Microsoft
It has been one week since CDNIS has made its switch to Microsoft – a change that has been a complex process for students and teachers alike. While numerous obstacles have been encountered, many have expressed their excitement towards this journey of grasping the nuances of Microsoft’s multifunctional software.
“The Microsoft software holds a lot of similarities to Google and can even provide extra functionality not previously available to us”, G11 student Milos W. commented. Microsoft’s ecosystem is often described as “feature-packed”, with its superior cloud storage and enhanced productivity tools making it a powerful tool for users to master.
To many of us, there’s currently a distinct black line separating Microsoft 365 from our previous Google Workspace. But as time progresses and we learn to adapt to these new tools, the line will begin to fade, becoming greyer and greyer.
Toddle is another platform that we’ve been introduced to this academic year. With its framework specifically designed to accommodate IB schools, students have described it as “convenient” and “easier to keep track of assignments.”
However, this transition has been particularly difficult for G11 students, who are balancing the shift from MYP to DP – an already wildly arduous challenge in itself – alongside that of Google Classroom to Toddle. G11 student Mattea G. shares “Rising DP students now must handle a completely new digital software and a new academic program all at once”. Despite this, she expresses a positive Outlook (pun intended) on this transition, stating that “learning how to be proficient in [its] usage will prove to be very useful in the future.”
As we embark on this transition, it’s essential that we embrace the new changes that have come our way, so that we can unlock the full potential of our new digital environment. To conclude, some wise words from Mr Borisko himself: “Adopting Microsoft and Toddle can feel like steering a ship through unfamiliar waters. But as you chart the currents—mastering Word, Class Flow, and OneNote—the instruments become extensions of your hands, the sea turns navigable, and you find faster routes to deeper learning that were invisible from the shore. We are all learning, we all have moments where we feel like we are drowning … but in the end, the journey and the destination will make us a better school.”