Microsoft+Office

Description and Uses of Technology
Since its beginnings in 1992 with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to the current version of Office 2011 for Windows this computer software has been a valued tool for everyone involved in the educational process. As a result of its widespread use, familiarity and acceptance in professional and educational settings alike Microsoft Office is now a staple for elementary students, high school students, college students, parents and instructors.

Students familiarity with personal computers and software is one of the reasons for the extensive use of Microsoft Office. Unlike twenty to thirty years ago when personal computers were somewhat of a novelty; they are now common in many homes and classrooms. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, according to Deacon, Jaftha, & Horwitz 2004, "It is widely available. Office is widely installed, used and supported. It is valued. Office is feature rich. It is a powerful tool. Office represents a vast investment in design and usability testing" (Deacon et al. p 224). These are some of the reasons why computer labs and computers in the classroom are usually being used.

In the Language Arts classroom and other classrooms where writing and research is a necessity, Microsoft Office is used for composing, selecting and preparing information in a format that is now considered common practice. Many writing activities performed in the classroom concerning documenting, outlining, and View modes aid in the understanding of the structure of writing assignments (Deacon et al.2004). In addition to the many uses of Word; Excel spreadsheets are used for grading and attendance charts and Power Point is widely accepted as a tool for presentations, slides and displaying classroom notes.

In addition to composition according to Hunt & Hunt (2006), "Word is one solid and manageable way to actually teach grammar in the contest of a student's writing. The program has a spelling and grammar check that is, for many students, the only teaching tool that they use when it comes to writing, editing and revising"(Hunt & Hunt p 90,91). While spelling and grammar check functions may have their limitations and are not able to correct all mistakes; these tools are invaluable to students when it comes to proofreading, self-editing and doing peer reviews on classmates papers.

Word has come a long way since its beginnings and continues to be a great asset to students and teachers alike. Microsoft Word even has a function that enables instructors to determine the difficulty and reading grade level of texts based on the number of words and average sentence length (Hancioglu & Eldridge, 2007, p. 332,). The overriding implication that makes Word such a great educational tool is the fact that it supports and compliments the pedagogical process for both students and teachers alike.

Important Findings on Student Outcomes
In the classroom Microsoft Office has been instrumental in shaping student outcomes and successes. Some of the application affecting student outcomes mentioned in the literature review include: using Office to create educational activities, to find factors that make a text easier or more difficult to read and in the developmental classroom, "educators use word processing to produce and share documents" (Caverly & MacDonald, 2004). Developmental students rely heavily on Microsoft Office to write papers that fulfill the requirements of higher level writing assignments. Research by MacDonald and Caverly (2004) suggests that, "Writings about readings and/or answering discussion questions about readings via electronic format, instead of paper and pencil format in the classroom, is one example of using the word processor. Instructors can also use a function where, footnotes can be used to add editing comment" (Caverly & MacDonald, 2004). The ability to employ these various functions may help developmental readers and writers to be successful in more challenging courses.

Other findings concerning student outcomes identify text analysis features that Microsoft office uses to predict the grade level of a text. Microsoft Office calculates the average number of words per sentence in a text together with the number of words in each text, and the average sentence length (Hancioglu & Eldridge, 2007, p. 331). Knowing and understanding the readability of a text could enhance the reading experience for students who may not be reading at the current grade level. In this scenario, less difficult texts could be assigned so that students do not get turned off to reading at an early age. The Vocabulary Profiler is another Microsoft Office tool that rates high frequency and token words which help determine the lexical and structural complexity of a text (Hancioglu & Eldridge, 2007, p. 337).

Microsoft Office also has the function of supporting applications already used in teaching. According to Deacon, Jafthe, and Horwitz (2004). "Microsoft Office is well suited to the creation of learning activities that have the dual purpose of teaching academic concepts and practical computer literacy skills." Objectives for specific activities in math or writing can be easy to create in a mini-lesson or tutorial environment consisting of short sessions in the computer lab. These activities are supported by online discussion, information resources, and other forms of communication found in course web sites (Deacon et al., 2004). A good example of this is "Blackboard" which is used here at UC.

**Emerging Trends and Open Issues **

Emerging trends are ongoing when it comes to Microsoft Office. Ease of use and new functions have been added with every new Microsoft product that has been introduced over the last twenty plus years. The Create Figure function in PowerPoint allows one to copy pre-existing figures from one PowerPoint file to another and the chart wizard tool in Excel makes it easier to edit and manipulate figures (Shannon, 2007). Microsoft Office now enables users to collaborate on documents easily and efficiently. With the Send for Review tool one can send a document to several people for review, track changes they make and as edited documents come back the author can decide what changes to incorporate into the master document (New Products, 2001). While these additions to this educational technology has made learners and instructors more productive, promises of new products will bring about important changes in how students learn and instructors teach.

One new technological trend that claims it will change the way students study and how scholars do research is known as "Cloud Computing" (Young, 2008, p. 1). The term cloud computing refers to programs (Web-based word processor) that run over the internet rather than locally on a user's computer. Google Apps for Education word processor is called Google Docs, and Microsoft Office Live has a similar service (Young, 2008, p.2). Cloud computing offers virtual collaboration; students can work on a paper from many different locations. According to (Young, 2008, p. 2) "Such virtual collaboration is a key benefit of running something like a word processor on the Internet instead of on an isolated PC." The days of sending attachments will be something of the past because of shared online documents stored in the Internet cloud. Cloud computing will also enable "colleges to string together normal computers working in tandem over the Internet to provide the equivalent firepower of a supercomputer" (Young, 2008, p.2). Cloud computing may even make computer labs obsolete by bringing the kinds of programs found in computer labs to students wherever they may be (Young, 2008, p. 2).

In conclusion, with this type of computing power and having information on the internet privacy will be an ongoing open issue and the author suggests that, "Companies like Google may be tempted to mine the data down the road and sell it to advertisers which may produce the need for better data security laws" (Young, 2008, p.3). New technology concerning word processing is constantly being developed and usually produces new problems, but as we have seen before the positives tend to outweigh the negatives. This is especially true concerning Microsoft Office besause of its effectivness, familiarity and acceptance in educational settings. So do not get to familiar with your new Microsoft Office 2010 software, according to Wikipedia, Microsoft Office 15 is set to be released in 2012.

References

Deacon, A., Jaftha, J., & Horwitz, D. (2004). Customising Microsoft Office to develop a tutorial learning environment. //British Journal of Educational Technology//, 35(2), 223-234. doi:10.1111/j.0007-1013.2004.00383.x  Hancioglu, N., & Eldridge, J. (2007). Texts and frequency lists: some implications for practising teachers. //ELT Journal: English Language Teachers Journal//, 61(4), 330-340. doi:10.1093/elt/ccm051  Hunt, T. J., & Hunt, B. (2006). Whose Grammar for What Purposes?. //English Journal//, 95(5), 88-92. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. MacDonald, L., & Caverly, D. C. (2006). Techtalk: Word Processing from Adoption to Innovation. //Journal of Developmental Education//, 30(2), 36-37. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. Martin, F., & Dunsworth, Q. (2007). A Methodical Formative Evaluation of Computer Literacy Course: What and How to Teach. //Journal of Information Technology Education//, 6123-134. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. New products. (2001). //Curriculum Administrator//, 37(7), 54. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. Shannon, D. W. (2007). Microsoft Office for Presentations: Creating Figures, Slides, and Posters. //AMWA Journal: American Medical Writers Association Journal//, 22(3), 153. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//. Young, J. R. (2008). 3 Ways That Web-Based Computing Will Change Colleges -- and Challenge Them. //Chronicle of Higher Education//, 55(10),11. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//.

Reviewed By: (Brain Berling and Emily Kelley)