Originally posted on the Microsoft Press Blog.

Quick blog post to showcase some of our free ebooks. Covering topics from SQL Server 2012, Office 2010 and Windows Phone, there is something here for everyone. 

Many of our free ebooks are offered in three formats - PDF, Mobi (Kindle) and epub. Hope you find them useful!

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.

• Karl Fisch, of Arapahoe High School in the US, conceived and created the first version of this presentation for a staff development day. And published it on the web via his website. He released it and gave permission for others to modify it under a Creative Commons licence.
• Scott McLeod modified it, to make it more relevant to an audience in a wider context. And published it on the web with a Creative Commons licence
• After conversations with Karl & Scott, I modified Scott's version to include UK-relevant content (it was quite US-centric)
• And then Jeff Brenman, of Apollo Ideas, applied the creative design to Scott's version. And published it on the web via SlideShare where, incidentally, it won the competition for the "World's Best Slideshow"
• And finally, with Jeff's permission, I modified his with the UK context. And published it on the web 

(This Shift Happens download has become one of the most popular resources for people searching for the Shift Happens presentation, and especiall the Shift Happens UK Version)

There are two versions available here:

• For an easy to use version, then download the movie which includes the soundtrack - then you can embed it into your PowerPoint presentations or play it directly in Windows Media Player etc
• Alternatively, you can download the PowerPoint presentation, which can be modified as you wish.

Right Click and "Save Target As..." to download either file

• Movie (Windows Media File):  Shift Happens UK version (27MB)
• PowerPoint File: Shift Happens UK version (25MB)
  The PowerPoint version is best shown with a sound track (lasting 6 mins, 3 seconds). 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.

Update: Since the original version created by Karl Fisch, it is likely that over 2,000,000 people have seen variations of his presentation, including this one. Karl has posted a very detailed reflection on the content on his blog, which analyses the sources and his original intentions for publishing. Some of the sections/slides he refers to aren't in this UK version, but there is very interesting comment from him worth reading if you are interested in looking into the presentation more deeply.

Guest post from Gerald Haigh. Gerald writes regularly for the Microsoft Education series of blogs.

Mid July is frantically busy for primary schools, and I guess the last thing heads and teachers want is somebody like me strolling in to drink their tea and gaze around asking questions. So I was more than grateful for the warm welcome I had at Northwood Park , a two form entry primary in Wolverhampton, just before the end of term. My mission there was to ask them about their work with the LP+ learning platform from Learning Possibilities, and particularly the upgrade from LP+ to the SharePoint 2010 based LP+4.

We reported the formal launch of LP+4 at Microsoft HQ in Reading in November last year, by which time we’d already reported early experience with the Beta version in two Northamptonshire Schools.

Now, LP+4 passes a very significant milestone as it rolls out in Wolverhampton where all 80 of the Authority’s primary schools, and a growing number of secondary and special schools, are already using LP+.

So, before I went to Northwood Park Primary, I reported in at the offices of Wolverhampton’s Learning Technologies Team, where I was brought up to speed by Headteacher Consultant, Dave Whyley, and eLearning Consultant, Gavin Hawkins. They explained to me how, starting from their deep understanding of how classrooms work, they have built a collaborative network in which each school’s LP+ platform is linked to the authority’s SharePoint based ‘Engage’ gateway https://www.wolverhampton-engage.net .

The presence of ‘Engage’ in every school is symbolic as well as practical. As Gavin Hawkins says, `It’s important to us that officers of the authority should be using the same technology as the people in school.’

In fact, as I found at Northwood Park, the school’s own LP+4 platform is so well integrated with that of the local authority that teachers simply call the whole thing ‘Engage’.

That led me to suggest to Dave Whyley that having developed ‘Engage’, the team might have gone on to offer schools a locally developed SharePoint platform – ‘Engage for schools’, maybe.

That, however, as Dave pointed out, would saddle the Authority with a whole lot of unwanted baggage around upgrades, data security, e safety and the rest. So the chosen solution, in 2008, was to go with LP+.

‘Learning Possibilities is a medium-sized, agile, business that could respond to our needs,’ says Dave Whyley, ‘And the presence of Stephen Heppell as Chairman weighed heavily with us.’

It says a lot for schools’ relationships with their Authority and with the Learning Technologies Team in particular, that once the decision was made to go with LP+, each of the 80 primaries spent their own money on the platform and bought into a service agreement for support. The result is that there’s a high degree of integration between schools and between schools and the authority. So, in a very real sense, the Learning Technologies Team has effectively created an authority-wide learning platform, with a host of advantages for training, support and collaboration.

‘For example, we do have a lot of teacher and pupil mobility in Wolverhampton, and LP+ makes it easy for someone to move from one school to another, taking their work and planning with them,’ says Dave Whyley.

Dave and Gavin showed me some of the individual school platforms, and it was possible to see how important will be Web 2.0 features in LP+4 – wikis, blogs and discussions, all accessible from each individual class site.

The idea of blogging is attracting a lot of attention among teachers at the moment, as they see the value of giving their children the opportunity to engage and interact with a wide audience. LP+4 really scores here by providing, a secure and easy-to-use environment without the need to use a separate blogging platform. (There’s a fuller exploration of blogging with LP+4 on the Microsoft Schools Blog)

To illustrate the points he’d made, Dave took me to Northwood Park where I met Stephanie Butler, eLearning co-ordinator and leader of Foundation Stage and Key Stage One. She showed me how well her six year olds grasp the opportunity use the tools on their class site to share their ideas.

‘Class sites’, which provide each class with a secure environment for blogs and discussions are clearly going to a big hit for LP+4. Well led school classes are close, warm and supportive communities where children learn about sharing, appreciating individuality and listening to each other. Extending this into online version of the class that continues beyond school is bound to be a winner. The use of photographs, too, easily uploaded, and displayed as thumbnails in a gallery on the class site is a further bonus that Stephanie’s children are already appreciating.

‘Discussions are the big thing on our class site,’ says Stephanie Butler. ‘We started a discussion on the Titanic at Easter and it’s still going. And recently, after the children saw a rehearsal of the school production, some were already writing up comments before school next day. They love the photographs, too, and the opportunity to use them in their work.‘

As we talked and looked at Stephanie’s class site, we were joined by music co-ordinator and Year Six teacher Dan Jessel, who’s been working on using Wikis for homework tasks.

‘It’s great for getting children to use the platform at home. I can give instructions, links to websites and Powerpoints. Children are supportive to each other, too, keen to see each other’s work. It can be marked online, too.’

At Northwood Park, the real push into those SharePoint 2010 features with LP+4 is going to start across the school in September, after the staff are fully up to speed.

Engaging teachers with a learning platform has, at times, been an uphill task in schools. Head teacher Gill Morris explains that the key at Northwood Park when they started with LP+ was to use it for all communication. The write-on whiteboard in the staffroom -- the standard information centre in many schools -- was taken down, and a system where children went round with messages was discontinued. Now, teachers have to log on to the learning platform morning and afternoon to find out what’s happening.

That said, Gill confesses to a faux pas of her own, when she didn’t at first realise that her daily ‘Heads Message’ was readable by the children as well as the staff. So, she recalls, children’s expectations were raised when they read a cheerful message from her (partly intended to encourage teachers to log on) to the effect that chocolates were available in the staffroom.

Northwood Park –‘Good with Outstanding Features’ in Ofsted terms, is very focussed on ICT for learning. At the same time there’s a strong commitment to creativity -- it was heartening to encounter Gill Morris carrying a violin, hotfoot from rehearsal – and there’s no doubt that there’s a real desire to use LP+4 to motivate their lively children, releasing their ideas and abilities.

I left Wolverhampton with the realisation that I’d had a glimpse of just how effective technology can be when it’s picked up and applied by people with real understanding of its potential. What we have here in Wolverhampton is Microsoft SharePoint 2010 given educational focus and context by Learning Possibilities, then guided into action by a highly responsive and innovative Learning Technologies team. From there it’s picked up and applied in the classroom by creative heads and teachers like Gill and Stephanie and Dan. And the final essential link is provided by the children who, as always, are going to find ways of using the technology that nobody has thought of.

The Northwood Park story will be repeated across all 80 Wolverhampton Primaries, and there are strong signs that a significant number of the authority’s 26 secondaries will eventually join the four which already us LP+.

All this means that in the heart of the UK there already exists a critical and growing mass of school SharePoint 2010 users. The success of LP+4 is a prime example of how Microsoft’s partners, in the words of Strategic Partner Lead Mark Stewart, ‘…make what we do relevant’.

It's been quite a while since I posted up the UK Shift Happens presentation,and UK Shift Happens download. For some reason, whilst checking the pages this evening, the server seems to be having a problem with the page. So, to ensure that everybody can still get it, here it is all over again:

Shift Happens is a brilliant PowerPoint presentation, 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.

This version is the UK version of Shift Happens, modified from Karl Fisch's American original to reflect both a UK context, and designed specifically for an audience of people involved in the UK education system.

• Karl Fisch, of Arapahoe High School in the US, conceived and created the first version of this presentation for a staff development day. And published it on the web via his website. He released it and gave permission for others to modify it under a Creative Commons licence.
• Scott McLeod modified it, to make it more relevant to an audience in a wider context. And published it on the web with a Creative Commons licence
• After conversations with Karl & Scott, I modified Scott's version to include UK-relevant content (it was quite US-centric)
• And then Jeff Brenman, of Apollo Ideas, applied the creative design to Scott's version. And published it on the web via SlideShare where, incidentally, it won the competition for the "World's Best Slideshow"
• And finally, with Jeff's permission, I modified his with the UK context. And published it on the web 
  This Shift Happens download has become one of the most popular resources for people searching for the Shift Happens presentation, and especiall the Shift Happens UK Version

There are two versions available here:

• For an easy to use version, then download the movie which includes the soundtrack - then you can embed it into your PowerPoint presentations or play it directly in Windows Media Player etc
• Alternatively, you can download the PowerPoint presentation, which can be modified as you wish.

Right Click and "Save Target As..." to download either file

• Movie (Windows Media File):  Shift Happens UK version (27MB)
• PowerPoint File: Shift Happens UK version (25MB)
  The PowerPoint version is best shown with a sound track (lasting 6 mins, 3 seconds). 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.

Update: Since the original version created by Karl Fisch, over 4,000,000 people have seen his presentation on YouTube alone! Karl has posted a very detailed reflection on the content on his blog, which analyses the sources and his original intentions for publishing. Some of the sections/slides he refers to aren't in this UK version, but there is very interesting comment from him worth reading if you are interested in looking into the presentation more deeply.

When the Home Access Programme was first announced by Becta, in January 2010, there were six suppliers on the scheme, where parents could spend their grant cards. And Becta have recently announced an additional four suppliers. Which means that your parents have ten different suppliers they can turn to.

However, it’s unlikely that a parent who doesn’t have a computer is going to want to shop around ten different websites or call ten call centres, or visit ten shops, in order to decide which computer is best. Especially as many of the suppliers focus on gigabytes and gigahertz, rather than talking in language that first-time computer buyers will understand.

I’ve spent some time trawling through the different Home Access suppliers’ websites, and come up with my recommendation of the best Home Access Suppliers. Although there are ten suppliers, each offering between one and four base models, there are only seven different computers – although some offer a different software specification, or purchasable options.

What makes the Home Access Suppliers different?

Before I give you my recommendations, let me explain some of the reasons I’ve chosen them, which are important to parents choosing a first home computer for their children, to support their school work. I’ve given a great big green tick to specific suppliers for the following reasons:

• See it in store, and take it away: Only Comet offer this, but I think they’ve hit the nail on the head. Walk into a store, look at your new computer, and then take it home straight away. Although some other suppliers have high-street partners where you can see one of their computers, you still have to order and wait for it to be delivered. So I’ve given Comet a bonus mark for having made the right decision. And I’ve also unilaterally given XMA half a bonus point, because you can see their devices in T-Mobile stores nationally, even if you can’t take it with you.
• Windows: Although they all come with Windows, I’ve noticed that some suppliers are offering computers with Windows XP still. I don’t think that’s a good idea for a brand new computer, so I’ve put them lower down the list.
• Microsoft Office: Of course I’m going to believe that it’s right to have a copy of Microsoft Office on the computer. It’s what students use in the classroom, and it’s what their parents will use in the workplace. And it is what they’ll need for homework.
  And more importantly, if it’s the same computer, at the same price, and one supplier includes a copy of Microsoft Office, and the other doesn’t – which one would you choose?
• Home Learning Package: We’ve put together a suite of additional applications, and even programming tools, for students. Some suppliers are pre-installing it free. So that’s a good thing. Why wouldn’t your parents want more free software?
• Microsoft Security Essentials: All of the Home Access computers include anti-virus protection. But if they’ve chosen the Security Essentials, then it means that the parents won’t ever have to fork out for an anti-virus subscription in the future. Whereas some of the others will cost money in 3 years time.

The Home Access computer choices

• Laptops: Across ten suppliers, there are just 4 models of laptop – Acer Extensa 5235, Toshiba L450, Samsung R519 or Lenovo G530.
• Netbooks: There’s only one netbook on offer, offered by nine of the ten suppliers, which is the Samsung N130. But four of the suppliers only supply it with Windows XP, whereas the rest supply it with Windows 7 – at the same price. So if you’re going to choose a netbook, make sure you get a Windows 7 one!
• Desktops: There are just two desktops on offer currently – a Zoostorm tower, and an MSI AP1900 All-In-One. Personally, I think a laptop is a better choice, as families have more choice about where to put/use it, and students can also use it at school in the future.

So based on everything above, here’s my recommended Home Access suppliers list

1. Comet – because you can go into one of their 200 stores, take your computer away with you, and they’ve put all of the things above on it – Windows 7, Microsoft Office etc etc. They’re the only supplier offering the Acer laptop too (although that’s the only one they offer).
   

   
   
2. XMA – all of their models include Windows 7 and Office, Microsoft Security Essentials and the Home Learning Package. And you can go to a T-Mobile shop to see it in the high street (but unfortunately, have to then wait for delivery). The good news is that you’ve got a choice of 2 Samsungs and a Toshiba (and they do put Windows 7 on the Samsung netbook).
   
3. NS Optimum, Misco  and DA Computers – They have all the right software on their computers, including Windows 7, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Security Essentials and the Home Learning Package. And they all offer a desktop option too. Unfortunately NS Optimum & Misco are phone/web only, but DA do have a couple of stores in Leicester and Rugby.

   
   
4. Stone Computers – all of their models include Microsoft Office, and the bigger laptops include Windows 7 too. One small snag is that their Samsung N130 netbook has Windows XP, so I’m rating them a little lower

   
   

5. Although it may seem unfair lumping everybody else together, these are the suppliers who have Windows XP on some computers, and don’t include Microsoft Office within the grant-value computer. Or all the other free software mentioned above. These are Centerprise, BLi, Micro-P and Positive IT.
   

Note that this is done by trawling through suppliers’ Home Access websites - I’ll try and keep it up to date as I see/hear of changes. It’s probably not foolproof or completely error-free, but the only way to not make a mistake would be to not write this blog post!

Quickly find all the other Home Access Programme posts on this blog

In Thursday’s blog post on Windows 7 release dates, I asked if you’d had a chance to run the Beta or Release Candidate version on one of your older machines yet – and I received a welcome deluge of emails from people who had.

It would take me ages to give you all of the scientific details of configurations, so instead I’ve gone for a ready reckoner table of the responses.

Thanks to the EduGeek community too, as they have continued to provide more examples of kit they’ve tried it on. The emerging view is that whilst it will install on 512MB RAM, it is slower than XP on older kit, but when you move to 1GB RAM it’s faster.
You can read more on the EduGeek Windows 7 forum

I haven’t yet received a single email from somebody who has failed to get Windows 7 running on one of their computers, which I think is probably even more significant than the detail in the list below! (See the bottom for my own inglorious failure!)

So, for your delight and delectation…

Fabulous successes

Also, take a look at the Windows Club forum, where somebody has Windows 7 running on an old P2 processor (266MHz) and 96MB RAM - which is definitely NOT in my list of "recommended things to do". And PC World are reporting "Windows 7 hits a new low" - the 'new low' is lower specification hardware.

Glorious failures…

As you probably know, Microsoft sells our software through partners - just like consumer goods manufacturers, or people who make cars, we appoint a range of partners to supply our various products to our customers, including education.

However, there are different types of partner - and knowing about the differences will help you to get the best deal when you are buying academic licences. Let me explain a bit more in a minute, but first I'll explain what our different licences are...

Now, because this is me writing this, without a lawyer over my shoulder, then you can take this as a general guide, but to check anything specific you'll need to consult an official source - start with the Licensing information on the UK Education website, or talk to your Microsoft partner. And all of this info is specifically written with schools in the UK in mind - if you're not from a UK School, you'll definitely need to check with your usual Microsoft partner.

The Windows licence supplied with a new computer

When you buy a new computer there is a standard licence for Windows, which is provided to you by the computer manufacturer.

Every PC you buy should have a Windows licence provided with it (you can easily check to see, by looking for the Certificate of Authenticity (we call it a COA) stuck to the case. You'll need to have this licence to buy Academic upgrades for your Windows, for example to add a Windows Vista Business upgrade, or to move to a higher version (eg from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows Vista Enterprise Edition). The reason that I've included the last bit, is that it is normally more cost effective to buy a Windows Home Basic/Premium licence with your new PC, and then upgrade to Windows Vista Business or Enterprise through the Select licence scheme (below).

Types of licence - for your other Microsoft software

Step One: For use in an education establishment, always buy an Academic licence.
This is sold at a significantly lower cost than normal commercial licences - normally saving you about 80%. I'm 99% certain you already buy Academic licences, especially if you're buying a few at a time. But it is worth checking if you're not sure.

Step Two: Decide whether you want to buy perpetual or subscription licences.
'Perpetual' licences are exactly what they say - you buy them, and keep the licence forever. You are only licensed for the version you have bought. So if you buy a licence for Office 2003, you can't run Office 2007 without buying another licence.
'Subscription' licences are where you pay to use the software for an agreed amount of time, usually a year. Of course, this costs less up-front, but more over a number of years (but does come with the automatic right to upgrade to newer versions).

Perpetual Licence types
For schools there are two main types - Select and Open licences.

Select Licence
This is normally the best deal of these two types, but there's a catch to be aware of (wouldn't you know it!). Select licences are designed for customers who normally buy lots of software - typically people with 250 PCs or more. In the rest of the world this isn't much of a problem, because local or central governments buy in bulk, on behalf of schools. But here in the UK, each school has complete choice - so you mostly buy individually. Secondary schools are normally large enough to buy Select licences, and most do. But for primary schools, it is normally difficult to reach the minimum purchasing quantities, so what you should do is identify whether you are able to join up into somebody else's Select agreement. For example, if your local authority education team have one (what's called a Master Select Agreement), which you can then buy through. This could save you quite a bit of money. There are other organisations that have these master agreements, like the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), so if you're a member, you can buy through their agreement.

Open Licence
This scheme is normally more expensive than Select, but is handy if you want to just buy a single bit of software quickly, with a copy of the disks etc, and you don't have a Select agreement already in place. For example, if one member of staff needs a copy of Microsoft Project to help plan the new Sports Hall, and you need it now...

Subscription Licence Types
Or more accurately, subscription licence type - because for schools, the subscription is called School Agreement. This is a one year or three year option, where you decide which software you want (maybe a licence to upgrade all of your computers to Windows Vista Enterprise Edition, plus Office 2007 and licences to access a Windows Server and SharePoint server). You then count up all of your computers, and pay a fixed fee for them each year of the agreement. If you increase the number of your computers every year, you pay for those extra ones too. One of the best things about this is that you automatically have the right to upgrade yourself to the latest version - so schools that currently have an Agreement can start using Office 2007 from day one, without having to pay more. But bear in mind, that at the end of the agreement, you either have to continue with a new one, or stop using the software - because you've only paid for the right to use it for a set period of time, not forever. (If neither of these options sound appealing, you could also opt for "buy out" licences - where you convert from a licence for a set period of time to a perpetual licence. The info on that is here)

Phew, we've got this far. Let me summarise:

• You need a Windows licence with your new PC, which is normally provided by the manufacturer. Consider Select licence upgrades to get from basic versions to the advanced versions of Windows.
• For all of your other Microsoft software, your best option is to buy a Select licence or a School Agreement licence.

The "Partner" bit

There are two main types of partner that can sell you Academic licences.

• Education Large Account Resellers (or EdLARs)
  Stop. Just before you think "I'm not a large account" and skip this bit, read on!
  These partners are our largest education partners, and they can sell you any of our Academic licence types. We call them "Large Account Resellers" because they are our largest resellers, not because you have to be "large account" to buy from them. So even the smallest primary school should get a quote from them!
  
• Authorised Education Resellers (or AERs)
  These tend to be partners that are either much smaller, or where education customers are just a small part of a bigger business. They can only provide some of the Academic licences I've mentioned above. So you can get a School Agreement or Open Licence from them, you can't get a Select Licence (which is the lower priced of the two perpetual licences).
  
  I can hear you thinking "So, if AERs can't always sell me the lowest cost licence, why would I buy from them?". Good question.
  Well, back to the example of a small primary school - you may prefer to deal with a bigger company, because you think that's how you get the best value; or you may prefer to deal with a local company, just around the corner, because you think that's how you get the best service. So if you wanted a couple of computers, with the software installed for you, and an agreement that they'll pop around and fix any problems, you could got to a local company, who is a Microsoft AER, and will supply you with Academic licences under the Open scheme. It might cost a little more, but you may be willing to pay for that to get a local supplier. It's your choice.
  You should always check that you get the licence paperwork - for example, the original software CD and the licence key - when you buy an Open Licence, and especially if the software has already been installed for you. If you don't get this, you'll have no proof that you own the licence for the software you are running on those computers.

Okay, let me summarise again:

• I'd recommend that you always consider buying your Microsoft software from an Education Large Account Reseller, because they can offer you all the possible licence types, including the Select licence option, and therefore can offer the most cost effective one for your circumstances.

Finding the right partner

The UK Education website contains the lists of partners.

EdLARs all work nationally, so there's a page with all of their contact details (at the time of writing, there's 20 to choose from)

AERs tend to work more locally, so you can search in your local area by county or town, or by company name

Licensing can be complex, but it is worth spending a little time to understand a little more - you could save your school money.

Let me ask you a question now - Did this article help you at all? Did it make licensing easier to understand? If I hadn't written this, would you have noticed? Please add a comment to the blog or email me, and let's talk about it... 

Remember what I said at the beginning - because this is me writing this, without a lawyer over my shoulder, then you can take this as a general guide, but to check anything specific you'll need to consult an official source - start with the Licensing information on the UK Education website, or talk to your Microsoft partner. And all of this info is specifically written with schools in the UK in mind - if you're not from a UK School, you'll definitely need to check with your usual Microsoft partner.

My colleague, Paul Foster, works in the part of our business that talks to developers - both the commercial variety and student developers. One of the things they are constantly trying to do is to find new ways to engage students with the idea that programming is cool and valuable (remember the days when every boy seemed to be writing programmes for his ZX Spectrum or BBC Microcomputer?). Well, today's learners are a little bit more difficult to engage, and certainly have higher expectations, so to meet those Paul is involved with a range of things to do with robotics.

My Christmas present for you today is that the Microsoft Robotics Studio software is available as a free download for UK Education.

I asked Paul to tell me a bit more...

"Robotics provides a compelling activity for pupils of all ages. Today more than ever robotics is accessible to the teacher and student. Modern robot kits like Lego’s Mindstorm NXT, already used throughout schools and in the First Lego League challenge, enable pupils to experience firsthand the elements of KS2/KS3 control curriculum. The First Lego League uses robotics as the motivator to learn more. Each September a new worldwide Challenge is announced relating Robotics to real world issues.

Participating schools in the UK have from September to the end of November to prepare for one of the Regional Tournaments taking place around the UK. Teams will programme a robot to fulfil tasks relating to the challenge using LEGO Mindstorms technology, and prepare a research presentation on the subject for the year. The subject for 2007 is the Power Puzzle.

Teams of up to 10 children from 9–16 years will work in out- of- school clubs or within the curriculum on all aspects of the Challenge. They will have to take a cross curricular approach using Programming and Control, Design and Technology, Maths, Web Research, Powerpoint, Strategic Thinking and Teamwork to achieve their aims. Sometimes their fellow students will video the team or write about their work to turn their preparation into a news item for dissemination within the school.

More details of the First Lego League can be found on the Microsoft sponsored UK organisers site: http://firsthandtechnology.org.uk with more on the global activities http://www.firstlegoleague.org

Microsoft’s involvement in the world of robotics doesn’t stop there. In December 2006, we released our Robotics Studio, a development platform providing a single uniform programming solution covering many of the typical robot hardware – from Lego NXT to research robots like the Pioneer 3DX. It also includes a simulation environment incorporating real physics using the AGEIA PhysX Engine, enabling robot development without the need for expensive hardware.

A robot can be programmed in the simulation environment exactly as it would in the real world – but allowing for safer testing or classroom projects where only a few real robots are available amongst many pupils. Microsoft Robotics Studio is free for non-commercial use and provides support for a visual programming language as well as traditional programming languages such as C#. (Microsoft Visual C# Express is required to run Microsoft Robotics Studio and it is also free to use). Microsoft Robotics Studio is available from http://microsoft.com/robotics.

And finally, in next month's PC Plus, there's a special Robot Supplement with an introduction to the world of Microsoft Robotics Studio and robotics in general.

The supplement provides 6 simple construction projects using real electronic modules cheaply available from UK suppliers as well as articles and interviews on the world of robotic research and development. Plenty of material for the inquiring mind. Presenting a useful first step into robotics for technology teaching staff.

Another way for you to help teachers in your school – and it’s another free download.

AutoCollage is a picture editing tool with a big difference – it works out what to do with your pictures, so that you don’t have to. You point it towards a folder of pictures, and it analyses the contents, using a range of intelligent features, including face detection and saliency filters and uses this to identify interesting parts of pictures. It then uses that analysis to blend your photos and combine them into an AutoCollage. Phew, saves all that “which photos should I use?” angst.

Unusually, the product came directly out of the Microsoft Research Labs in Cambridge, rather than through our usual product release routes, which is why you can not only read about the product, but also the research being done into face detection, object selection and image blending. The AutoCollage team have also made a video showing it in action.

The UK Partners in Learning team have been working with MS Research for the past several months to persuade them to let teachers get AutoCollage free (normally you can download a free 30-day trial version, but then it costs £18).

Obviously their persuasive powers have worked and it is available through the UK Innovative Teachers Network. So anyone wishing to use AutoCollage for educational purposes can go to the UK ITN, register for a free username and password, and download their free copy of AutoCollage directly from the site. The UK ITN is currently the only location in the world with this offer.

The “educational purposes” bit means that you can also let students have copies to pull together all of their field-trip photos too.

Kodu for PC is a (free) visual programming language which was launched earlier this year. In the past it’s been available for Xbox, but now there’s a PC version, and it gives you another way of developing programming skills in your students. And as it uses games as the core, it helps to keep your students focused for longer. (More on Kodu for PC here)

Stuart Ridout, who’s head of ICT at Stantonbury Campus School recorded a tutorial on it, and popped it up onto YouTube. Although you can plug an Xbox controller into your PC, his tutorial is recorded just using the keyboard and mouse, so anybody can do it once they’ve downloaded Kodu. And all in under 8 minutes from blank screen to a simple game.

Stuart Ridout’s Kodu tutorial

If you can’t see the video above, then use this link

Once you’ve seen it, you may also be interested in his next two videos – as he started to re-create something like PacMan, in 3D, in Kodu – see Part One and Part Two.

And for further inspiration from Stuart, take a look at his “Visualising revision help” poster – an absolutely brilliant idea and something I’d like to see on my fridge at home when the GCSE years arrive in the Fleming household.