Prior to becoming an Expert Educator, we had been beginning to use use Office 365 at school.
After coming back from attending the weekend in Sydney, I was more enthusiastic about getting it running in all areas.
I could see huge advantages for the school.
Problem : Not all teachers felt the same way.
The teachers had been very comfortable using Outlook and other Office applications. They were also very used to saving all their work onto their desktops and/or our server.
We needed to sit down and discuss where we wanted to go, and how to go about it!
came from these meetings1. All teachers would be expected to use the shared sites that would be set up.
2. Teachers could continue to use the desktop versions of Office - their school work to be saved to their online space.
3. Teachers were encouraged to experiment with blogs, sites
4. All meetings, notices reports etc to be stored online in shared spaces.
5. Regular meeting would be held
6. I would create "Teacher manuals" - step by step instructions on using shared sites, calendar etc
Staff meetings were held - we went through SharePoint basics. All staff were expected to attend and complete activities included. These were very successful and branched off into "Techie Time" meetings where other staff shared what they had done/learnt.
The first shared place that was set up was the Teacher's Place. This shared space contains all the shared documents from 2013, and 2014. All teachers have access to this. After I set up the shared place, I created a Teacher Manual for it.
We decided to use the calendar facility for our daily notices. As well as being able to use it as a calendar, it is also able to have links to documents added, comments added and by activating the alerts feature the teachers are always able to tell when something has been added/amended. also the calendar is able to be accessed through Outlook.
The next shared space that was developed was a Management shared space - this is only able to be accessed by the management team. Setting up permissions is so easy! The final shared space set up is a space for the Board of Trustees.
How teachers are using each application in Office 365.
Outlook
All staff are using Outlook as their email client. They are able to use both the desktop version and the online 365 version. We have had very few issues with either version.
Calendar
We have a shared calendar that is also used for our daily notices, teachers have their own calendars and syndicates also have a separate shared calendar
People
Used as contact list
OneDrive
All staff are using their own individual OneDrive for their personal storage. Our aim is to have all information stored in the 365 location. The shared spaces also contain a great deal of the teacher's work.
Sites
As well as the shared sites, teachers have been using sites to develop their own - class sites, individual sites/blogs. This is still an area that we need to do more work. Not all teachers are confident in setting up sites.
Tasks
I doubt if this is being used at all!
Office Applications
All Office applications - word online, powerpoint online and excel online are used extensively by all teachers. They are collaborating in real time using these applications (especially word online).
OneNote
As well as teachers using the OneNote for their students (where applicable), they are also using it for their personal planning. With it being online, it is very easy to share across a group of teachers, and be accessed during appraisals.
Delve
As this is pretty new, we have yet to really investigate it!
Video
Great idea and one we will be using further in 2015
Issues Faced
1. Not all teachers had the same amount of enthusiasm as me for using Office 365. It was only by working with these teachers in small groups or on an individual basis were we able to get them to see the benefits of using 365. Whilst the Management had made the decision that Office 365 would be our platform, it was never going to be successfully used if teachers didn't embrace it.
By taking small steps, including training that was "level" based, using buddy trainers/support person, but also having an expectation that they would use some form of self training we were able to bring the teachers on-board (albeit in varying degrees).
2. Sometimes technical issues caused problems. We had issues with new users not being able to access all areas of 365, I must say that I found the Microsoft support people to be very helpful. Issues were quickly resolved.
3. Speed issues - even though we are on N4L (supposedly fast) we do sometimes find that at times 365 was very slow. In one case it took a day for a powerpoint to be uploaded. Hopefully when the Microsoft servers move closer to NZ speed will; no longer be an issue.
Looking Forward
As we move into 2015, we will be looking to develop the use of Office 365 fully.
There are also a couple of exciting new developments - Delve and Video that we will utilize fully.
Oh yes and then there is Lync!
