Mouse Mischief.