2 Developing and Fostering Collaborative School Culture

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1 Harnessing the Power of Emerging Cloud Computing to Develop and Foster a Collaborative School Community in the New Digital Age Alvin Tan 1, Steven Wong 2, Theresa Lai, Sharon Ong and Sayuri Limarsono Ngee Ann Secondary School (Singapore) Key words: Cloud Computing, Professional Learning Community Abstract: Ngee Ann Secondary School (Singapore) is tapping on the potential of the Web-based applications in the emerging cloud computing services to develop a collaborative school community with its own identity, Ngee Ann 2.0. The school has adopted Microsoft's Live@Edu to harness a suite of applications to help students manage their academic studies, share information and resources with other students and teachers on projects, and stay connected with friends in an increasingly Web-connected world. Teachers have also begun to form a dynamic Professional Learning Community (PLC) within the system to collaborate and improve learning and teaching in the classrooms. 1 Introduction 1.1 The New Digital Era We live in a time of changes that include accelerating globalization, overflowing of information and growing hegemony of science and technology. Such changes will also mean that there is a need to develop new ways of thinking, learning and pedagogies in schools. As students nowadays are more technologically savvy than ever before, they expect their school environments to have rich, high-quality communications capabilities, like those they use in their social lives. Having to educate this new generation of students, also known as digital natives, schools must be prepared to adapt to these changing e-learning dynamics in order to meet their learning needs. In order to adapt to the challenging profiles and needs of students, the need for teachers to engage in professional learning is of paramount importance. With limited resources and time, the need to do more with less provides additional challenges. With the constraints and challenges in mind, Ngee Ann Secondary School (NASS) leveraged on the power of cloud computing to create a cohesive social networking and learning environment for students as well as a professional learning community for teachers. 2 Developing and Fostering Collaborative School Culture Upon reflection, we realized that schools are often structured in ways that minimize collaboration, reflection and innovation, which are critical to the professional development of teachers. (Giselle O. Martin-Kniep, 2008). Committed to strengthening the profession of education and moving away from the Trivial Pursuit Theory (David Perkins, 1992), NASS decides to promote a pervasive and collaborative learning culture that will have sustainable and significant impact on the lives of our teachers and students. To ensure that, there is a need to first understand the interdependence of these communities in order to develop a holistic ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 753 1(6)

2 approach and system to promote the collaborative culture in NASS, which will benefit the students and teachers in the long run. Teachers Collaborative Professionals Communities of Reflective Practitioners Connection & Communication Self-directed Students Communities of Life-long In fostering a collaborative culture among teachers and students, NASS reviewed and decided to leverage on Microsoft Live@Edu as the common platform to develop and promote communities of learners among teachers and students. 3 Harnessing the Power of Cloud Computing Microsoft Live@Edu 3.1 Advantages of using an integrated platform NASS has adopted Microsoft Live@Edu platform, which is currently available to educational institutions at zero cost. Microsoft Live@Edu is an integrated platform consisting of a suite of online applications that enable users to view and share files, to collaborate with other online users and for easier communication. All the online applications are accessible by just a single account called the Windows Live ID. The greatest advantage of Microsoft Live@Edu is that it has single sign-in capability that reduces the hassle of having to remember so many passwords for different accounts. This also allows users to consolidate their personal data and files in one place. Industry research has indicated that US adults have on average three accounts and they spend a lot of time online, sharing files and information at an unprecedented pace. Their personal data and files are spread in different sites, making their work disorganized. Another advantage of leveraging on cloud computing is that it is an emerging technology that has become very prevalent in the technological world. Software is offered as a service and users no longer need to possess technical knowledge of their servers or infrastructure. This also means that schools and users need not worry about licensing and maintenance issues. With the technical burden off our back, NASS can focus on the core business of teaching and learning. With additional features such as Office Live Workspace, Windows Live Spaces and Window Live Groups, teachers and students can now create, save, access and share their documents and files. Teachers can post their teaching resources such as notes and worksheets for students to download anytime as well as to share teaching resources with fellow teachers. Not only do these additional features helped to extend learning and discussion beyond the classroom, the ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 754 2(6)

3 harnessing of cloud computing has added value to learning and collaboration among teachers and students in NASS. 3.2 Promoting Professional Learning Communities in NASS NASS is focused on promoting a culture of learning and collaboration. Having established a Professional Learning Community (PLC) whereby teachers have the opportunities for collaborative inquiry and to share their teaching experiences, NASS continually explore for other avenues to sustain these practices, as well as developing a common platform for teams to explore and employ creative strategies to engage students in class. Leveraging on Microsoft Live@Edu as the engine and pedagogies like Teaching for Understanding (TfU) as the common language, NASS has managed to create a networked learning community with technology. Teachers in the respective departments formed professional learning teams (Figure 1) and discussed their views. (Figure 2) Figure 1: Screen capture of networked learning communities in NASS Figure 2: Screen capture of teacher s view ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 755 3(6)

4 Besides sharing of lesson plans, views and reviews among fellow colleagues, teachers can also leverage on Microsoft ExchangeLabs, an integrated ing system with Windows Live Messenger (WLM) for easy communication with students. Besides allowing students to coordinate their collaborative work via WLM, another objective is providing opportunity for students, who are either too shy or not forthcoming in asking questions during normal curriculum time, to communicate and interact with their teachers on this platform. As members of the Professional Learning Community, teachers can be engaged in collegial inquiry and reflective practice beyond school context. This platform allows teachers to articulate and analyse their thinking and compare teaching practices in search of better pedagogies and practices. 4 Benefits of Cloud Computing 4.1 Creating a sense of identity Teachers and stakeholders (students, alumni, parents etc) have a common Ngee Ann domain. It allows them to have a sense of identity and uniqueness as compared to servers that cater to the mass. 84% of the survey respondents have agreed the use of a Ngee Ann domain provides a sense of identity. 4.2 Establishing effective communication and system Microsoft Live@Edu platform has improved communication between teachers and students of NASS. Students are now able to find their teachers addresses in the global address book. Besides , Windows Live Messenger has provided the opportunity to develop a stronger sense of community between pupils of different classes and levels. Students are able to receive notifications and reminders on school events, as well as school newsletter. They can also be informed of their latest Co-Curriculum Activities schedule, school events as well as task lists in Live Workspace. Teachers no longer have to make frequent verbal announcements in school if the schedule can be kept up-to-date (in the Workspace). The use of Outlook Web Access and Office Live Workspace has indeed improved the student service delivery. The convenience of a single login has removed the hassle of remembering many passwords. The single login has also allowed the user to access different platforms like , calendar, workspace and blog. 91% of the survey respondents have agreed that the single account have helped them to better manage the different platforms like , blog, sharing of pictures and videos. Teachers no longer need to help students reset their multiple passwords to the different portals. Time is saved as loading time (to multiple portals) has been reduced. In addition, teachers do not have to spend much time teaching the usage of Microsoft Live@Edu as the students are most familiar with ing, blogging and sharing of pictures and videos. 4.3 Promoting School Wide Collaboration The Office Live Workspace has given teachers a place to upload their teaching resources. Students are able to download notes and worksheet easily. 72% of the survey respondents ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 756 4(6)

5 prefer their teachers to upload their teaching resources like notes and worksheets online. The Office Live Workspace also provides a place for students to submit their work online. The Microsoft SharedView provides a platform for group collaboration in real time on the same document. One of the lessons we have conducted requires students contribution of possible topics for their coursework project. Subject teachers of the same class can also enter the respective subject grades in a single spreadsheet so that the school can do analysis on the class. Windows Live Spaces allows the users to post blog entries. Teachers can make use of the blogging platform to post educational videos or issues that can improve students Social Emotional Learning (SEL). 46% of the respondents prefer their teachers to create Maths and Physics video blogs for online learning and collaborative work. The virtual hard disk in Windows Live Skydrive allows the user to post pictures, videos or documents. Teachers may upload pictures or videos taken from events, which used to be only available on the school intranet. The additional permission feature allows the user to select the people who will have access to the pictures, videos or documents. This is especially useful if teachers are sharing the materials amongst themselves. 5 Limitations of Technology As much as the Microsoft Live@Edu platform has met most learning needs and provided a platform for collaborative learning, there are some areas which can be improved on: Microsoft Live@Edu is not available on browsers other than Internet Explorer; some respondents have difficulty accessing to it. Currently, the contacts are not linked across the different applications. For example, the group list cannot be used in Office Live Workspaces. To share out a workspace to a class, it is very tedious to key in all the students addresses. Access rights limited to editor and viewer rights in Live Workspaces. For example in the case of homework submission, It is not possible to allow students to upload only and not edit. This is to prevent anyone from sabotaging others work. 6 Conclusion NASS adopts Microsoft Live@Edu platform to harness the power of emerging cloud computing. The suite of online applications in Microsoft Live@Edu like Office Live Workspace, Live Spaces and Skydrive has helped to develop and create a collaborative learning environment. Communication between teachers and students is also enhanced with the use of Exchange Labs ( ) and Windows Live Messenger. As the full potential of Microsoft Live@Edu is yet to be harnessed, NASS will continue to explore to meet the changing e-learning dynamics of our digital natives. References: [1] David Perkins (1992), Smart Schools: Better Thinking and Learning for Every Child [2] Giselle O. Martin-Kniep (2008), Communities that Learn, Lead, and Last. [3] Richard Dufour (2004), What is a Professional Learning Community? ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 757 5(6)

6 Author(s): Alvin Tan, Subject Head (SH) ICT/MRL; Steven Wong, Head Of Department (HOD) ICT/MRL; Theresa Lai, School Staff Developer (SSD); Sharon Ong, Teacher; Sayuri Limarsono, Teacher Ngee Ann Secondary School 1 Tampines Street 32 Singapore [email protected] ICL 2009 Proceedings - Page 758 6(6)