Relative Advantage of Using the Basic Suite for Learning

In computer talk, the Basic Suite is a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program. Most often, this can be seen as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. With web--based laptops becoming more popular, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are being used more often. 

For students, the relative advantage of using the Basic Suite is to prepare them for the very same uses in the job world. As an adult who has a job that requires presentations, uses for a word processor, and data organization needs, I use a combination of the three programs on a daily basis. By introducing these programs to students early  in Elementary school, it allows students to become masters of the program's uses before they enter the work field and are expected to know everything about it. 

Another advantage of using these programs with students in schools is that they allow for differentiation. If a student has mobile difficulties and cannot use a writing utensil for extensive period of time or just has terrible handwriting, allowing those students to use a word processor is leveling the playing field. These students are gaining the opportunity to show what they are capable of in a way that caters to their specific needs. 

For teachers, the Basic Suite is used for building lesson plans, creating worksheets, sorting student data, and creating presentations to introduce material. The relative advantage of using these is that they provide everything you need with three basic programs. Within a word processor, you can create advertising fliers along with graphs and graphics. The use of web-based programs brings teacher collaboration to a higher level. Instead of having to email documents back and forth and waste time, teachers can collaborate on one document, presentation, or sheet. Teachers can sit at home on their couches and have a virtual editing session with peers all editing at the same time. 

The relative advantage of using these programs is the ease of working with other teachers in a team or vertical articulation situation. My partner teacher and I would be able to collaborate on documents or plans without having to make the time to sit together and discuss it. We could invite others in on our work and welcome their feedback on their time.

Roblyer, M. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (7th ed.). Massachusetts: Pearson.