Learning on Tablets

A workshop titled Harnessing Creativity with Office 365 and Windows10 by Microsoft India was organised on 13th February 2016 for the parents of students of class VIII at 8.30 in the School auditorium. 80 parents assembled to attend the workshop. The workshop aimed to orient parents realise the potential of tablets and IT tools such as Windows 10 and Office 365 within the classroom. The workshop was led by Mr. Osborne D' Souza from Microsoft. Mr. D' Souza spoke about the 21st Century Classroom in which IT plays an integral part. According to him, children today, must be equipped to handle technology. He felt the future world would need people who are not only tech-savvy but also well acquainted with the latest in IT. He stressed the need to give them a global perspective on tools available so they are in step with developments taking place worldwide. To prepare them for such a world, Microsoft engineers and technicians have been working for over 25 years on tools such as Sway, Yammer, Office Mix and Skype, which will be of great assistance to both teachers and learners. As these tools allow content to be shared, it will allow learning to take place 24 7. The main advantage will be the ability to collaborate, which is the buzz word nowadays. The obvious question is, How can learning be enhanced with collaboration? According to Mr. D 'Souza, collaboration can take place in several ways. It can take place between the teacher and student, teacher and parent and between students.A regular and one- to- one mode of contact can definitely enhance learning. Besides the adult-child support, peers can offer each other invaluable assistance in the process of learning. . Mr. D' Souza offered tablets with built in applications for the use of students. Using such tablets, he asserts, will help educators provide a conducive learning environment while catering to the individual needs of the learner. Yammer is one such application. It is socially safe and loops relevant people into conversations to facilitate teamwork. The team can use Yammer facilities to bring conversations and data together so that they can get work done anytime and anywhere. Access to a Yammer network is determined by a user's Internet domain so that only individuals with approved email addresses may join. Some other safe to use applications are Office 365 and Office Mix. The interaction ended with a question and answer round. The parents voiced their concerns about the harmful effects from an excessive use of the Internet. Some other concerns were about the cost of the tablet and its regular maintenance and upgradation. The parents were also apprehensive about the implementation of the program and about its success when put to actual practice. The resource person tried to clarify their doubts and suggested that all their queries get answered and resolved in subsequent interactions. Ms. Sandhya Batheja and Ms. Madhuri Rajdev