SharePoint? Its "use" has killed the technology progress we've made at our school as far as I can tell. And we're a decade-old 1:1 tablet/laptop school. We "implemented" it at the beginning of this school year and the level of communication and the depth of information available to faculty, students and parents has been horribly affected. The learning curve is tremendous -- just putting up a picture on to a page requires considerable effort. It's a system built for database programmers, not teachers.
After complaining all fall, two weeks ago our IT director finally relented and allowed us to use other tools other than those offered by SharePoint. Of course, the faculty had already invested a considerable amount of time fighting with SharePoint and so few are making the change. A whole year of work and an astonishing amount of momentum and good will evaporated by this monstrous system. Bitter? Yeah, a little!
Sun in Sagittarius I (11/21 to 12/1/2024)
-
On November 21, 2024 at 2:57 pm EST, the Sun enters Sagittarius I — The
Poison Arrow, according to Austin Coppock‘s naming conventions set forth in
36 Face...
Dear Reader,
ReplyDeleteJust from a Devil’s Advocate point of view, SharePoint has huge possibilities for communication and collaboration, In fact, I have worked with at least 4 Learning Management Systems, and SharePoint is the best. (I know, I know, SharePoint is not really a learning management system, but I have been able to make it one.) Yes, there was a huge learning curve for me; but, then it was my job, to create very flexible templates so that the educators I work with could customize easily. The trick to success with SharePoint is having and accepting mentoring in its use. I have taught about 100 educators to use this tool over the last 3 years and the success rate is huge. Granted those educators were a captive audience; they were taking a course that gave them re-certification credit. But any educator who has the advantage of someone at their school who will help them can make SharePoint whatever it is they desire. I love the tools of Web 2.0 also, they are great fun to use but for me, SharePoint is better and more secure. Horay for SharePoint. It has changed the educational landscape for many. But hey, to each his own. I really don’t care what tools educators and kids use just as long as communication, collaboration and problem solving are facilitated.
Thanks for asking "What do you really think?"
Dr. Carole Redline
Director of Academic Technology
Archdiocese of Baltimore