Office 365 is Microsoft’s online productivity software bundle.  Software included are Word (Word Processor) and PowerPoint (Presenter) which allow the creation and edit of documents and presentations which can be shared or displayed across devices. Used in conjunction with OneNote enables collaborative synchronous editing.

 

Groups are a feature of the Office 365 package that enable quick and fairly simple assembly of groups/teams with included email, calendar, OneNote and forum space. This would be useful for longer term group work rather than a one off classroom activity.

 

Skype for Business Microsoft’s online communication software.  It enables online grouped communication, presentation, polling and document sharing.  Skype provides out of classroom communication for group work, distance learners and flipped learning exercises.

 

Browsers.  Mobile devices are equipped with internet browsers that enable students to access the WWW via the Wi-Fi network to quickly research topics or answer questions.  

Clickview is a video repository that holds recent public broadcast programmes and user created content for educational purposes.  Accessible online (subscribers) it provides a ready resource for research and instruction.

 

Wordwall is a classroom activity media with online content enabling learning games, quizzes and polling. Wordwall can be used for revision of learnt topics, promoting discussion and identifying formative learning objectives.

 

QR codes are monochrome printed blocks that can be read by software enabled portable devices with cameras.  The blocks redirect browsers to web pages. QR codes can be created for free and printed on labels to attach to objects; the technology encourages exploration and research.

 

Social Media software such as Twitter and even SMS (text messaging) are ubiquitous among users and owners of mobile devices, students will develop their own communities and communicate amongst each other using such media and continue collaborative learning outside the classroom.

 

SMS messaging is simple and allows students & staff to communicate easily. Software such as Celly and Remind provide free services to receive and send messages without sharing phone numbers. Remind can send timed pre-written messages and records when and if these have been read.

 

Twitter is an online free messaging service that could be used to support group work. It enables quick access to group messaging (Via hastags #) as Twitter is simple to use and access and probably familiar to most students.

 

Google Docs. Are a free alternative to MS Word with an option for Speech to Text and synchronous sharing and editing of online documents. Free with a Google account.

 

Google hangouts is similar to Skype with text only or text plus voice/video communication across devices using the internet. Free with a Google account.

 

OneDrive, googledrive, Dropbox are all free file depositories and sharing spaces for storage and distribution of files including documents, sound and video. Useful for teamwork. OneDrive is included in Office 365 and accessible to staff and students.