CASE SHARING: COLLABORATIVE

PROJECT-BASED LEARNINGMr Gavin Choi, Microsoft Expert Educator,

St. Margaret's Girls' College, Hong Kong

BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Choi Wai Kit

School Name: St. Margaret’s Girls’ College, Hong Kong

Description of School: A Catholic Secondary Girls School under

the Direct Subsidy Scheme

Student Characteristic: Multi-culture, Passive and Low Motivation

Socio-economic status of student: Low Income Class

School Website: http://www.smgchk.edu.hk

PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED BEFORE USING

OFFICE 365

Cannot afford computer equipment and suitable

software for students in learning

"i Learn at home" Internet Learning Support

Programme / Donation from school: computer and

internet service

Use freeware for their projects

different versions/types of Office suite and file formats,

which leads to failure in project file integration

Large storage space required

Rely on external devices (USB) or mailbox limited

capacity

WHY OFFICE 365?

Office 365:

Office Online

SharePoint Online: social and team collaboration

Lync Online: communication

1TB Storage on OneDrive

24x7 maintenance by Microsoft

No technical and server requirement from school. Only

Internet Needed

Cross-platform: support any devices connected to Internet

Standardized file formats: Exchange and Integration

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

One of the S5 English School Based Assessment

(SBA)

Student grouped into 4

Project duration: 1 month

Project focus: Social issues such as ‘Internet Addiction’

&‘Factors influencing teenagers’ consumption patterns’

Aim: Guided by teacher in setting research questions

and methodology to help students discuss issues in

depth and to convey their ideas clearly and concisely

PROJECT LEARNING

To develop generic skills for life long learning

Critical Thinking Skills

Communication Skills

Collaboration Skills

Information Technology Skills

Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-based learning (PBL) approach

Instruction and criteria are provided by the teacher.

Developing knowledge through self-discovery by tackling real-life

problems.

It can bring the students together to develop their collective skills

at acquiring, communication, and integrating information.

Feedback will be given and students have chance to revise their

work.

SUMMARY OF LEARNING FLOWCHART

Stage IT Tools Achievement

1 Research: mind-

maps,

background

research

• Lync Online

• SharePoint

Online

NewsFeed

• Surfing

internet

• Through Lync, students can build up their

study skills when doing the preliminary

research and choosing the focus for their

projects. During the brainstorming

sessions, students can further build on

their communication skills and

collaboration skills . Moreover, they also

learn how to integrate their ideas together.

• Critical thinking skills

• Information technology skills

2 Methodology:

set focused

questions,

methodology

Excel Survey • Using Microsoft Word, the information is

organised and presented into a

systematic manner. This helps to ensure

their progress is consistent with the foci of

their projects.

SUMMARY OF LEARNING FLOWCHART (CONT’D) Stage IT Tools Achievement

3 Collect data:

students collect

data and conduct

analysis of their

data present

their findings

• Excel

Survey

• Office 365

• Using Office 365, students can use

Microsoft Office to finish their projects

anytime anywhere.

• OneDrive in Office 365 allows students

to store their learning progress in the

same file for easy access and

continuous reflection. Teachers can

also monitor their project progress

without any disturbance.

4 Present

recommendations

Office 365 • Through presentations, students will

build up their presentation skills and

communication skills

• Students will present their projects

and peer assess each other in class.

Through this, students can build up

their critical thinking skills and

reflection skills.

HOW DO STUDENTS USE OFFICE 365?

Due to limited time for students to discuss and finish the

project during the lesson. Office 365 is an effective tool to

help the them finish their tasks at anytime and anywhere.

Once they have a computers or mobile devices which can

connect to internet, they can do the project or

communicate together.

Students need to set focused questions related to the

social issue which they concerned. Moreover, they also

need analyse the data after people answer the

questionnaire.

Through the above processes, students equipped problem

solving skills for their study even though benefit their

future life .

DEMONSTRATION

PROJECT OUTCOMES

21st Century Learning Skills

Collaborative Learning

Independent Learning

Anytime Anywhere Learning

Learning attitude of students become proactive and higher motivation.

Students’ feedback:

Office 365 is an interactive platform that they can do the project together at a same time.

We can use the software on our mobile devices

We do not need to purchase the software

We can learn from interactive practice

FUTURE PLAN

Applicable to all subjects

English subject as pilot, ICT next

Rolling out to all subjects in the near future

Study Skills

Train students in their research skills and how to apply ICT in

project learning

Technology as an Enabler for Teachers

Train other teachers to create their own class- and project-sites on

SharePoint Online

Use Windows tablets and Windows apps for project and

classroom learning

The End