Microsoft is not the only one to believe that its note-taking app OneNote can revolutionize the way teachers and student work in schools. Today, the Office blog is sharing the experience of Kristy Griffin, computing coordinator and a Microsoft Innovative Educator at the Bolsover C of E Junior School which, according to her, has welcomed a staff of “OneNote Avengers.” Sounds cool, right?
Griffin and her colleagues first discovered the power of OneNote by using it to collaborate and share notes from meetings. Then, the leadership quickly decided to sign up everyone to Office 365, and the OneNote Staff Notebook has now become instrumental for the education staff for managing their admin-based needs within school “including staff handbooks, coordinator files, sharing of timetables, data monitoring, intervention tracking and much more.” While implementing all these changes has been quite a challenge, all this work is now starting to pay off according to Griffin:
While implementing all these changes has been quite a challenge, all this work is now starting to pay off according to Griffin:
By creating a shared vision for all staff, we have invested time and support in ensuring the process of change ran smoothly. One year in and we don’t miss the days of stacks of files and limited means of communication—the power of OneNote is simply amazing!
Teachers at the Bolsover C of E Junior School have also embraced OneNote by creating their own OneNote Class Notebooks for their classes. These dedicated notebooks allow them to provide adapted learning resources for each student, while a collaboration space also allows pupils to work in collaboration. Following the introduction of the Class Notebook add-in for OneNote 2016 in March, Griffin also shared that Class Notebooks have become even more useful for teachers who can now review students’ work and give individual feedback more quickly.
If you’re not convinced by the power of OneNote in Education yet, Griffin has a last piece of advice for you:
OneNote is making our vision of having “anytime, anywhere and any device” learning for our pupils a reality. It is cutting the workload of our teaching staff, reducing school costs as we move to becoming paperless and engaging our students within their learning.
We now have a school of OneNote converts and are excited for what our future holds as we continue to develop and find new ways of utilizing Microsoft tools within our classrooms, including Office Mix, Sway, Skype and Yammer.
Microsoft continues to make great headway in education through all sorts of programs, projects, and communities. OneNote is a big piece of the puzzle, and clearly educators are finding the application to be an important part of their teaching portfolio.
