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How does the use of SharePoint web services increase collaboration for teachers at
Jeremy Brown
University of Oregon
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SharePoint and Collaboration 2
ABSTRACT
teachers as a transformative measure that directly impacts student learning and success.
New digital forms of communication are challenging the many structures and beliefs that
must be implemented for success. This study examines the how teachers at Riverside
Secondary School in Port Coquitlam British Columbia have used SharePoint web
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SharePoint and Collaboration 3
INTRODUCTION
The Internet and the World Wide Web have dramatically changed the landscape
of information and its spread throughout the world. Educators, who were once the
keepers of knowledge have now become gateways; they search, filter and redefine vast
amounts of information for their students. Emerging technologies created for the sole
purpose of communication, sharing and collaboration have become common place during
the Web 2.0 revolution of the past four years (Fletcher, 2008). Teachers have tentatively
started using these systems in classrooms to improve the interaction between themselves,
their students and the outside world (Chan, Leung, Yeung, Chow, Tsui, & Ng, 2005). The
idea of having teachers and students collaborate together to create new forms of learning
is not a new idea. Libraries, Universities and other centers of learning have been a focal
point for this type of academia for thousands of years. Over the last decade however, the
and reflect on their teaching (Suntisukwongchote, 2006; Chan, Leung, Yeung, Chow,
Tsui, & Ng, 2005; Vavasseur & MacGregor, 2008). The increasing need for a new type
of collaboration comes from the speed and complexity of the systems that teachers are
being asked to implement in their everyday practice (Lipponen & Lallimo, 2004). With
the Web 2.0 revolution, a series of tools were developed (from several companies) to
increase the collaboration between markets, companies, groups and individuals. Known
collectively as Groupware, these systems support cooperative work between and among
people (Pumareja & Sikkel, 2006; Househ & Lau, 2005; Barbour, 2007). These tools can
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According to Andriessen (2003), all groupware systems share the following common
aspects:
When these five components are brought together within a single piece of software, there
chose Microsoft’s SharePoint Web services to fulfill this need within its school and
administrative organization in 2004. Microsoft founder and past CEO Bill Gates (2006)
It is a tool that creates websites for collaboration on specific projects. These sites
contain plans, schedules, discussion boards, and other information, and they can
SharePoint puts me in touch with lots of people throughout the organization. It’s
like having a super-website that lets many people edit and discuss—far more than
the standard practice of sending emails with enclosures. And it notifies you if
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Within this new collaborative framework the Coquitlam School District looked for a
School to lead its implementation. Riverside Secondary School was chosen as a Lead
School and its teachers were given the opportunity to communicate, share, teach, learn
usage (specifically that of Riverside’s Professional Development Site) over a three year
RESEARCH QUESTION
This study focused on a single question: How does the use of SharePoint web
services increase collaboration for teachers at Riverside Secondary School? The research
was triangulated with data from the Professional Development website (over a three year
period), survey results and notes from informal observations and discussions with staff
LITERATURE REVIEW
The idea of having people communicate and learn over large distances has been
around for hundreds of years (Ge & Tok, 2003), but the speed at which that
communication and the sharing of ideas takes place and the tools which individuals can
use to share ideas has changed dramatically. No longer do you have to physically travel
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can now be done online, free of charge (West, Wright, Gabbitas, & Graham, 2006).
Never again will you buy an encyclopedia from a salesman; instead you will discuss,
collaborate and contribute information into a Wiki (an updatable and editable webpage),
where people from around the world can then edit and modify your work (Tapscott &
Williams, 2006).
The idea of collaboration is neither new nor revolutionary by any means however
the instruments have evolved (Tapscott & Williams, 2006). When the tractor excavator
replaced the shovel, the ability to dig holes wasn’t significantly altered but the speed and
scale which the holes were dug increased astronomically. The new tools for collaborators
are shrinking the world for anyone who has access to the internet (Codone, 2004). Wikis,
linked to one another) and web forums (a place where particular groups exchange
information without the need of complex software) offer both synchronous and
teachers and the success of students (Fullan & Hargreaves, 1996). Collaboration allows
teachers to share ideas, reflect on practice, share the burden of responsibility and get
Discussion Boards, List-Serves and Web Forums can be made public and information can
be disseminated and updated easily (Bango, Levy, & Eylon, 2006). The web also allows
for the breaking down of systemic and structural barriers to the collaborative process
allowing people that would not normally have an opportunity to communicate the ability
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to share information with one another(Kirkpatrick & O’Toole, 2007),. For example, using
a simple physics question pertaining to Newton’s 3rd Law, Bango, Levy and Eylon (2006)
initiated an online discussion where teachers could share their frustrations and experience
in teaching this often misunderstood concept. Much of the participation in the discussion
was only carried out by few (16) individuals but over 250 passive participants continually
visited the forum. This clearly indicates that collaboration among a few can benefit a
The other product of this online collaborative process is the creation and
DuFour & Eaker (1998) and Fullen & Hargraves (1991), communities of professional
learners are groups of teachers brought together for shared interest and learning. This
model has seen rapid growth since it was first introduced because of the proliferation of
the internet. With online tools, teachers are no longer tied to geographically isolated
learning communities but can expand beyond physical boundaries and borders. Such is
the case in Israel where physics teachers now have a single site to share instructional
strategies that can benefit a whole population of students (Bango, Levy, & Eylon, 2006).
One area garnering new interest is the communication between student and
is as ancient as the practice itself and structured distance learning has been around for at
least 150 years (Ge & Tok, 2003). This is a traditional model of education where the
knowledge is passed from one person to another, often in a linear, unidirectional manor.
Over the past decade this flow of information has gone through a paradigm shift where
media rich content and real time interaction allow for the student to contribute to the
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conversation (Ge & Tok, 2003). Jennifer Bonds-Raacke (2006) reported that students and
teachers have a positive attitude towards these types of course websites that contain
collaborative tools. A traditional use of a course website would have an instructor place
references and links up on the learning space (Codone, 2004). While many used the
instructional material provided by the teacher, students also enjoyed contributing to the
knowledge base. Webcasts, pictures, conversations and video captures associated with
the course can be uploaded up by students and instructors (Ge & Tok, 2003). The
collaborative nature of the course website allowed them to connect to the material in a
much personal manner by sharing what they found with peers and teachers.
Teachers are often overwhelmed with course management, virtual instruction and
communication issues that often accompany online learning and teaching (Lazonder,
2005). Without a clear sense of community to support each other, many individuals will
withdraw from the online environment (Codone, 2004). However, once that sense of
of relevant material (Lazonder, 2005). This was especially true for new users to the
online environment. Collaboration components allowed these new users to elicit help
from more than their peers and mentors (Heffner & Cohen, 2005). Educators wanted
flexibility where and how they communicate with one another and their students. Many
students wanted to find new ways to complete their course objectives but also stated a
While Web 2.0 tools will not completely supplant traditional approaches to
collaboration in the near future, it is important to look at how they can aid in the delivery
and collection of knowledge (Orhan, 2008). Since collaboration has always been a face-
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effectiveness when compared to the traditional archetype (Barbour, 2007; Fried, 2007).
Structure and training are often cited as the two areas where most educators find
Chan, Leung, Yeung, Chow, Tsui, & Ng, 2005; MacDonald, 2008). Professional
the desired outcomes. Much of the research into the creation of the sites and ongoing
learners (Dufour & Eaker, 1998; MacDonald, 2008; Microsoft Corporation, 2002; Fullen
& Hargraves, 1991). These communities of learners provide educators a place to come
results in a long term, persistent growth in teacher learning and effectiveness in the
difficulty setting up and maintaining collaborative websites due to a lack of time and
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Collaborative websites cannot be brought into a school system and have expectations of
success without prolonged and extensive professional development. This support must
have the dual role of increasing the knowledge base of the educators and creating a team
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CONTEXT
September 1997 and has a staff of 70 teachers and a student base of 1250. Riverside was
billed as the Coquitlam School District’s first technology school and several systems
desktops, laptops, SmartBoards and tablet computers were integrated into the school
allowing for instant access to email, making it a viable school-wide medium for the first
time. While email was the main form (and still very predominant) of communication, in
Microsoft’s SharePoint Web Services and became a lead school in the program. The
promise of what SharePoint could offer was an open platform that would allow teachers,
administrators and even students to customize a website for any purpose or need. Many
teachers at Riverside use the website as a virtual classroom, while departments created
virtual depositories for documents and Wikis for sharing and constructing archives.
The first SharePoint site that opened as a purely collaborative instrument in the
2005 (see figures 1 and 2). Over the past three years, this site has been a focal point for
instruction, support and communication between members of the Riverside staff. The
benefit of this site became apparent with the introduction of two separate innovations to
the school that was based on a broader school goal of introducing innovation in
education. The first was a weekly study group held every Wednesday morning. Open to
the entire staff, these sessions had the initial intent of being a book club but soon (and
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often) turned to matters of education and technology. The morning sessions often made it
difficult for some on staff to attend due to a prior commitment or a school related issue
even though they were anxious to be part of the group. Additions were made to the
Professional Development site that allowed them to contribute to the school wide
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focused on technology and its implementation within and outside the classroom have
been active over the last four years. Each team has designed and created a portal site for
their team members to share, cooperate and support their teaching and learning areas. The
English department has been a pioneer in this with an extensive application into the
collaborative realm with their SharePoint site (see figure 3). As a group, the English
department has included: a group calendar, task list, book sign outs, shared document
libraries, wikis, suggested school and sequence discussions and much more. These
specific components allow for the English teachers to coordinate their activities in a
structured manner with every member of the department informed and involved.
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SharePoint and Collaboration 13
METHODOLOGY
Results were gathered from three sources: a survey given through the Professional
Development website, site usage data from Riverside Secondary SharePoint websites and
chose to participate in the online survey (see figure 4) including both veterans of School
Total usage by staff and individual visits can then be tracked over a designated time
period. The survey was given to the staff at the beginning of the school year (September,
2008) and figure 4 shows the basic gender demographic breakdown of the 40 survey
participants.
25
20
Number of Teachers
15
10
0
Male Female Other
The survey data indicates that most teachers who responded to the survey have
significant experience in the public education system with an average of 17.0 years (see
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figure 5) and at Riverside Secondary an average of 7.9 years (see figure 6). The
participants in the survey came from departments throughout the school including:
Science, Math, English, Social Studies, Foreign Languages, Library Services, Counseling
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10
Number of Teachers
0
0 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26 to 30 30 to 35
Years Taught in Public Education
Figure 5: How many years have you taught in the public education system?
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20
Number of Participants
15
10
0
1 to 4 5 to 8 9 to 12
Years taught at Riverside Secondary School
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SharePoint and Collaboration 15
time with at least one session on SharePoint instruction and practice on each of those six
days. Beyond this, each participant had access to a once-a-week, year-long collaborative
Discussions on how the staff was using SharePoint was collected and added to the study.
questions were analyzed and coded. The discussions focused mainly on teacher’s feelings
RESULTS
WEBSITE USAGE
The use of the Riverside SharePoint sites has increased dramatically over the past
Development Website has shown a dramatic increase in site usage over the last 3 years
(see figure 7). This usage data includes all site visits, contributions and edits. In the
month-to-month comparison, the site usage has risen from on average of 15% of the staff
in 2006 up to 81% in 2008. The usage values for other sites used by Riverside students
and teachers within show a similar growth potential. The number of distinct contributors
to the site has also increased over the past three years from an average of 11.9 per month
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80
60
50
website
40
30
20
10
0
Oct-06 Oct-07 Oct-08
SURVEY DATA
The survey data shows that most teachers at Riverside Secondary are relatively
comfortable with technology and standard practices such as email and broad internet use
(see figure 8). Many of the new collaborative aspects tend to have a lower comfort rating
such as external sites such as Facebook, Delicious and Wikispaces. SharePoint has a
moderate comfort rating and bell shaped curve compared to email’s skewed high comfort
rating.
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45
40
35
Number of Partcipants
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes No
Figure 9: Have you visited a SharePoint web page in the last 3 years?
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SharePoint and Collaboration 18
large amount of the respondents actively being a part of online communities (see figure
10).
35
30
Number of participants
25
20
15
10
0
Yes No
Figure 10: Have you ever contributed to a collaborative website (SharePoint, Wikipedia, other
wikis, discussion boards, social bookmarking or social networking sites) for the purpose of
education?
Removing the extraneous websites and focus directly on SharePoint, we see a similar
trend in contribution and collaboration (see figure 11) to that of figure 10.
35
30
25
20
15 Series1
10
0
Yes No
Figure 11: Have you contributed to a SharePoint web site in the past three years?
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DISCUSSION DATA
When teachers talk about SharePoint, their discussions and ideas about the software tends
to fall into three distinct areas (see figure 12). There is the majority who find it useful and
can see future benefits. Secondly, there is a smaller group who would like to know how
to use it but still can’t see the benefits. Finally, there is a small minority who were not
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
Positive response Uncertain response Negative response
For those who see benefits in the software and process, much of the discussion is
based on how they can share their work and learn from each other. One teacher said “I
can create wikis, discussion sites and workspaces to facilitate the completion of common
issues and goals. These facilities could also allow a greater integration with school
colleagues to easily share and expand on lessons and assignments. SharePoint can be
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used to share resources through calendars”. The Riverside Librarian stated “CTLA (Coq.
Teacher Librarians) use SharePoint site to communicate & share material, although many
members still do this through their own websites or e-mail. As more and more
Professional Development about SharePoint takes place, more use will occur”. The
majority of the positive responses for SharePoint collaboration from the staff indicates
the use of the following: document libraries for lessons and assignments, discussion
boards for assessment, tips for effective teaching practices, calendar, wiki’s for ESL
vocabulary, weekly bulletins, and a simple/safe place for people to share ideas.
Interestingly, many teachers were as interested in collaboration with and among students
as they were with their colleagues. A Science teacher stated that “I am excited about the
website that allows students to contribute to the course and help themselves completely
The undecided group was unanimous in their wanting more training in order to
increase their comfort level/knowledge base with the software. Statements such as: “I
really do not know. I find the process very cumbersome and time consuming, partly
because I am still very unfamiliar with access and use. It is not something I would think
of first. The little bit of SharePoint stuff I have created has been in a workshop setting
and then forgotten about as it just seemed such a hassle. If I want to communicate my
first reaction would be e-mail” and “I need to be taught more on how to use it. We
should be instructed to use it more, that way we can try it more and we would learn
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A small minority of responses indicated that they either had other forms of
stated that “I don't have a need for this software. Often times it is an 'extra' source of
communication that requires more time to visit and contribute when I am often already in
communication with the key players anyway.” When asked a similar question, another
better.”
DISCUSSION
The website usage data, survey questions and discussions show that a majority of
teachers at Riverside Secondary who use SharePoint web services feel that they benefit
development opportunities to learn and implement the software were more likely to use it
on a regular basis. Those staff that participated in a learning team (to augment their
and tended to be the most advanced SharePoint users. The teachers who chose not to
participate, maintain a site themselves, or were part of a group collaboration site (such as
the English Department), still often used Riverside’s Professional Development website
for a variety of collaborative reasons. The site grew dramatically over the last three years
When asked about the impact of having an online forum to discuss, share or
deposit information, and many staff members indicated a desire to have the software play
a larger role in their daily school day. Teachers liked the ability to communicate, share
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and support each other without worrying about geographical, temporal or political
barriers. Many were excited about students contributing and communicating more
effectively with each other. Allowing team members to edit and add to the knowledge
base was another prominent theme among those excited about SharePoint. Even those
who do not choose to contribute can watch the collaboration unfold and still feel part of
the process. SharePoint allows for conversations outside the confines a brick and mortar
classroom of yesteryear.
The implications of the study are significant to Riverside Secondary and to the
Coquitlam School district, who both have invested vast amounts of time and energy into
this new model. The study has shown that significant amounts of effective, sustainable
and lasting Professional Development are critical for the successful implementation of a
place, teachers will take the opportunity to increase their collaboration using online
Although this study shows that SharePoint is an effective collaboration tool for teachers
at Riverside Secondary, there are limitations to its scope. All the respondents have had
opportunity years of long term, continuous professional development and were part of a
the Coquitlam School District. Teachers were given in-service training and time to work
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through many of the difficulties associated with the introduction of a new platform.
Schools or individual teachers without this technical experience and support will have a
difficult time wading through the intricate components and functions of the website. An
with, will have difficulty seeing the potential of the collaborative aspects of the site.
Current models of professional development (DuFour & Eaker, 1998) (Fullan &
Hargreaves, 1996) (Vavasseur & MacGregor, 2008) all favor the effective role of a
projects.
While Riverside has had tremendous support in terms of time, technology and
money from the district, not all schools will have the same level of commitment. The
collaborative system.
CONCLUSION
More research needs to be done with other schools within Coquitlam School District to
see if they have similar success, concerns or problems with SharePoint as a collaborative
collaborative websites needs to be clearly defined with alternative models. Despite the
need for larger sample sizes and a more diverse group of educators, it is clear that most
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