Limitless Learning: How Microsoft's Educational Tools Benefit Students Remotely & in The Classroom
Article content Like schools everywhere, public schools in Coquitlam, B.C., could not have predicted the spread of the disease.
Article content But the B.C. municipal schools were probably better equipped than the majority of schools to meet the challenges COVID-19 brought to education.
It is largely because of its partnership with Microsoft. This partnership allows for enhanced use of Microsoft's suite of cloud-based interactive, interactive, and educational tools that can enhance learning in the classroom.
Stephen Whiffin, chief information officer and director of instruction for the Coquitlam School district, says that there has been a widespread movement to adopt technology in schools across Canada for some time.
Since a few yearsago, the aim has been to use information technology to improve learning for the district's 30,000 diverse students.
"We'd been focusing for some time on the introduction of Microsoft 365 Education because it offers a suite of tools that a majority of people are already familiar with."
He explains that Microsoft's familiarity is essential for teachers and learners to to quickly use the software. So, when the pandemic hit the school district, it was able to quickly move to the virtual, at-home-learning format.
Whiffin claims that all of our teachers had laptops and had Microsoft software installed on them. The IT infrastructure was also there to help support this rapid change.
The new hardware and devices the school board has purchased run on the latest cloud-based Windows 10 operating system, that allows for seamless synching with Microsoft's Education tools. Another benefit is Microsoft provides IT management tools that allow administrators to manage connected devices and networks.
Article content It also offers its own Surface brand of touchscreen tablet/laptop/desktop hybrids for exceptional performance in educational settings, with affordable to premium price points.
Microsoft's education suite of software is based on Office 365, the premier software for business across the world. In partnership with school boards, Microsoft offers a free version of its educational software to teachers and students across Canada. Xsjwm This gives users access to powerful tools such as Teams, PowerPoint, Excel and Word on their personal devices for learning, as as access to Minecraft Education Edition. Parents and students also get access to additional tools specifically designed for the classroom.
"For instance, Microsoft Teams - a key communication tool within the M365 suite - comes with special plug-ins designed specifically for education that assist in classroom learning and remote learning," says Whiffin.
In addition, Microsoft's education program includes apps such as OneNote Class Notebooks, which allows teachers to easily create virtual spaces for private, one-on-one, group, and classroom work.
But it's more than just software. As Whiffin states, Microsoft provides the total package, which is crucial in an age where learning is increasingly moving beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
"All resources must be aligned, not only for learning, but also to provide the infrastructure that supports learning in the classroom and at home.
Article content All Microsoft 365 Education Tools are secured with the highest level of security and privacy measures, Whiffin says.
He says, "That was absolutely crucial, so parents and teachers knew students would be able to use these tools in a safe manner." "Without this trust it would have made it a lot more difficult to smoothly implement these tools in our classroom."
While Microsoft's 365 Education suite proved its value for remote learning during the outbreak, the most telling illustration of its transformative power is that students and teachers have continued to utilize them upon returning to in-person learning.
He says, "That's a testament the quality of education as well as the effectiveness of the tools used to improve it."
The key to the Coquitlam school district's success is Microsoft's unifying platform which meets the needs of students, educators and support staff.
"The strength is in the fact that Microsoft 365 Education provides one set of tools to do A to Z when it comes to the learning experience," says Whiffin, whether it be making calculations in Excel creating a presentation in PowerPoint or communicating in real-time on Teams.
To find out more about Microsoft 365 Education, or download the suite, visit this.