As an educator I could see myself using Microsoft Access to store student data such as names, addresses, phone numbers, parent information, test scores, homework, and even daily behavior. Unlike Excel I could set Queries to retrieve specific pieces of information such as a specific students homework turn in rate on Mondays, all the phone numbers for students with poor behavior for a week, and all students with low test scores for the last marking quarter. This allows for a much more efficient way to sift through data than with a simple spreadsheet in Excel.
Before today I had never used a database tool before and I wasn't sure what to expect. After using databases for the first time with Microsoft Access I can see how powerful of a tool they could be when put into use.