Using Office 365 for cloud based learning

Today’s workforce and workplace is mobile. In order to prepare students to succeed, we need to encourage and enable them to become mobile learners and active participants beyond the walls of the classroom. They can and they want to learn in different places, not only in the real-world, but also in virtual environments or a combination of both. Blended learning combines the traditional face-to-face classroom with online instruction.

In this tutorial you will:

1) Understand how different features of Office 365 can be used in the classroom.

2) Create a virtual classroom on Office 365 which can be accessed by students, your colleagues and parents alike.

Tools: Microsoft Office 365

ICT Skill Level Required:

Educator Scenario

Catherine’s students spend a lot of time online. Catherine wants to interact with her students where they feel at home. She wants to show them that the Internet can be a powerful tool for building knowledge. She also wants them to take full advantage of all the resources offered on the Internet.

Catherine has heard that Microsoft Office 365 has features that can be very useful for educators, such as sharing emails and instant messaging in Exchange Online, video conferencing with Lync Online, document sharing with Microsoft Office Web Apps and collaboration in SharePoint Online.

This tutorial will help you use SharePoint Online to create a virtual classroom for your students, as a place to share, learn and communicate.

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1. Your academic institution can use Office 365 for free. If you’re waiting for your institution to get

Office 365, you can apply for your own 30-day trial version, which you can use to build your virtual classroom. Sign up for your free trial.

2. After you log in, click on the Team Site to open the welcome page to what is going to be your

future virtual classroom:

3. You can change the welcome page message by clicking on the Edit button and write just like in a

Word document. It is also possible to change the site theme or add an icon to your virtual classroom. Make your classroom appealing and familiar to your students.

4. Now add assignments and tasks that your students have to complete. You can do that by clicking

on Add Task and filling in the form with your data. There’s a spelling checker built-in, so that you can easily proof read what you’ve added.

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5. You might want your students to have access to all the due dates and important events. Use the

calendar to enter all the events and tasks that you and your students must remember. To write in the calendar, just click on calendar then date and start typing.

6. Now you can invite your students to your newly created classroom. You can do this by clicking on

Share this site:

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7. A great feature of Office 365 is that you can assign different levels of permission to different

users. For example, you, as the owner of the classroom have full control over everything. Your students can contribute to your classroom, share, edit and delete documents, take part in discussions, collaborate in teams. Your colleagues can read and download items. You can also invite parents to view items in your classroom and see what their children are doing.

8. To keep track of your documents and other items, there’s useful Like and Tag buttons which will

help you to remember links and classify pages.

9. However, the classroom is not only about assignments, but also about connecting with your

students to support their learning. There is a discussion forum that you and your students can use to discuss different topics, share opinions and ideas and brainstorm.

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Further Resources and Ideas

Watch this video to see how these teachers are using Office365 Find out more about using other features of Office 365 in educator projects at here

Framework Alignment

UNESCO CfT – Technology Literacy (Pedagogy, Integrate Technology) and (ICT, Basic Tools) and (Organization and Administration, Collaborative Groups)

ISTE – Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity (1c, d), Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments (2b, c)

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