This is a great question and one that I'm frequently asked. I was talking to a friend recently who's doing a masters in landscape architecture so you can imagine the size, variety and importance of the files she's working with. Sadly, her university gives her only a tiny amount of storage space on the server - something like only 50mb. Also, the university warns that she shouldn't use USB drives "because they are unstable and you might lose them" What can she do?
OK, it's not launched yet but in principle this looks like could help her enormously. This is what the site says:
Password-protected online file storage. Always available where you need it.
When you sign in to Windows Live Folders, you're in charge
For more information take a look at http://folders.live.com/WelcomeMoreInfo.aspx
Helping your users get up to speed with Microsoft Word and the Office 2007 System
When you first open Word 2007, it looks very different to what you may have become used to, because it has been designed to make your life a whole lot easier.
So here's a training course, where you will learn the best ways to use the new Ribbon in Word, which highlights all of the most popular functions you need day-today. It will also introduce you to the Mini toolbar, which displays formatting commands within your documents, right where you want to use them. Plus you will learn the new Quick Styles; ready-made styles that give your document a professional makeover in no time at all.Review the Word 2007 demo, or get started straight away on the course
Other resources to help staff migrate to the Office 2007 system include:
I've been hearing all about Web 2.0 for quite a while now, and seen it increasingly used within education to reflect a change that's happening to the web and the way that users interact with it. No sooner have I become comfortable with that idea, then along comes the concept of "Mash Ups", which were pretty meaningless to me (as a non-programmer) until this...
The Popfly service, which is in beta at the moment, allows users to create Mash Ups without needing programming skills (a mash up allows you to pick up data from one website or service, and lay it onto a service on another. For example, to pick up a collection of photos from Flickr and display them on a world map to show where they were taken). It's far more difficult to write about than it is to show, so here's some links to get an understanding of it:
(There will be a short delay the first time the pages above load, while Silverlight downloads. All of this is using the new Silverlight technology, which is cross-platform browser plug-in to create rich, multimedia web applications)
None of the examples on the Popfly website are specifically based on education scenarios, but the potential to make really vibrant web pages using this technology is wide. How about linking some geo-specific data to Live Earth, and creating an interactive, visual map. The possibilities are there. If you want to post a link to your first Popfly mashup too, add it into the comments.
Whenever I hear about 'cluster computing' I think about high-tech, whizzy projects which are designed to address theoretical problems. Then today, I came across Genie, and thought again. I'd often seen the headlines about air travel's impact on climate change, but had never considered that somebody, somewhere must have done an awful lot of calculations before coming up with the answers. And reading this, told me more...
Genie is accelerating understanding of the Earth system by unifying the work of climate-change specialists from different fields of expertise. This encompasses studies of the oceans, the atmosphere, sea ice, marine sediments, marine biogeochemistry, land surfaces, vegetation, and soil and ice sheets. Each contributor to the Genie project uses Earth System Modelling (ESM) to create hypotheses and simulations of the effects of human activities and natural variations in the Earth system.
What's it all about?
Genie is a project created by the Natural Environment Research Council to consolidate the work of scientists and researchers operating in different areas of Earth system study. The people involved in Genie use applications based on Windows and Linux to conduct simulations. However, it is difficult for the scientists at Genie to share research. Each of the contributing scientists works on applications created for different operating systems. Some use Linux and Oracle to configure and manage the data from various simulations, while others use applications created in a Windows® operating environment. Not everyone involved in the Genie project is a technical expert, so performing calculations and carrying out complex modelling scenarios can be time-consuming and frustrating. To merge the cross-platform applications for conducting these simulations requires a great deal of contributors’ time and effort. With this in mind, the Genie technical team created a virtual framework that links all applications and data, regardless of the system used to create them. The solution — based on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and .NET technology — is making collaboration easier, improving research productivity and increasing insight and public awareness. Simon Cox is Professor of Computational Methods at the University of Southampton and Technical Director for Genie. He led a team of experts from the universities of Southampton and East Anglia to create a proof of concept for a high-performance framework linking HPC modelling systems—based on Windows® and Linux—from all universities contributing to the Genie project. The framework is based on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and uses Microsoft® .NET technology, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Presentation Foundation. The solution also includes a Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 database to manage data. The goal of the Genie project is to create a shared platform on which all scientists, researchers, and technologists can easily access the data and insight created by different institutions. Researchers can then apply this data to their own field of enquiry, creating fuller Earth system scenarios. Using the results of comprehensive modelling, scientists can deliver more accurate predictions on future environmental change.
Genie is a project created by the Natural Environment Research Council to consolidate the work of scientists and researchers operating in different areas of Earth system study. The people involved in Genie use applications based on Windows and Linux to conduct simulations.
However, it is difficult for the scientists at Genie to share research. Each of the contributing scientists works on applications created for different operating systems. Some use Linux and Oracle to configure and manage the data from various simulations, while others use applications created in a Windows® operating environment. Not everyone involved in the Genie project is a technical expert, so performing calculations and carrying out complex modelling scenarios can be time-consuming and frustrating.
To merge the cross-platform applications for conducting these simulations requires a great deal of contributors’ time and effort. With this in mind, the Genie technical team created a virtual framework that links all applications and data, regardless of the system used to create them. The solution — based on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and .NET technology — is making collaboration easier, improving research productivity and increasing insight and public awareness.
Simon Cox is Professor of Computational Methods at the University of Southampton and Technical Director for Genie. He led a team of experts from the universities of Southampton and East Anglia to create a proof of concept for a high-performance framework linking HPC modelling systems—based on Windows® and Linux—from all universities contributing to the Genie project. The framework is based on Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 and uses Microsoft® .NET technology, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Presentation Foundation. The solution also includes a Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 database to manage data.
The goal of the Genie project is to create a shared platform on which all scientists, researchers, and technologists can easily access the data and insight created by different institutions. Researchers can then apply this data to their own field of enquiry, creating fuller Earth system scenarios. Using the results of comprehensive modelling, scientists can deliver more accurate predictions on future environmental change.
There is a more detailed case study available, and for more info on Genie, go to http://www.genie.ac.uk/
Well, it got your attention didn't it! You may wonder about the link between the two, so I'll point you to the answer...
Jason Matusow is a Microsoft Senior Director of Corporate Standards and Interoperability, and often writes in his blog about the current debate on Open XML (by the way, have you expressed your opinion yet?). Which means that people often take the chance to throw the occasional derogatory comment in the direction of his writing. He's provided his readers with a more eloquent way to do this, by pointing them towards a "Shakespearean Insult Generator" (Instructions for Insulting Me).
How useful would that be the next time one of the IT Service users in your university reports a wireless network problem but fails to notice they've switched off the wireless with the little switch so many manufacturers are adding these days. How about "Your brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage" (As You Like It) or "Thou hath not so much brain as ear wax" (Troilus and Cressida)
Anyway, I digress (perhaps my brain is as dry as...). The debate over ratifying Open XML will continue over the summer, and if you want to express your support for extending a standard, then now's the time to contribute your opinion. Although ODF is already one standard agreed, there's place for more - and there are a number of holes when it comes to compatibility between ODF systems (ODF doesn't define a standard for formulae in spreadsheets, for example - which seems a bit too open if you ask me!)
The more observant reader will perhaps notice that I posted this once before on another blog but recent conversations with UCISA made me realise that there is still very little known about how SharePoint is being used in the UK's universities. Durham University's Business School, in my opinion,is probably the greatest example of how a university can exploit the full functionality of SharePoint (MOSS 2007 to be specific) to drive effectiveness for staff and students. What is also impressive is the fact that the deployment is totally aligned to an IT strategy that maps onto the overall school's strategy. Therefore, I believe that the Durham story should be shouted from the rooftops so I have no shame in posting this again. At least it's a different site this time.
It was a great pleasure to see this Office 2007deployment programme at Durham University, Business School produce such great evidence of both the way teaching and learning have changed and also students and academics expectations of communication in a distance learning context.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/business/launch2007/simplify.mspx Some of the video is still based on vision but they have made significant progress in delivering a new platform for distance based learning with the student at the centre and communication possibilities that are far superior to way they were prior to the programme. After speaking with those involved with the programme I'm certain that this is going to really benefit all students and academics and will make personlised learning a reality in Durham. Another possible aspect for them and others involved with Distance Based Learning to consider is Conference XP from Microsoft Research - this has now gone Gold with version 4.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/business/launch2007/simplify.mspx
Some of the video is still based on vision but they have made significant progress in delivering a new platform for distance based learning with the student at the centre and communication possibilities that are far superior to way they were prior to the programme.
After speaking with those involved with the programme I'm certain that this is going to really benefit all students and academics and will make personlised learning a reality in Durham.
Another possible aspect for them and others involved with Distance Based Learning to consider is Conference XP from Microsoft Research - this has now gone Gold with version 4.
Over the last few months, a PowerPoint presentation has been doing the rounds, which has a strong message for educational audiences. It works as an opener for conferences or events where the future of education and learning is under discussion, or where you want to provoke a discussion about learning.
If you'd like to know where I got my audio track that we used on the day, please drop me an email (ray.fleming@microsoft.com)
If you modify this version, and following the norm of the Creative Commons Licence, we’d all ask that you share it on the web too, so that others can benefit.
SharePoint Applications Showcase on 25th June, Microsoft Campus, Reading
Following the success of the March Event we are running a second SharePoint Applications Showcase. This event will be a great opportunity to see education specific applications and web parts from our partners, designed for SharePoint. Approximately 20 partners will be there on the day, showing examples of:
The event will focus on 'show' rather than 'tell' and representatives from each of the partners will be available to talk to you in more detail. In addition representatives from the UK Education team will be available for discussions as well as other attendees from likeminded organisations.
To register call us on 0870 166 6680 ref 1032338563 or register online
The Microsoft Mobility Briefing July 10th 2007
Microsoft Campus, Reading, RG6 1WG
In conjunction with several leading figures in the field of Mobile Learning, the Microsoft Education team would like to invite Educational professionals and IT professionals to explore the developments and potential of the Mobile Learning in light of exciting changes to both the technology and the broader Educational landscape.
10.00 – 10.25 Arrival, coffee & registration
10.25 – 10.30 Welcome, Introduction and agenda
An introduction to the briefing, and setting of the agenda for the day.
10.30 – 11.15 Keynote speech
Professor Angela McFarlane is one of the foremost contributors to the field of Mobile Learning. Professor McFarlane is the Professor of Education & Director of Learning Technology at the University of Bristol. Having worked for Becta and as a teacher, she brings a diverse range of experience that contributes to the strides she has made for ICT in Education.
11.15 – 12.00 The future of Mobile Learning
Jason Langridge is Microsoft’s Mobility Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Jason will be looking at how Mobile technologies have matched the challenge put forward by learning, and how future developments will go further, and bridge the shortfalls.
12.00 – 12.55 Lunch
12.55 – 13.00 Introduction to the breakout rooms
You can participate in one, two, or three of the below breakout sessions, or use the time for further networking. Each session will last for approximately 30 minutes.
13.00 – 14.30 Breakout rooms, session 1 (Each Breakout session last 30 minutes)
A) Jason Langridge, Microsoft. A dive into the technological developments Microsoft has made in Mobile technologies.
B) Paul Butler, SMIS. Paul is the Strategic Director at Sandwell’s Schools Management Information System unit, and will be discussing the recent PiE (PDA’s in Education) project.
C) James George, Samsung. James will be discussing Samsung’s strides in Education and discussing the much publicised ‘Q1’ devices.
D) Sheila Crew, Bristol LEA. Sheila Crew and Andy Menzies will be discussing their experiences of their PDA project at Bristol, spanning 160 teachers and 350 students – the results were included in a recent Becta report.
14.30 – 14.45 Coffee break
14.45 – 16.15 Breakout rooms, session 2 (Each Breakout session last 30 minutes)
E) Graham Brown-Martin, Handheld Learning. Graham’s vision at Handheld Learning is simple “Within the next 5 years every learner will have access to a mobile digital companion that may be used as a powerful learning tool.” Understand how Graham believes this is feasible.
F) Gerry Gray, Courtmoor School & Jo Verrier, Newline Learning. Two very different schools share their experiences of mobile learning. One at the beginning of the journey, the other ½ way to achieving 1 - 1 ratio of mobile device per student. These two practitioners share their experiences, and offer advice and guidance.
G) Dave Whyley, Wolverhampton LEA. Dave will be discussing the well-regarded Learning2Go partnership project in Wolverhampton. Understand what has been learnt from the largest collaborative mobile learning project for pupils in the UK.
H) Aidan Pryor, Steljes. One of the key partners of the Learning2Go partnership; understand the strategy for one of the leading organisations in the mobile learning arena.
16.15 – 16.30 Wrap-up, prize giving, and close of briefing.
Your opportunity for an open Q & A session, a wrap up to the day, prize-giving and close to the briefing.
Location:
Microsoft Campus, Thames Valley Park, Reading, RG6 1WG.
0870 60 10 100
To confirm your place, please email Lewis Isaacs: v-lewisi@microsoft.com
I've just learnt that we've scheduled some more of these free events - the Microsoft Management Summit - which are aimed at senior IT managers in the UK
Called "Are you in control? How to manage and secure your infrastructure", they are free single day events in Manchester, Glasgow and London.
It isn't specifically aimed at the education community, but it is a great opportunity to get access to some of the high level content which is delivered through the worldwide TechNet events.
Full event details:
"Do you have challenges managing your infrastructure, and would you like to understand our latest system management solutions? The popular TechNet MMS UK event “Are you in control?” provides a selection of the most valuable content from this year’s global Microsoft Management Summit event held in San Diego in March. This year, we will deliver a much wider range of essential technical content.There will be a keynote, followed by two parallel tracks of six sessions, enabling you to build your personal agenda. This seminar for technical staff will focus on System Centre management tools and Windows Server virtualisation."
Details and Registration details are
21 June 2007, Manchester: Microsoft TechNet Management Summit (UK) - Are You in Control? How to Manage and Secure Your Infrastructure22 June 2007, Glasgow: Microsoft TechNet Management Summit (UK) - Are You in Control? How to Manage and Secure Your Infrastructure10 July 2007, London: Microsoft TechNet Management Summit (UK) - Are You in Control? How to Manage and Secure Your Infrastructure