How Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 can Boost Distance Learning

What are the benefits of distance learning?

It’s still uncertain how schooling will go amid the pandemic. Some countries have a plan in place. Others are likely to stay remote for at least the end of the year.

Definitely, it was disconcerting at first for most of us, but there are many benefits of distance learning. The concern is that you were probably too stressed to notice them at the time, mainly because the changeover happened so quickly.

Here are some of the benefits of distance learning using Windows 10 and Office 365.

1.  Keep students engaged

Remote learning is anything but dull! Transform your virtual classroom with creative, interactive, and inclusive ideas. Create immersive classroom resources using PowerPoint and Sway. Invite experts to drop in with Skype in the Classroom. Ask your students to weigh in on Flipgrid.

2. There’s no need to commute

Remote learning and remote working mean you don’t have to worry about getting your child to school on time. It’s almost like you’ve been granted extra time in your day. If your child is running a little late that day, it’s not the end of the world.

3. Easy access

Many people find it impossible to attend traditional classes. Work and family commitments will get in the way. Distance learning makes schooling more available. Students will need a device as well as an internet connection.

4. Anyone can meet virtually

It is easy to keep in touch with students and educators using Teams. You can form teams for classrooms or groups of educators. Teams allow you to communicate, upload messages and files, and video chat from any device.

5. Share content with students

Students can save conversations, files, and collaboration in one place. Post a conversation starter and share a file in a channel. Upload necessary files you don’t want students to edit in the Class Materials folder. Set up the Class Notebook in your class team to open up even more content-sharing possibilities.

6. Lesson plan and collaborate anywhere

Using the cloud, you can build or view all of your files in one location. Share files when necessary without being stuck in email chains, or collaborate at the same time. This way, you will stay in touch with other educators at your school while still ensuring that all you need is backed up and accessible, whether you’re in the classroom or not.

7. Virtual trips

A virtual trip is an enjoyable way to educate students and is an immersive resource which many teachers focus on to improve interaction.

Furthermore, distance learning encourages students to go on simulated field trips. These “trips” allow students the chance to visit places relevant to the curriculum. Through these activities, students can learn in an immersive manner.

Some Applications of Office 365 with Distance Learning

Microsoft Office 365 applications provide educational tools that can adapt for distance learning. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, and Publisher are common Office 365. 

Let’s look at some short descriptions of the most common apps utilized in Office 365 and how it helps students and educators nowadays. 

1. Word

Everybody knows Microsoft Word. One of the most useful app, not just for school use but also for work or business. It allows you to type all your thoughts and more down. You can create here some posters, leaflets and more.

2. Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet app that helps students to collect and update details. It has formulas that enable automatic calculations and simplify your work without spending too much time and effort.

Teachers can create their grading sheets here, and parents to make attendance sheets on their own if they are homeschooling. Take a look at the steps below. 

To create a basic grade sheet:

• Open Excel and create a new, blank worksheet. In cell A2, enter the name of your class. Enter any additional detail, such as a teacher’s name, quarter, or dates, in cells A3 through A5.
• In cell A7, type “Student Name.” In cells B7 through E7, type “Grade” or “Score.” Followed by the date of each test or the quarter number. Then, enter “Grade Average” in cell F7 and “Letter Grade” in cell G7.
• Select cells “A7” through “G7.” Select “All Borders” from the drop-down arrow in the Font group of the Home page. To shade the heading row, change the font size to “14” and choose a color from the Fill Color drop-down.
• Click on cell “F8.” Click the “AutoSum” drop-down button in the Editing group of the Home tab and select “Average.” Select cells “B8” through “E8” and press “Enter.” Click the lower-right corner of cell “F8” to select the Fill Handle. Drag the cursor down to fill the cells in the column.
• Enter student names into the cells in column A. Enter corresponding grades in columns B through E. Each student’s grade average value will automatically appear in column F.

3. Powerpoint

The presentation application has been around for a long time now. It’s vastly improved over the years and now allows you to create professional presentations with a host of options. It helps users to present a speech using a collection of slides.

Students and teachers alike can use this for presentations. They can create images, video presentations, and more.

4. OneNote 

An application for collecting handwritten or typed notes, drawings, and audio commentaries The note-taking program allows you to share your notes with other OneNote users conveniently. It is also ideal for taking notes on the go. 

Mostly of students use this for notetaking. They organize it by subjects by creating different tabs for each class. It also has a feature that automates if you put a date, it’ll ask if you want to put it in your calendar.

5. Outlook

A personal information manager software system mainly used for email can be used in integration with the Microsoft SharePoint server to share documents, calendars, and information within an organization. 

It also includes task managing, contact managing, note-taking, journal logging, and web browsing.