By: Dara Sborea

In Latin, to collaborate means to labor together. Check out the Merriam-Webster definition of collaborate. The Spanish word for collaborate is colaborar, the French use collaborer, the Italians collaborare, and the Basques say kolaborata. In every language, and in every part of the world, we collaborate every day.

In education, we are especially aware of how important collaboration is. In the past, our collaboration was done with other teachers, with in-service programs at our schools, and with fellow teachers we met in person. Today, we have the opportunity for collaborating in a much broader way through the use of technology. We can reach all parts of the world via FlipGrids, Skype, and Twitter, as well as many other sites.

How do we put this vast access to knowledge to good use without becoming overwhelmed? We have many options, and one of them is through Microsoft Teams. A program called Reading Progress is already built into Microsoft Teams for free. That program has about 100 passages that cover K-12, with a focus on K-6 passages. Microsoft Teams recently collaborated with a non-profit called ReadWorks in order to provide 4600 passages to be available on the Reading Progress program. In fact, this new addition to the already existing Reading Progress program was rolled out globally just this month.

This program is used by over seventeen million students, over one million educators, and in more than ninety-four thousand schools. The reading passages have been written and approved by educators worldwide who collaborated to put this massive electronic reading passage library together.

The program also includes ways for the students to collaborate. With digital classes, students can be grouped according to ability and can annotate passages and share answers and comments when they are asked questions on assignments that the teacher decides can be shared amongst a group.

There is a great summary article that gives us the rundown of what to expect from this updated program within Microsoft Teams and provides links to the program as well. Check it out!

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