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Limitless Learning: How Microsoft's Educational Tools help Students Remote and in The Classroom

Article content Public schools in Coquitlam (B.C.) could not have predicted the outbreak.



Content of the article B.C. Content of the article, however, the B.C. schools were probably better prepared than other schools to meet COVID-19's learning challenges.



It is in large part due to its partnership with Microsoft. This partnership provides an enhanced use of Microsoft's suite of cloud-based educational, interactive, and interactive tools that enrich learning experiences in the classroom.
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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 years, the goal was to make use of information technology to improve the education of the district's 30,000 students from a variety of backgrounds.



"We have been focusing for a while on implementing Microsoft 365 Education, because it offers a suite that the majority of people are familiar with."



He explains that Microsoft's familiarity is essential for educators and students to be able to swiftly take on the software. As such, when the pandemic hit the school district, it was able to quickly move to the virtual, at-home-learning format.



"All of our teachers had laptops, laptops, and computers which used Microsoft software and we had an IT infrastructure - which was also supported by Microsoft - ready to go to ease this shift," says Whiffin.



The new devices and hardware that the school board bought are running the most up-to-date cloud-based Windows 10 operating system, that allows for seamless synching with Microsoft's Education tools. Another upside is Microsoft offers IT management tools, which 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 educational suite of tools is based on its popular Office 365, the premier software used by businesses around the globe. Microsoft offers a free version of its education software to teachers and students across Canada through a partnership with school boards. This gives users access to powerful tools such as Teams, PowerPoint, Excel and Word on their personal devices to help them learn, as well as access to Minecraft Education Edition. Students and parents also gain access to additional tools specifically designed specifically for classroom use.



Whiffin states that Microsoft Teams, a core communication tool in the M365 suite, has special plug-ins for education. This allows for remote learning and working from the classroom.



In addition, Microsoft's education program includes applications such as OneNote Class Notebooks, which allows teachers to easily create virtual spaces for their students to work in. one-on-one, group and classroom activities.



However, it's more than just software. As Whiffin adds, Microsoft provides the total package, which is crucial in an era where learning is advancing beyond the boundaries of the classroom.



"All the resources need to be aligned, not just for learning, but also to provide the infrastructure that supports learning be it in the classroom, at home or anywhere education needs to go.



Article content All Microsoft 365 Education tools are protected by the most secure and privacy protections, Whiffin adds.



"That was crucial as parents and teachers knew students would be safe using these tools," he says. It would be much more difficult to implement these tools in our classroom without that trust.



Microsoft's 365 Education suite proved to be a powerful tool for remote learning during the outbreak. However the most striking proof of its power to transform lives was that students and teachers continued to use it after returning to in-person learning.



"That's an affirmation of the quality of the experience and the effectiveness of the tools that help improve education," he adds.



The main reason for the Coquitlam school district's success is Microsoft's unifying platform that meets the needs of students, educators and other staff members.



"The strength is in the fact that Microsoft 365 Education provides one set of tools that can be used to go from A to Z in the learning experience," says Whiffin, whether it's crunching numbers in Excel creating an presentation in PowerPoint or communicating in real-time via Teams.



Click here to learn more about Microsoft 365 Education or download the suite.


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