I have learned so much these last few weeks! Leaving a Google Apps for Education environment and going to a Microsoft 365 school has been a culture shock, but eye-opening in a great way. I feel so annoyed when people don't want to try new things, especially in technology. The most dangerous, depressing sentence to hear (especially in education) is, "But we've always done it this way!" Yet
I was not a willing student when it came to Microsoft 365. My training has been on my own, so far: tutorials, videos, articles, etc. I will go to some more official/formal training in a few weeks and MassCUE has some interesting-sounding offerings in the schedule. I am really looking forward to the training, because I am loving using the Microsoft tools so far. My favorite thing about Office 365 so far is OneNote. It has such huge promise for classroom use. The Robotics, Engineering and Culinary departments at my school are piloting OneNote as an electronic portfolio, instead of a paper-and-binder portfolio. It's been bumpy so far - I went into one classroom (being observed by my mentor!) to introduce OneNote as a portfolio, only to find that Office 2013 hasn't been installed on the Engineering classroom computers. I should have triple-checked on that! I also tried to use a whiteboard as an interactive whiteboard - poking at it very inefficiently. Mortifying! The students were able to use OneNote online, but the limited functionality didn't work with what we needed to do. It was a learning experience, for sure. But bumps and all, I think OneNote is going to be great for the class. Now that OneNote Notebook Creator is available, a lot of exciting OneNote uses are on the horizon. My LiveBinder and Pinterest technology page are bursting with ideas! Another great Microsoft tool that I am still learning to use is OfficeMix. PowerPoint presentations are no longer boring and static slide shows with OfficeMix. Quizzes, polls, drawing, video clips - tons of interactive elements can be added right into the PowerPoint presentation. I am working on an OfficeMix for the freshman Digital Literacy Orientation this week. I love Prezi and it's usually my go-to presentation tool. OfficeMix is fun to use and i am excited about trying out on Tuesday. One big challenge at school is promoting Office 365 and convincing teachers and studdents to give it a try, rather than rely on their more familiar Google Drive tools. I know how they feel, because I was very reluctant to move away from Google. I think once the teachers have some training and become familiar with Office 365, the resistance will decrease. The students have been asking why they can't stick with Google Drive, but once we explain that we are trying a new initiative and really want them to try it out, they have been very willing to check it out. So, a lot of O365 training and experimenting is coming up and I am looking forward to it! There is a lot to learn and I am up for the challenge :)
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AuthorMom to two sons, married 23 years to college sweetie. Instructional Technology Specialist for a vocational high school. Educator for 20+ years. Love to read, do anything crafty, and spend time with friends and family. Passionate about education, technology, and the combination of the two! I'm a proud foster-failure with Big Fluffy Dog Rescue, having fallen head-over-heels for our first foster and adopting her :) Archives
September 2017
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