Microsoft Education in New Zealand Part IV

I finally had time to ring Microsoft today and ask about the Microsoft Academic Alliance High School Membership program. I got a guy in Australia who answered my question. I can get everything that was mentioned in my previous post. I forgot to ask about Microsoft Expression though.

The cost of the license is $549.50 which covers the school for the next 7 years. Yeah I kinda jumped when he said that figure. Seven years I said, is that cost for each year. No, that is the cost to have the license for 7 years.

I now have to get this past my HOD and through to the principal. I think it is worth it. Plus it gets our school on the map.

Expression Web

Having a look around this morning on the net I came across a new curriculum that Microsoft has developed. It is based on there product Expression Web. As well as this is available through the Microsoft Academic Alliance, High School Edition

"Your Learning Guide to Expression Web" provides a convenient method to learn valuable Web development skills using Microsoft® Expression® Web. In this self-paced, 55-page tutorial, you will learn the basics of using Microsoft Expression Web and build a creative, dynamic Web site from scratch with the design tools that IT professionals use.

While creating a Web site about laptop computers using Expression Web, you will:
• Learn about ASP.NET
• Create page layouts with layers
• Incorporate images
• Format text with Style Sheets
• Use CSS with other elements
• Design and use Master Pages
• Create links
• Include an interactive calendar

You will be able to apply what you discover in this tutorial to create many styles of Web sites.

This tutorial can be used as a stand-alone resource or to accompany the "Expression Web Curriculum for Pre-collegiate Students" (listed below as a related item).
Copied from: https://www.academicresourcecenter.net/curriculum/pfv.aspx?ID=7209

The curriculum link are available here https://www.academicresourcecenter.net/curriculum/pfv.aspx?ID=7208

Details of the curriculum

The "Expression Web Curriculum" is a Microsoft teaching and learning tool for high school Web development students. The curriculum unit (with lesson plans) was designed and tested by high school teachers for high school teachers and students.

The NETS (National Education Technology Standards)-based activities guide students to answer an essential question, conduct research, and communicate their learning by building a Web site.

The curriculum unit can be customized to focus on technology integrated with a variety of curricular areas and is adaptable for collaborative team projects. About 10-15 hours of class time is needed to complete the activities. It requires the tutorial, "Your Learning Guide to Expression Web," which is available as a related item listed below.

Essential Question posed in the curriculum:
"What electronic device (e-cessory) has had the greatest impact upon your life or the life of your friends, family, or community?”

Learning Tasks:
Students will identify an “e-cessory” to research and create a Web site to communicate their learning. The content of the research will include identifying four events in history, inventions, or people that have led to the need for, and development of, their chosen “e-cessory.”

The tutorial will guide students in developing a fairly simple Web site about laptop computers. The tutorial topic serves as a model for the type of information students might want to research on an electronic accessory of their choice. After completion of the tutorial, students can either use it as a template to insert in the information they discover or create a Web site from the “ground up”, incorporating what they’ve learned and adding additional features they learn about from the other readily available resources from Microsoft.

Our major goal in developing this curriculum unit is to provide Web development teachers with lessons for teaching creative, state-of-the-art Web development.

Microsoft Education in New Zealand part IIII

The awaited email from msdn alliance network,

Hello Gerard,

This is in response to your email regarding the MSDN Academic Alliance for New Zealand schools.

Thank you for contacting the MSDN Academic Alliance program for North America. For prompt attention, please contact the MSDN Academic Alliance support center for the specific country where you reside. You may use the following link to determine the correct support contact: http://msdn.microsoft.com/academic/worldwide/default.aspx

For Latin America countries, please use the following information:

Argentina:
54 11 4317 2606
Fax 54 11 4317 2607
msdntn@teleperformance.com.ar

Brazil:
55 11 3328-3700
Fax: 11 3328 3701
msdnaa@microsoft.com.br

Netherlands Antilles:
001 800 872 2881+ 877 417 3460

In Latin America, if your country is not listed, call collect 661 702 2860, or email to msdnaala@microsoft.com

If there is anything else we can do for you, please let us know. Thank you for contacting Microsoft.

--------end of email-----

Umm yes, how about giving me the New Zealand contacts for one. Not the smartest cookie in the bunch are they.

Oh and when you click on the worldwide link in the mail, it takes you to a list of counties, one of which is not New Zealand. However Australia is there.

under the support contacts worldwide, I find an email address for Datacom in wellington. msdn@mss.co.nz, however there is no www.mss.co.nz

Microsoft Education in New Zealand part III

Yay, an email from msdn, however it is only an acknowledgment of receiving the email.

Thank you for emailing msdnaa@microsoft.com. We have received your message and will reply within 2 business days. Our hours of operation are 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM PT, Monday through Friday.

If your message is of an urgent nature, please feel free to call us at 1-866-643-9421 in the U.S. and Canada. Outside of the U.S. and Canada, please contact your Microsoft Region Service Center.

Regards,

Microsoft MSDN Academic Alliance

Microsoft Education in New Zealand part II

From MOE(ICT)

The Microsoft Academic Alliance High School Membership is not covered by the Microsoft Schools Agreement.

We do not hold any details on the Microsoft Academic Alliance High School Membership. You may want to contact Microsoft and ask them for details on this and also ask them if this available in New Zealand.

Microsoft
Ph: 0800 800 004

Still waiting on the other emails to come back from msdn and from innovative teachers network.

Microsoft Education in New Zealand

I have been to the Microsoft Education site in New Zealand http://www.microsoft.co.nz/education a lot in the past years I have been a teacher. I have looked for may varied and interesting ways to teach a multitude of topics ranging from webdesign, piracy, ethics, and operating systems. You would think the Microsoft site would be a good place to start. Well you are right, just not the New Zealand one.

I subscribe to a number of Computer Science teachers blogs from overseas and have found in the last couple of days good resources from them, and they are from Microsoft!

Number One: Digital Literacy
http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/citizenship/giving/programs/up/digitalliteracy/eng/Curriculum.mspx
The Digital Literacy Curriculum consists of five courses:

Computer Basics

The Internet and the World Wide Web

Productivity Programs

Computer Security and Privacy

Digital Lifestyles

Each course has an e-learning module and an assessment. You can also take the Certificate Test, which covers topics from all five courses. If you pass the Certificate Test, you can print out a personalized Digital Literacy Certificate.

This original version teaches generic ICT skills and concepts, and features screen shots and simulations from Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Microsoft Office 2003 to illustrate and provide hands-on examples for students. Version 2 of Digital Literacy uses screen shots and simulations from Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Number Two
Microsoft Academic Alliance High School Membership

The alliance that I'm referring to is the Microsoft Academic Alliance which allows any high school computer science department and computer science students to install Visual Studio. In addition, you get the following:

Three Microsoft e-Learning Library (MELL) collections:

• General Programming
• Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
• Programming in Visual Basic .NET

• Teaching Tools CD
• Student Tools CD
• Teaching Tools Manual
• Student Tools Manual
• Introductory Kit
• Monitored Newsgroups
• MSDN Library

• Documentation
• Technical Articles
• Code Samples

• Access to the Member's Area of the Web site
• Private MSDN Academic Alliance newsgroups
• Additional "Members Only" special offers
• 2 Professional Technical Support incidents

There are three ways for students to obtain the software for their personal use.

1. Member departments may make up to 50 copies of MSDN AA software for students to check-out from a library or lab. Students are required to return the physical media within a reasonable period of time.
2. Member departments may put the software on a secure server and have students download directly from the server. If a department desires to utilize both methods, that is perfectly acceptable.
3. Microsoft has partnered with e-academy to provide electronic software distribution for students and faculty free of charge.

Students must sign an agreement before they can download the software. The school administrator keeps track of the software and the agreements.

Number 3
Academic Resource Centre
http://www.academicresourcecenter.net/curriculum/facetmain.aspx
A number of programming resources are available here, as well as high education.
I have gathered some C# and visual basic resoures that I plan to use with the year 12 and 13 programming classes.
Example:
Code Rules: Introduction to Programming with Visual Basic - 12/19/2006
Code Rules introduces students to basic computer programming concepts. The simulation involves four students who travel the country in a Winnebago stopping at offbeat places to face coding challenges. This is a complete introduction to a programming course using Visual Basic 2005 Express.

This really annoys me, and I have made it known in a couple of emails, one to the msdn alliance, and the other to the innovative teachers Australia and New Zealand network. Why is none of this on the New Zealand Microsoft Education website, are we not important. No wonder that there is the call for Open Source. Ubuntu has just released training for students and instructors on how to use 7.10. Maybe there is the need to change. Just because Microsoft are stuffing us around.