2 page Case Study - Posted 4/12/2007
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Students and Teachers Lead a Learning Revolution Armed with Latest Software Tools
Stoke College is committed to exploring new ways of using IT to support high-quality learning and teaching. It was one of the first schools in Europe to deploy the 2007 Microsoft® Office system to staff and students, and found that it helped students and teachers use advanced functions with greater ease. This has enriched classroom activities and extended learning outcomes.
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I believe the 2007 Office System offers the ease of use that makes it a wonderful tool for schools. |
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David Moss
ICT Coordinator, Stoke College |
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Business Needs
Stoke College is an independent co-educational school in Suffolk, England. It has been a school since 1954, and currently teaches a total of 218 students aged three to 16 years old—both day students and boarders.
The school does not set academic entry criteria for admission, but its students continually outperform the national average for GSCE results. In 2006, 100 per cent of year 11 students achieved at least five GCSE qualifications at grade C and above, compared to the national pass rate of 56 per cent.
Effective use of information and communications technology (ICT) underpins this success. John Gibson, Head of Stoke College, says: “Children should be using ICT in all subjects. We want our children’s ICT skills to be as highly developed as using a pen.”
Access to computers is essential to this strategy. Many boarders have a laptop computer, and day pupils are increasingly bringing laptops to school. Matthew Parker, Deputy Head, Stoke College, says: “ICT is one of our key investment areas, as we believe it is one of the most valuable contributions to the success of the school.”
Stoke College has taken some innovative steps to make the most of its limited ICT budget. For example, it greatly reduced costs by equipping the school with computers bought from corporate IT auctions, and installing them with up-to-date software licences. The school was also keen to explore how computer software can be made more accessible for students and teachers. David Moss, ICT Coordinator, Stoke College, says: “If you just want to format some text, using dialog boxes and menu systems can be daunting.”
Solution
As both the school ICT coordinator and an ICT specialist teacher, Moss was keen to find a way to help students and teachers become more proficient with software tools. After beta testing the 2007 Microsoft Office system, he believed the improvements through its new Fluent user interface, could offer the ideal solution.
The Office Fluent Ribbon replaces traditional menus and toolbars with a results-oriented design that helps people to focus on what they want to do rather than how to do it. It consists of tabs displaying the commands that are most relevant for the task areas in each application.
Moss says: “I’ve been involved with beta testing computer software since the early 1990s, and try to keep the school at the forefront of technology. I don’t like change for change’s sake, but I do like change that is productive. And I believe the 2007 Office System offers the ease of use that makes it a wonderful tool for schools.”
For example, in Microsoft Office Word 2007, the tabs group commands for similar activities such as inserting pictures and tables, laying out pages, working with references, creating mailings, and reviewing documents.
In December 2006, Moss piloted the 2007 Office system on a group of senior pupils studying GCSE IT, and was amazed by the results. “You couldn’t get them off the computers,” he says. “They were finding functionality that they had struggled to find before.”
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| The Office Fluent Ribbon |
Benefits
The success of the pilot encouraged Moss to introduce the 2007 Office system to other classes. Around 150 students and teachers across the school regularly use it, and they’ve all had good experiences with the system. Now:
- People can be more productive using powerful software. Across the school, people find Office 2007 is easy to use, and are discovering new functionality for themselves. Moss says: “I operate a ‘no fear’ policy when it comes to using ICT, which applies to teachers and students alike. The Ribbon has a ‘wow factor,’ which helps both parties increase productivity.”
- Teachers can develop richer classroom experiences. Gibson says: “The Office 2007 system will revolutionise teaching. It’s as simple as that. For example, our geography teachers find it easier to add Internet maps and weather Web sites to the documents they use in class. Students can build on these, working in Office.”
- Students can find and use advanced functions with ease. Students that took part in the pilot were impressed by how easily they could find and use new functionality. Moss says: “In education, it’s hugely important to make it easy for students to format and present their work in the way they want. With the 2007 Office release, they are able to do things that they had struggled to do before.”
- Students can have richer learning experiences. They can use the Ribbon to present more professional-looking assignments and perform sophisticated analysis more easily. This helps develop higher-level skills in classroom activities using Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007. Gibson says: “In a year eight geography class, we have 12-year-old students making group presentations. They discuss and analyse the content of what they have seen with their peers. This helps them improve skills in presentation and reflective discussion, plus subject-specific content.”
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
