President's Report	by James McConville
Edubuntu: At last, Linux for human teachers and students	by Alan Zisman
Careers in ICT	by Glen Holmes
BCTLA	by Heather Daly
Blind Chickens See Again	by Chris Rozitis
Microsoft Sharepoint Works!	by Rubi Corsi
Beyond Words: The Craftmanship of Digital Products	by Bernajean Porter
Finding what you want when you want it: Using Google	by Dave McCristall
Thank you Shelley Wilcox for CUEBC Contributions	by CUE Executive
Fall Conference 2006: Teaching to the Multiple Literacies	by CUE Executive
Call for Presenters	by CUE Executive
Call for Sponsors	by CUE Executive
Get Published: become a CUE newsletter contributor	by CUE Executive
Renewing your CUEBC membership	by James McConville

Microsoft Sharepoint Works!

By Rubi Corsi, Terry Fox Secondary
Introduction by Dennis Wong

Rubi Corsi is a teacher at Terry Fox Secondary who recently discovered Microsoft Sharepoint Services as a way to establish an online presence for her students and their parents. She shares her experience with us

It started in the hallway outside my classroom when I was besieged by several colleagues insisting that I get connected to Sharepoint.  I confess that I was a little skeptical.  More than once, I had been lured in by something computer related that promised everything and yet delivered little real change in my classroom.

My initial skepticism faded rapidly as Sharepoint was easy to learn and quickly produced results.  I was thrilled to discover that the program required little or no in service (even for someone with relatively basic computer skills). Once you are linked to the site it provides a template that you can personalize simply by clicking on items, for example adding a calendar or an agenda.  It also follows the same simple format for adding links to web sites or creating a picture library.   You can keep your page minimalist or explore complex personalized arrangements such as discussion boards.  In a couple of hours I had pages for three separate classes up and running. I was able to customize each page to include relevant collections of reference documents, assignment sheets, and lists of homework assignments. 

Sharepoint is easy to set up, to use and its best feature is that you save time on a daily basis.  It takes far less time to update homework assignments on Sharepoint than it does to deal with the inquiries, “Did I miss anything?”  or “What are we doing next Tuesday?” Sharepoint is especially valuable for students who have extended absences due to illness or trips.  Furthermore, Sharepoint allows students to take more ownership over their learning – whether they are playing catch up or working ahead.  It also enables the teacher to shift responsibility back to parents who can check the site to help monitor students.  As an added bonus you can even have students download sheets or resources at home rather than wasting valuable prep time in front of the photocopier! 

Sharepoint has reduced the time I spend on mundane tasks like homework updates and that’s important because there are a thousand other tasks which require my attention!