It was 2018 when we launched the
University's new learning and teaching strategy,
which was really around offering
an inspirational student learning experience
that enabled everyone, regardless of their backgrounds,
to maximize their potential.
Microsoft Surface has been at the
core of our technology strategy.
That, together with Windows 10 and Office 365,
we were building the ideal platform.
We spent quite a lot of time evaluating devices.
The Microsoft Surface device
stood out above them all.
We invested across all the academic community
and we have now got about
2,100 devices with academic staff
and 800 devices sit with
our professional services.
None of us would have realised how
mission critical this would all prove to be
until we started to see the
global impact of COVID-19.
So in the middle of March,
the University had to make a decision to move
all of its learning and
teaching activity online,
get all of its staff off campus,
and enable them to work remotely.
The final shift was actually
relatively straightforward,
so all of those 28,000 students
being supported by 3,000 staff
is all now working online,
and so it's been fantastic
to see that shift and
really transformational
for the organisation.
I was one of the first,
and I've just been able
to do classes from home
because I would have everything there
that I wanted that I would have at work.
I use OneNote quite a lot.
I do lesson plans
I share documents with the students.
I create a class notebook and they
will input their homework into that
and I can mark it with my Surface pen.
In meetings, I've been able to
write notes on the Surface Pro
rather than rely on paper.
And it is really, really useful.
Annotating our content is something that brings
a lot of value to the teaching experience.
Certainly in maths, for example,
it's the working of the equation,
not just the answer at
the end that's important.
It's far more interactive,
and the device is at the heart of
what that interaction now brings.
Microsoft's mission to empower every
person on the planet to achieve more
really chimes so nicely with ours.
We've got the broad demographic of people
from all sorts of different backgrounds,
it's really about helping
them realise their potential
where they may not have realised it before.
I feel incredibly proud.
We've created a whole new range
of opportunities for academic staff,
both the way they teach,
the way we work,
but also the quality of the learning
experience for our students
and how flexible and accessible that
learning experience has now become.