Monday, July 24, 2017

Embracing Office 365 in a Google World

“Let me Bing that for you,” says no one. Ever. It’s always, “Let me Google that for you.” So much so that Merriam-Webster added the verb, to Google, to its dictionary. Google then became so much more than a search engine: email, pictures, blogs, websites, full online document capabilities, and then...Classroom. It changed the way teachers interacted with their students. The simplicity of using all Google features was, and still is, one of its biggest attractions. Then came Microsoft, trying to catch up, with Office365. That’s where our story will take us today.
My district is an Office365 district, for better or for worse, that’s what we have. Many of you are familiar with Outlook, Microsoft’s email component. There’s OneDrive (similar to Google Drive) and all of the components you expect with Microsoft (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and even some others (Forms, Sway, and OneNote), now available online. The compatibility with the online version and the desktop version is pretty good - fewer font selections and some limited features, but overall, the products work. Since the district has adopted this platform, all students and teachers have access to Microsoft Classroom and all of the Office365 features.
This past year, I taught fourth grade and my class had the computer cart once a week, sometimes twice. This did not leave much room for technology, but with the little time I had, I made sure to use Office365 as much as I could. Coming from Google, the transition was bumpy. It still is. Microsoft is still playing catch up, BUT, it works. They’re getting there.
My main purpose with using Office365 was for the collaboration feature for the students. I wanted them to be able to collaborate on documents and projects in real time on multiple devices. So, I tried OneNote. Then, I quickly stopped. OneNote, for me, was too sporadic and wasn’t able to update in real time, thus creating a problem for student collaboration. I do know teachers who have used OneNote successfully in their classrooms. I am not one of them. However, in the spirit of embracing Office365, I will be trying it again this year.

Text boxes appeared all over the place and students were typing over each other
Text boxes appeared all over the place and students were typing over each other
I was also brave and ventured into the world of Microsoft Classroom. It works. It does the basic job of communicating with students (provided they open/login to 365, click on Classroom, and read announcements) and is a good place for assigning and collecting work. There’s just so many steps and clicks before being able to actually use it. We used it often, but only having the computers once a week meant that it took a while to actually finish an assignment. The students had an easy enough time accessing it and working on it and seemed to enjoy it. I was even able to create a template for students in Powerpoint and have them use it to create mission brochures (side note: you do not have the ability to create slide master, so if a student deleted a text box, they had to go in and add one themselves).

Mission brochures created from an uploaded template
Mission brochures created from an uploaded template

The final product I had my students try out was Sway. My students LOVED using this! Sway is like Powerpoint and Prezi combined. They can add content such as videos, music, pictures, text, and links and put it all together as a presentation. Click here to view a sample of what one group of students created. Given that that this was the students’ first time using Sway and they had little instruction on how to use it, I was pretty happy with the result.

In June, after using computers for the entire year, I would give my students a 3 out of 4 on Office365 proficiency. They were able to open and send emails, click on outside links, navigate through OneDrive, Classroom, and create and collaborate on assignments and projects. This year, I’m at a new site that is 1:1, so I imagine my students will use Office365 more - and I want them too! There’s so much left for me to learn about it and there’s so much for my students to teach me about what they discover how to do.

Have I embraced Office365? Yes. Does it have all the features that Google has for education? No. Is there potential for that? Definitely. Am I innovative with how I use Office365? Not yet. But I’m determined to become more innovative this year.

Are you using Microsoft Office365 at your site? How are you using it? Share in the comments!

Giulia Longo

Giulia is a fourth grade teacher in Chula Vista (San Diego), California. She is in her fifth year of teaching and fourth year teaching fourth grade. She has had a variety of educational experiences from Montessori to public to private schools and has taken the positives from each to weave into her own practice. She is the co-founder of EdCamp Chula Vista. You can find her on Twitter @mslongo123 or @EdCampCVESD.

5 comments:

  1. I too am a Microsofter in what feels like a Google world. I try to expose my students to both and have them pick what works best for their specific situations.

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    1. That's awesome! Do you notice a trend for one product over the other?

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  2. I have been a Googler for years. I am a Google Certified Innovator, have been a user and admin of Google Classroom. My current org is all Microsoft. It seems that Microsoft online tools are a step behind Google's. I do think much of I learned about how to use Google tools can be applied to MS tools.

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    1. Yes! I agree that much can be applied. But, it isn't until you try to apply something that you may have to find a workaround. I'd love to see what your kiddos are doing with MS!

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  3. Microsofts attempt to be "relevant" in the education space is commendable. I am pleased with the direction. My desire for Microsoft is that they truly develop educational tools that support the workflow of teachers, students, and administrators, as supposed to "repurposing" business tools for education. That would be an incredible SHIFT!

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