Students with learning differences excel with the help of microsoft learning tools
In the quiet comfort of her home in Winnipeg, Man., a Grade 6 student named Payton speaks into a microphone connected to her computer, answering an emailed questionnaire with the Dictate feature in Microsoft Onenote.
Payton loves stories; she’s immensely creative and passionate about art. But as someone who lives with dyslexia, she initially struggled to interpret the reading material teachers gave her at École Van Belleghem, a French immersion school in Winnipeg’s Louis Riel School Division (LRSD).
“I found reading and writing very challenging before I got Onenote and other computer programs,” she says. “I didn’t realize it would changeme for the rest of my life.”
Dictate is part of the Microsoft Learning Tools suite — a group of add- ons to Onenote, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, Microsoft Teams and other applications, that help students with dyslexia and other learning differences.
Students in the LRSD have used these tools for several years, part of a mission to ensure all students excel as caring, confident, capable and resilient lifelong learners who contribute to a democratic and sustainable world.
Robert George, a school psychologist, and Lisa Reis-tymchuk, an occupational therapist, both with the LRSD, have seen the tools’ effects firsthand. “The impact Learning Tools has had on students has been immediate and measurable in both academic and social- emotional growth,” they said via email interview.
“[ Students show] overall gains in self-esteem, academic autonomy ( classroom/academic independence), engagement, comprehension and written output, to name a few! These overall improvements in self-confidence further translate into reduced levels of expressed stress and overall improvedmental health.”
Microsoft Learning Tools were created with educational uses in mind, with a particular focus on students with dyslexia, a neurobiological condition that can affect reading comprehension, spelling and writing.
Guided by the latest scientific research on reading and the principles of inclusive design, Microsoft developed a game- changing suite of tools that has significantly improved learning outcomes for students in Winnipeg and around the world.
“We believe deeply in our mission to empower every student on the planet to achieve more,” says Mike Tholfsen, principal program manager at Microsoft Education.
“In order to meet that goal, making these free and available to anyone, in a non-stigmatizing way, is crucial. There are no strings attached.”
In addition to Dictate, students use Microsoft tools like-read Aloud and Immersive Reader to help with reading comprehension. Read Aloud is a text- to- speech function that reads material in several programs — including website text in the Microsoft Edge browser — to students using a digital voice.
Immersive Reader highlights text as students read through it on- screen in both Microsoft and non-microsoft apps, adding subtle prompts that help with cadence and pronunciation.
Microsoft Translate helps students whose first language isn’t English or French interpret texts in school, andmake class presentations. Picture Dictionary provides visual prompts for word definitions, and Page Color in Microsoft Word makes text easier to scan, with less eyestrain.
“Without the availability of these tools, students would struggle to efficiently and independently access grade- level text, and often feel academically isolated in the classroom environment as a result,” say George and Reis-Tymchuk.
“When using these tools as part of a comprehensive literacy approach, students can work at grade level, build up their confidence as learners, and actively contribute to the global learning within the classroom-setting.”
In Winnipeg’s LRSD, more than one- third of schools are French immersion, and 13 per cent of students self- identify as Indigenous. Learning Tools allow teachers to adopt a more inclusive approach to creative expression that might not otherwise be possible.
For discussions about current events, some teachers use Onenote to deliver material to multiple students at multiple reading levels before inviting all students into a broader class discussion on the topics. This way no one is left out, and learning differences are kept private.
“Students quickly become the ones leading the charge and pushing those around them for greater and more innovative ways to integrate and express their learning,” George and Reis-tymchuk say.
“Ultimately, students build confidence in their academic abilities and become self- advocates for their own learning needs.
As for Payton, the impact of Microsoft Learning Tools has been truly life changing. She uses Onenote as a digital notebook, sketching pictures on her tablet, dictating written assignments and using Inclusive Reader for online research.
“It’s easy to use,” she says. “I find it way easier to dictate instead of struggling for a couple of minutes to write one sentence… and listening instead of struggling to read. I really like them.”