People are born learning. They never stop, when they have the tools and inspiration they need to pursue their interests, test their theories, and continue to feed their curiosity. What they accomplish then, can benefit the whole world.
That's why Microsoft is committed to supporting education through global programs like Partners in Learning. Inspired by teachers, innovators, and education leaders, Microsoft works to develop and share essential technology and resources to help advance the effectiveness of education. Three Levels of Support The needs are numerous. Microsoft initiatives try to meet as many as possible through a three-tiered commitment. Worldwide partnerships help support the broader innovative thinking that fuels education reform. A wide scope of enrichment resources makes it easier to gather and disseminate best practices among school leaders, teachers, and students. On a fundamental but critical level, we help bring all the essential tools to teachers, students, and schools that need them, from refurbished PCs and the software that runs on them, to the training that shows people how to use them. Taken all together, progress is being made. In many places around the world, and in every state across America, these initiatives are making a difference in local communities. Partnering to Support Education Government and education leaders know that an education system designed decades ago may not be enough to prepare today's students for tomorrow's challenges. Through worldwide partnerships, Microsoft supports their creative vision and the collaboration that's essential to helping them meet the changing needs of education.
With global programs like Partners in Learning, Microsoft is focusing its resources—people, alliances, services, innovation, and products—on the areas of greatest need in education. The program seeks to improve access to technology and training, and create a model where effective measures can be shared wholesale among education leaders.
"With Microsoft’s generous support, JMU plans to grow a vibrant and dynamic virtual community of professional educators for promoting educational excellence and preparing knowledgeable, skilled, and caring teachers who are devoted to helping all children succeed."
-Phil Wishon, Dean of James Madison University’s College of Education, 2005 recipient of Partners in Learning Grant
As a founding member of Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Microsoft lends its support to the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. Bringing together the thought and power of business and education leaders, the organization then applies these insights to education reform through technology.
Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) is a global initiative with a strong U.S. presence that's designed to expand technology access. UP support is given through grants, extensive donations of the most useful and current software applications, and the creation of the UP Community Learning curriculum, which provides the foundation for teaching technology skills in a hands-on manner. Creating Learning Communities Throughout the academic world, individuals and organizations have a lot to learn from each other. Microsoft works to provide a forum for sharing their insights, creating a network of resources that can help teachers become better teachers, students become better students, and school leaders develop more conducive learning environments.
The Microsoft Innovative Teachers program is dedicated to providing classroom teaching and professional resources that bring together a community of teachers as learners. The program creates a platform for sharing best practices, and provides technology access and training resources that engage teachers and invite them to become active stakeholders in their profession.
MSDN Academic Alliance offers a flexible subscription membership at a very low cost to help higher education tech labs maintain a current set of developer tools, servers, and platforms from Microsoft.
To help students attain and hone useful IT skills through school and on into their careers, the Microsoft IT Academy offers a global learning network that connects educators, students, and communities in a lifelong learning model of continuous improvement. Supplying Tools and Innovation At the basic level, schools, teachers, and students need the fundamental tools—the building blocks—that will help them to enter and advance within the 21st century education system. Much of Microsoft's efforts are focused on providing those tools—from the IT infrastructure designed to support the unique needs of a school, to the specialized applications that help teachers and students realize their potential.
Tutorials, lesson plans and how-to articles help teachers make the most of Microsoft software in the classroom.
Work Essentials for teachers provides practical guidance and inspiration for teachers on everything from developing an e-mail newsletter for parents, to configuring the classroom for optimal learning. Seeing the Future Today Whether it's access to a personal computer, the simple knowledge of how to use it, or the advanced vision of what it can do for education, Microsoft is committed to helping the future of learning reach more people today. We're starting to see what that future can look like:
The Philadelphia school district, in partnership with Microsoft, will open the doors on the School of the Future in September of 2006 for the first time. Take a virtual tour
The Anytime, Anywhere Learning initiative is bringing tomorrow's technology to education today, offering innovations that can help schools provide one-to-one access through mobile computing solutions.
You can see more on the impact of these Microsoft education initiatives by exploring the statistics, maps, and video interview at the top of the page.
Footnotes 1 Green, Jay, Ph.D., Winters, Marcus. Working Paper: Public High School Graduation
and College-Readiness Rates: 1991-2002. Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
February 8, 2005. 2 Spellings, Margaret. "Leaving No High School Student Behind."; Prepared
Remarks for Secretary Spellings at the National Association of Secondary School
Principles Annual Convention. February 25, 2005. 3 National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, No Dream Denied:
A Pledge to America's Children, The Teacher Retention Crisis, 2003. 4 The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Faster Growing Jobs 2000-2010,
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2001/dec/wk1/art02.htm (January 11, 2006). 5 Bain, A., & Ross, K. (2000). School reengineering and SAT-1 performance:
A case study. International Journal of Education Reform, 9(2), pp. 148-153. 6 National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, No Dream Denied:
A Pledge to America's Children, The Teacher Retention Crisis, 2003. 7 "Commonwealth of Virginia Will Expand Turnaround Specialist Program
with Microsoft Partners in Learning: Multimillion Microsoft Investment Offers
Ongoing Support and National Model,"
(http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2004/sep04/09-23VAPiLPR.mspx), 24
Sept. 2004. 8 Jennifer Fennell and Russell Schweiss, "Governor Bush Launches
Breakthrough "Sunshine
Connections" Online Teacher Tool: Bay County Teachers Among First in State
to Access New Web-based Environment," http://www.fldoe.org/news/2005/2005_08_19.asp,
19, Aug. 2005. 9 Partners in Learning, National Programs |
