Canadian Schools Develop Innovative Education Environments Using Microsoft-Based Technology
Microsoft Windows Server System and Microsoft Office System Receive Top Marks From School Boards Across Canada
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MISSISSAUGA, ON. — June 16, 2004 — Microsoft Canada Co. today announced four school districts in Canada have adopted Microsoft® Windows Server System™ integrated server software and Microsoft Office System to help deliver innovative learning and information tools. With the reliability and easy integration of Windows Server System and the communication and collaboration tools of Microsoft Office System, schools are establishing innovative Web-based learning environments and building learning partnerships between parents, teachers and students.
"Microsoft is committed to working with faculty and IT staff to help develop technology tools that deliver enriched learning environments for students," said Mike Parkhill, director academic sector, Microsoft Canada Co. "Microsoft server and desktop software deliver a more secure and reliable platform that allows school boards across Canada to augment traditional education practices ultimately allowing them to focus on the classroom experience instead of the delivery vehicle."
Building Learning Partnerships
In Ontario, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board selected Microsoft Windows Server 2003 to help it address network reliability and inefficiencies in network management.
Working with Centurion IT Systems and its sister company Promethean Systems, a Microsoft Gold Partner, the school board is first implementing Microsoft Active Directory® directory service. A central component of Windows-based platform, the Active Directory service provides the board with a way to easily and effectively manage user access and identities throughout its network. Windows Server 2003 is expected to be fully deployed across the board by September 2004.
"Windows Server 2003 has the reliability, scalability and performance requirements that will allow us to boost network management efficiencies," said Norm Cicci, information technology supervisor, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board. "With greater IT efficiencies, we can shift our focus and ensure we are delivering a positive e-learning environment for our students."
Weaving Technology Into The Curriculum
Northern Lights Public School, part of the York Region District School Board, selected Microsoft Office System and Tablet PCs running Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition operating system to create an innovative learning environment that allows teachers, students, and parents to collaborate in and out of the classroom.
Northern Lights' Grade 8 students have benefited greatly from the handwriting recognition capabilities of Microsoft OneNote™ 2003 note-taking program. In addition, the rich digital inking capabilities within Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition allows students to keep all class notes on the Tablet PC, helping them build organization skills and providing easy access to all needed class work. Teachers in the school are also using their Tablet PCs for classroom assessments of student performance, compiling marks, preparing lessons, and communicating with parents. The innovative system also helps the school extend the learning community to parents, allowing them to play a grater role in their children's education.
"With Microsoft Office System we have been able to create a collaborative environment within our school we can be proud of and look forward to introducing to other schools within our board," said Todd Wright, curriculum coordinator information technology, York Region District School Board. "The new technology tools help bring our education vision to life and allow our staff and students work and learn together, exchanging ideas and creating enthusiasm for knowledge."
E-Learning Moves to the Head of the Class
Another school board harnessing the power of the Windows Server System is the Edmonton Catholic School District (ECSD). The ECSD has developed a Web-based learning environment with the deployment of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Class Server 3.0. With the flexibility of Windows Server, teachers are delivering lessons and student progress on the web as well as giving parents the ability to access and monitor their child's progress. Parents have access to the same web environment as the students giving them a new opportunity to participate in their child's learning.
"With Class Server 3.0 and Windows Server 2003, we have been able to find reliable and integrated software that allows us to provide our students and staff with new tools for teaching and learning," said Karen Shipka, Technology Consultant, Edmonton Catholic School District. "We've also been able to create a learning environment where every student has a chance to succeed."
Realizing Potential with Technology
As a part of major technology upgrade, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board selected the Windows Server System as part of its new network infrastructure.
The Windows Server System provides system architecture improvements for higher server uptime, fault tolerant and redundant systems for increased availability, and online configuration and maintenance capabilities. Overall, the Windows Server System has created a more stable environment throughout the organization, cutting support costs and reducing the time required to solve technical issues.
"We feel our organization has worked collaboratively with its partners to realize the full potential of technology in the classroom," says John Steele, CIO, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. "With the introduction of our new technology infrastructure we believe we are on our way to reaching our goals.
About York Region District School Board
The York Region District School Board is one of Canada's largest and fastest growing public school boards with 163 elementary and secondary schools serving more than 100,000 students. School communities in York Region include suburban, small town and rural neighbourhoods and a wide array of racial, ethnic and cultural groups. In province-wide testing, York Region students rank among the top-achieving boards in Ontario. Our system plan is sharply focused on literacy for all students, through curriculum and student achievement, parent and community involvement, and effective schools. We believe that all students can learn and we are committed to ensuring that every one has the opportunity to experience success.
About Edmonton Catholic School District
Edmonton Catholic Schools is a community of children, teachers, parents and church. We live our faith throughout the entire school day and we teach our faith in all subjects. From our humble beginnings in 1888 with only 24 students, the Edmonton Catholic School District has become the fourth largest school jurisdiction in Alberta with close to 32,000 students in 83 schools being served by approximately 2,800 staff.
About Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board
Southwestern Ontario's Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board's 8,000 employees steward the education of approximately 87,000 students. The organization is experiencing significant growth in student body size annually among its 113 elementary schools and 21 secondary schools.
About Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server System is integrated and interoperable server software that helps reduce IT complexity to enable IT professionals to deliver innovative solutions that meet the changing needs of business. With Windows Server 2003 at the foundation, Windows Server System is engineered from the ground up for XML Web services based on Microsoft .NET connection software to connect information, people, systems and devices. Based on a common software architecture that spans all facets of IT from design, development and deployment through ongoing management and usage, Windows Server System provides comprehensive IT infrastructure for operations (security, systems management, networked storage), applications (data management and analysis, e-business) and information work (messaging, communications and collaboration). More information on Microsoft Windows Server System can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/
About Microsoft Canada
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. Microsoft Canada is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario with MSN.CA offices located in Toronto and eight regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Visit Microsoft Canada's Web site at www.microsoft.ca
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft, Active Directory, OneNote, Windows, and Windows Server System are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
