Further Education: Features and Benefits

The Microsoft Learning Gateway offers a rich, collaborative environment for all education stakeholders. It is a flexible, extensible set of capabilities that can help build on your existing IT assets and work securely across boundaries — ready to support future growth.

Equipped with the right tools and IT infrastructure to deliver a reliable and accessible service, everyone involved in Further Education can benefit.

• Download the 'Microsoft Learning Gateway for Further Education brochure' as PDF file
• Download the 'Microsoft Learning Gateway for Further Education brochure' as XPS file

On This Page

• Benefits for Students - Find, Use, and Share Information
• Benefits for Staff
• Administrator Benefits - Streamline and Simplify Administration

Benefits for Students - Find, Use, and Share Information

With the Microsoft Learning Gateway, students are able to get straight down to learning. Using a secure password, they can simply log on to any computer in any location. This takes them straight to their personal home page. From this one location they can find, use and share information:

Find – Quickly connect people with the right information.
Use – Effectively apply information to student needs.
Share – Convert insights into institutional knowledge.

Each student’s files, assessments, and homework can be securely stored and accessed from their individual Microsoft Learning Gateway portal site. In addition, students can:

• Complete and submit assessments online.
• E-mail questions to staff.
• Collaborate with others using Instant Messaging (IM), team collaboration, and discussion forums.
• Share exhibitions of work and collaborate on projects across colleges and with other institutions around the world.

Benefits for Staff

The Microsoft Learning Gateway can be used to mark multiple choice tests automatically and help staff to assess students' progress. It provides easy-to-use communications features and shared documents that increase productivity, save time, and cut workloads.

Microsoft SharePoint Learning Kit is a free, simple and powerful extension that gives staff the flexibility to create an assignment out of any document in a SharePoint Document Library.

Teachers can use it to create and edit assignments and distribute them to students. They can store students’ work, reports, lesson plans, and course materials in a central location.

An individual faculty could be provided with one personalised location where everyone can access the applications, resources, and student information they need to work more effectively. Training time is reduced with one consistent interface for everything, giving staff more time for professional development.

Secure log on from anywhere helps people to continue working seamlessly with immediate access to all the applications and resources they need, even when travelling or on sabbatical.

Administrator Benefits - Streamline and Simplify Administration

Create an e-portfolio for each student: an e-portfolio provides a portable and interactive digital transcript of each student’s assignments and achievements, all recorded and stored in one place and accessible from any Internet connection.

Phased implementation: the Microsoft Learning Gateway framework can be implemented in stages, starting with the basic elements and adding modules over time. This means you can move towards the full solution at a pace you can manage and afford.

The modular architecture enables easy customisation and integration with existing applications and systems. This offers you the opportunity to save money by building on existing Microsoft server products.

Affordable: although the Microsoft Learning Gateway is a comprehensive and wide-ranging solution, it is still affordable. For example, School/Campus Agreement customers pay annually for their software, spreading the cost, and may find that some of the technology in the solution is already included in their licence.

One source: going to a single source for all your e-learning solutions makes business sense. You get the one-stop-shop service, support and market-leading advantage all rolled into one.

Simple IT and system management: the Microsoft Learning Gateway is an integrated framework that ties together different IT systems, simplifying system management.

Tailored to your unique needs: Microsoft Learning Gateway partners can help you design and implement a solution that meets your specific requirements, budget and plans.

• Find out more about Microsoft Learning Gateway Partners