Calgary Board of Education’s Windows 10 Transformation

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is the largest school board in Alberta, Canada. The CBE believes personalized learning is the key to success for each of its 119,000 students. Recently, the CBE added Windows 10 devices, including Microsoft Surface Pro 3, to its heterogeneous IT environment. This board strives to meet the needs of a diverse student population by providing students with a choice of devices and operating systems to enhance their learning. Adopting devices that run Windows 10 helps ensure success for every student, thanks to new opportunities that they provide for teaching and learning. With interactive experiences on cool new devices, the CBE is increasing mobility and collaboration through a personalized classroom.

“Digital technologies are changing how we deliver educational programs to students,” adds Travis Fraser, Supervisor, Client Technology Services at the CBE. “We consult with our learning specialists and teachers to ensure that we have the right tools and technologies to meet our students’ needs.”

Teachers and administrators at the board’s over 240 schools choose the technology they want to use from a list of approved devices running different operating systems. “When teachers and students are provided with choices to meet diverse learning styles, they are more successful,” says Pauline Auld, Learning Specialist at the CBE.

Vincent Massey School, a junior high in the district, is a case in point. Teachers at the school have an array of choices for devices and operating systems. But when Science and Technology Learning Leader Kurt Smith connected a Surface Pro running Windows 10 to a Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter, he discovered a whole new way of teaching. “I have a screen projected on a wall that’s 10 feet by 7 feet, and it captures students’ attention as soon as they walk into the classroom.”

Smith uses the setup to keep students engaged through quick transitions from one learning moment to the next. And if he’s not at the front of the room, he’s carrying the Surface Pro around the classroom to interact with students at their desks. “If I’m doing a lesson on chemical and physical changes, I show a quick video clip, pause it, easily swipe to the left, and bring up the PDF Annotation app to go over points raised in the video. Or with a double click of the Microsoft Surface Pen, I can use Windows Ink to write on the video scene and reinforce the learning moment. With another swipe, we can review homework. As a teacher, I can use Windows 10 technology to move quickly and efficiently through different formative assessments, such as a bingo game that’s tied to the program of studies. I’m able to use effective strategies to engage different types of learners.”

Smith is starting to see students collaborating on their Windows 10 devices using Microsoft Office 365, such as developing and presenting their projects using PowerPoint from different places in the classroom. “The combination of Windows 10 and Office apps gives us a lot of tools, with not a lot of hardware,” he says. “While many factors contribute to successful learning, last year our students saw great results. We saw concrete evidence that having the right tools in place makes a difference in student achievement.”

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Read the Calgary Board of Education’s whole story here. To learn more about how Windows 10 and other Microsoft tools can empower learning, visit Microsoft.ca/education