March 2007 - Posts

• UK Microsoft Student Partner - do your students fit?

  Applications for the Microsoft Student Partners (MSP) programme 07/08 are now open. If you are a student passionate about technology, ready to share your knowledge and want to develop skills outside your field of study, we want to hear from you. You will need to download and complete the MSP application form at the top of the page. You must send the complete form to ukmspnom@microsoft.com. The closing date for applications is Friday 26 May 2007. We will then review all the submitted applications and select the brightest and most innovative student developers and technology enthusiasts from universities across the UK and Ireland. What is the MSP Programme? The Microsoft Student Partner Programme recognises top young minds from around the UK who are passionate about technology. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop real-world skills to help you succeed in your future career, to help others learn about the technology of today and tomorrow, and to connect with other like-minded students, all whilst having a ton of fun along the way. The programme is our way of encouraging students who are interested in building a closer relationship with Microsoft, and those who are simply hooked on technology, to develop their skills further. This year's programme will officially run from June 2007 to May 2007. What is an MSP? The Microsoft Student Partner programme consists of the brightest and most innovative student developers and technology enthusiasts from universities around the world. The ‘ideal candidate’ for an MSP would be a passionate and enthusiast individual who wants to learn about new tools and technologies. You would need to have a whole range of skills including excellent time management, organisation and communication skills to ensure that you could host a successful campus launch event. An MSP should be comfortable and confident presenting in front of large audiences of both students and faculty members. You may even be asked to present in front of your fellow MSPs at an event. General business and sales skills come in very handy in order to allow you to articulate your ideas effectively when presenting. MSPs are sociable, friendly and approachable individuals who like to meet new people. You will require the ability work as a team as well as use your own initiative. In summary, MSPs are innovative and creative students who are extremely passionate about technology. You can download the MSP application form and more information about the programme at http://www.microsoft.com/uk/academia/students/student-partners/default.mspx. Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:51 AM from UK Academic Team Blog | 0 Comments

• Imagine Cup UK Software Design Final - Come join us!

  Come join us at the UK Imagine Cup Final on Friday 30th March! We will be holding the UK Final of the Imagine Cup Software Design competition on Friday 30th March at Microsoft Offices in Reading, Berkshire. At the event we will be reviewing the finalists submissions and the winning team will be off to Korea in August to represent the country at the world finals!   But that's not all!  At the finals event you can review the finalists submissions, meet other academics, meet & chat to our sponsors on graduate oppotutnies, view technical demonstrations, learn more about the Imagine Cup, meet last years winners and much more.   We look forward to seeing you there....  Register for the UK Imagine Cup Final event today Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:03 AM from UK Academic Team Blog | 0 Comments

• XNA Game Studio Express Update Announcement

  Wow - never let it be said that we stand still. XNA Refresh The XNA team have lifted the lid on the first wave of updates for XNA. Due in April the update will add a big chunk of functionality to what's already a pretty sweet product... Full details are on the XNA Team Blog   Creators Club Online You can now access theCreators Club online community, where there's a whole slew of great content. Once gotcha - you have to associate your Xbox Live ID with a passport account. According to Dave W, this is a one time operation - so choose your names carefully!   Dream Build Play We tempted you with this at the UK Launch, and to coincide with the GDC, we've gone live!  This is your chance to make it big in the gaming world where you'll see your XNA game make it onto Xbox Live! Full details are available from the Dream Build Play website.     Andy Posted Friday, March 09, 2007 3:17 AM from UK Academic Team Blog | 0 Comments Filed under: Teaching Resources

• MultiPoint and the Imagine Cup

  Attention all Imagine Cup competitors! We're tying up our new MultiPoint technology with the Imagine Cup Software Design, Web Development, and Interface Design Challenges. In fact, we think that the concept is so valuable to the competition's theme of education, that we're going to be awarding an Microsoft Research Internship to the team that comes up with the most innovative use of MultiPoint. More information can be found on the Imagine Cup website, as can a link to the download. Finally, you can learn more about MultiPoint from our very own Channel9.   Andy Posted Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:56 PM from UK Academic Team Blog | 0 Comments Filed under: Imagine Cup

• UK Imagine Cup - Software Development Challenge

  "Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all"... And so many of you did! This year's UK thread of the Imagine Cup saw our best-ever clutch of inspirational software solutions and proposals aimed at inspiring and educating students of all ages. We all understand that this is a huge commitment and effort undertaken on top of your existing studies, and for going beyond, we're truely grateful. After due deliberation we're please to announce the winners of the UK Round 1. These teams have been invited to Microsoft's UK headquarters for the UK Final, to be held on 30th March - where they will need to survive both a quick-fire judging session and then a 30 minute presentation. Daunting stuff, but worth it - the winners of the UK final will be flown out to Korea for the worldwide finals in August - a fantastic prize, and huge opportunity for those hungry to make an impact in the technology world. Ahem. I digress. The UK Round 1 winners are... Team Roundtrack - University of Hull Team Communitosystems - University of Aberystwyth The Seedlings - University of Hull Team HertsOfCode - University of Hertfordshire Team Compu-U-Teach - University of Aberystwyth Team Error 404 File Not Found - University of Hull Team Irresponsible Pizza Eaters - University of Hull Team Learning Curve - University of Reading magNet - University of St Andrew’s Team Ice - University of Aberystwyth Team Bath - University of Bath Well done one and all - we'll see you on the 30th! Initial observations are that there are a handful of Universities that have taken the Imagine Cup and use it to enhance their curriculum - the institutional effect can be clearly seen in Aber and Hull - where it turns out that a number of first year students are amongst the teams above.  That said individual efforts are still strongly evident, and it's great to see a number of Universities entering the Imagine Cup for the first time.   Andy Posted Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:42 PM from UK Academic Team Blog | 0 Comments Filed under: Imagine Cup

• Parents Matter

  I frequently think about virtual learning environments, what they are, why they matter, what impact they may have on teaching, learning... and the administration of schools and universities.  There's a great deal of debate about their (as if there's a category of product called "VLE" to which we can all agree) utility given the effort and cost often required to implement and adopt. I recently had an opportunity to spend the day with some senior education leaders and policy makers from Europe.  One of the common threads they shared was an unyielding belief (one they intuitively knew but also had research to support) that PARENTS (and their aspirational involvement) are critical to the success of all students.  Their position wasn't so much centered on how VLE's may augment the formal or informal learning process... but on how we draw parents into the relationship, leverage their innate aspirations for their children and engage them in a productive, proactive and positive community. I'm encouraged by insight like the following from an Independent article published today: "Teachers use the gateway to plan lessons, contact parents and each other and mark school work from home. Pupils can upload their homework for marking and benefit from an e-portfolio of all their computer work, while parents can access their children's work, check on their attendance and behaviour and even look at pictures of school trips. Unless you invited parents in every week there's no way they'd have such a window into the life of the school..." Posted Thursday, March 01, 2007 3:36 PM from Mitch Benson | 0 Comments Filed under: education, en-us, mitchb, UK

• Parents Matter [Parents Matter]

  I frequently think about virtual learning environments, what they are, why they matter, what impact they may have on teaching, learning... and the administration of schools and universities.  There's a great deal of debate about their (as if there's a category of product called "VLE" to which we can all agree) utility given the effort and cost often required to implement and adopt. I recently had an opportunity to spend the day with some senior education leaders and policy makers from Europe.  One of the common threads they shared was an unyielding belief (one they intuitively knew but also had research to support) that PARENTS (and their aspirational involvement) are critical to the success of all students.  Their position wasn't so much centered on how VLE's may augment the formal or informal learning process... but on how we draw parents into the relationship, leverage their innate aspirations for their children and engage them in a productive, proactive and positive community. I'm encouraged by insight like the following from an Independent article published today: "Teachers use the gateway to plan lessons, contact parents and each other and mark school work from home. Pupils can upload their homework for marking and benefit from an e-portfolio of all their computer work, while parents can access their children's work, check on their attendance and behaviour and even look at pictures of school trips. Unless you invited parents in every week there's no way they'd have such a window into the life of the school..." in reply to Parents Matter Posted Thursday, March 01, 2007 3:36 PM from Mitch Benson | 0 Comments Filed under: education