Microsoft suite: Examples in use

Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based subscription service that provides users with the productivity applications such as word processor (Word), spreadsheet (Excel), presentation application (PowerPoint) and other tools. Monash offers access to Microsoft 365 and Teams using authcate*.

The cloud-based applications provide collaborative functionality, where multiple people can access the same documents at the same time. Files automatically save at frequent intervals and it's possible to track individual edits and access edit history.

In addition, the Microsoft 365 applications can be used on multiple devices and synced so that you can access your work from anywhere.

How do I use Microsoft products to teach online?

Microsoft Office

The standard document apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) are useful for allowing students to work collaboratively synchronously or asynchronously. The synchronous function is only available in the cloud version and not on the desktop version.

OneNote

In terms of core functions, OneNote shares many similarities with Google Docs, which allows you to create collaborative space for students to work in groups or pairs or establish brainstorming space for whole class activities, such as collective research.
OneNote’s collaboration tools allow students to compare notes with each other.
Educator has access to personal notebooks and can provide students with guided notes offering more help for those students who need it.

Teams

Microsoft Teams is a communication and collaboration tool that supports synchronous web meetings with video/audio, screen sharing and whiteboard, asynchronous discussion, file sharing, and it supports the integration of a wide range of external web apps and tools.


Using Teams	Using OneNote	Using Excel	Using PowerPoint

Examples

Microsoft Teams supports third party applications like Trello. This example shows how different communication methods integrated in one platform - Ms Teams.
In this activity Project 101 students are asked to distribute their responsibilities in the project they have by assigning the cards to themselves and their peers in the integrated Trello board. Each card represents a project phase with a list of potential responsibilities that students can edit/delete or add new ones.
The next task for students in this activity is to get prepared for the coming Tutorial session where they are required to present their project responsibilities. For preparation students are to brainstorm and agree on the key focus areas by using OneNote collaborative document divided into project groups.
Both tabs - Trello board and OneNote collaborative document - are located in the same channel to be easily accessible to students. In this example students can view other students’ work but would be able to edit their group’s document only. In OneNote document educator uses the Teacher-Only section that is restricted to students to create teacher's notes.
For guidelines on how to create communication channels and manage them, read Communication in Teams and Managing Teams user guides.
For guidelines on how to add third-party apps, read Files and Apps in Teams user guide.
This is an example of collaborative activity based on OneNote with an integrated Excel spreadsheet.
Students are given a task to reflect on Belbin's classification of team roles by exploring "The Belbin Team Role Circle” and decide which team role they tend to take according to their experience. In OneNote document students are asked to:
1. find the section that belongs to their group,
2. write their names under the chosen role in the integrated spreadsheet and
3. discuss with their teams the distribution of the roles in their group and how it influence the teamwork in the same document.
Students are encouraged to read the collaborative documents of other groups and provide peer feedback in the provided section.
Source: This activity has been adapted from BEX3500 Current Issues in Commerce online activity.
In this example, student groups draw data from industry authentic datasets and data sources (for example, Australian Bureau of Statistics data).  Students use excel to explore the datasets and clean the data by removing unnecessary data and rearranging the data in a logical way.
Using the data, students create visualisations to effectively communicate what the data trends, ramifications,  or story might be.  Initial visualisations are done with paper versions, but excel charts and pivot tables are used in later stages to create effective summaries.
Excel is an industry-recognised tool and the skills used in this specific unit are transferable into many disciplines and fields of study.
Beyond the technical use of Excel, students are evaluated on visualisation theory through presentations.  This offers a chance for students to publicly reflect on their use of visualisation principles, for peer feedback, and for expert guidance and suggestions.
Complements of Derrick Martin: FIT2079 Data Visualisation.

Example 4: PowerPoint interactive activity

eSolutions - Microsoft Office 365

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Microsoft suite: Examples in use

Microsoft 365

How do I use Microsoft products to teach online?

Examples


Clear instructions are provided to go through the activity. Student starts the activity by selecting one of the two top images. A visual and text description is given to guide the student.	Then students continue to select one option from each row until they get to the final row. They can select a variety of alternate options. Each combination of selections can lead to a different answer.	Here is an example of one of the selected combinations. Students then press on the arrow button to restart and try another combination.