Office+Productivity+Tools


 * My Hypothesis:** Older people think that Microsoft Office suite is the go-to application for office productivity, but younger people think that online and open-source software such as open-office and google docs are the most productive.

I conducted an online survey using Google Docs and invited a variety of people from around the world to have their say. Invitations were distributed via Twitter and Facebook. 52 people responded internationally. Click here to see the data collected.

If you would like to download the Excel spreadsheet data, here it is.

And a presentation of findings from the survey.

media type="custom" key="14491480"

You can download the presentation here, so you can hear the audio that accompanies the slides.
 * __Reflection__**

I am very aware of Microsoft Office suite as this is the office productivity applications that have been most touted at our schools since I was an undergraduate student in the 1990s. As a Digital Pedagogy Coach, my role was to not only work with students, but more importantly teachers on how to use technologies in a pedagogically appropriate way in the classroom. I always started with applications they were most familiar with, which was more often than not, Microsoft Office.
 * Awareness**

For myself personally, I can not stand to use Microsoft Office applications, they drive me nuts. Having said that I think it maybe a case of over exposure / over use of these applications. My preference is to use open source applications such as Open Office or online web based applications such as Google Docs, Prezi, OpenOffice Impress, SlideRocket, Google Docs, Zoho or SlideShare. Using office productivity tools online has filtrated every aspect of my personal and professional life!
 * Exploration & Filtration**

Because I had not used spreadsheets for such a long time (over a year), I had to re-learn how to do some areas. It was kind of like hoping on a bike after not touching one for years, a little bit wobbly but once I got going I was fine. I didn’t really learn anything new, more it was a matter of revising. Through my survey, however I did learn that my assumptions about younger people having a preference towards newer technologies rather than the “tried and true” applications like Microsoft Office were incorrect. Always glad to be proven wrong, I just love those learning pathways we find along the way.
 * Learning**

In our primary and secondary schools here in Australia, Microsoft Office (and Windows for that matter) is what our students predominately get exposed to in terms of computing lessons, and therefore that’s what we know. Microsoft Office is our default tool, our comfort zone if you will. What I have taken away from this module is that I need to be more aware of common the use of Microsoft Office products are amongst the younger generations. I also need to be more aware of the need to expose this same generation to a variety of platforms, mobile learning devices, applications to complete the same job, so they are armed with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about which is the right tool for the task.
 * Personal & Professional Application**