For a long time, people said rather sneeringly, ‘if you can’t do, teach’, which is perhaps one of the most ridiculous put-downs of all time. Teaching is, in our view, not only one of the most admirable and necessary of professions, but also one of the most difficult. As well as knowing your subject inside out, well enough to help other – often reluctant – people to understand it, having endless admin and compliance to handle, and needing the patience of a saint, you need to be a logistical genius. Corralling a classroom is akin to herding cats, but the teacher doesn’t just need to keep order, but to find ways to engage and foster a group dynamic which delivers the best possible learning experience and outcome.
We’re not the only ones to appreciate the work of teachers; Microsoft have been working with the profession for years, which is why they have crafted the Surface range specifically with schools in mind, and have a whole category of apps dedicated to helping teachers in the MS Education Store. And it’s these that we’ll be looking at today in our continued exploration of Microsoft’s educational tools.
