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November 2007 - Posts
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I have just received a sizeable quantity of these handy brochures which are packed full of good ideas to help students be more productive. This includes: - Effective use of Windows Siedebar and Gadgets
- Searching for documents in Windows Vista
- Tabbed browsing in Internet Explorer
- Delivering a dynamic PowerPoint Presentation
- Using OneNote for Researching - one of my personal favourites!
- Using WIndows Live (bringing your online world together)
- Using Track Changes
- Creating a bibliography (in just 3 clicks)
- Inserting a table of contents
- The Imagine Cup
and - Student and Graduate Opportunities at Microsoft
We think that all students should know these tips so that they can spend less time focussed on the presentation of their work and more time actually doing it. If you are a UK Academic and would like some for your colleagues and students, for free of course, then please let me know. Claire 
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With lots of coursework and other pressures it is understandable that some students may be daunted by the amount of work required to enter the Imagine Cup. The format for the Software Design Challenge has changed this year so that round one is about the idea not code and we have produced a sample entry to show what this might look like. However we understand that at the back of their minds, the students will be wondering about the quantity of work required in the subsequent rounds. Find out more here. And just in case your students haven't registered yet, you might want to show them these pictures of students who have already seen the benefit this year by receiving on of the XBox 360 Elites. The next draw will take place next week so have them sign up now to be in with a chance to join Tien and Stephen in the 'lucky student' gallery.  
Claire Technorati Tags: Imagine Cup
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February 28 - March 3, 2008 Aboard the Celebrity Century Cruise Ship 
GDCSE ‘08 – the Third Annual Microsoft Academic Days Conference on Game Development in Computer Science Education – is a focal point for academic efforts using computer and console games within the Computer Science curriculum. Jointly sponsored by Microsoft Research and Electronic Arts and held in cooperation with ACM SIGCSE, the conference is targeted at both computer science educators and researchers, promoting new efforts in the creation and management of courses and curriculum using game development. The conference, now in its third year, will be held aboard the Celebrity Century cruise ship, departing from and returning to Miami, FL with port calls in Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. GDCSE ‘08 will include talks by invited speakers, presentation of peer-reviewed papers, hands-on tutorials and birds-of-a-feather meetings focusing on a range of topics related to the use of games in computer science education. We invite researchers and educators to share insights and cutting-edge results relating to the use of games and game technologies in both formal and informal educational contexts. Learn more here (includes links to all of last year's materials) Register for your place here Claire 
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The Software Design Initiative of the Imagine Cup is always one of the most popular categories in the UK. To help you get to grips with what is required, Ed and Ben have created a sample entry. Please make your students aware of this, it could make all the difference to them by helping shape their ideas and their confidence. Claire Technorati Tags: Imagine Cup
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With 17 dates behind them and another 37 yet to come, Ed and Ben are having a great impact on the students that they present to as part of the Inspiration Tour. We love to get feedback, both good and bad but our favourite so far is: The talk you gave today was absolutely awesome, as were the demos. Loved every minute of it from the front row. You even had me crying when you were talking about the opportunities - everything I dreamed about. Thanks to both of you. All dates are now booked but if your university has missed out then please get in touch and we will see if we can fit you into an additional slot. Claire 
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Based in Reading and London, our placements last 48 weeks, beginning with a week-long induction designed to introduce the student to all the different areas of the business and identify objectives for their professional development. Subsequent learning will take the form of on-the-job training within thier team, bespoke skills training and one-to-one performance reviews. Most importantly, they'll do real work and have real opportunities to make a genuine impact on our business and their future. The benefits of a Microsoft Student Placement don’t merely apply to their future career, however. There’s also some pretty hefty advantages to getting involved with Microsoft from day one, including a £14,500 a year salary, £500 sign on bonus, 25 days’ holiday per year, and – should you wish to return to Microsoft on the MACH programme – a fast-track to the last stage of the assessment process. Please encourage your students to apply by returning a completed application form available here to sturec@microsoft.com quoting placement08. They might even end up working in our team and take over from Ben Coley from De Montfort and Muhammad Walji from Brunel 
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The MSDN Academic Alliance (MSDN AA) Program was first introduced to address the needs of the academic community focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The MSDN AA Program has now grown to include a family of membership offerings aimed at a broader set of Academic Departments:
Developer Academic Alliance – Developer AA membership, formerly referred to as MSDN AA, is designed to address the needs of academic departments teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Designer Academic Alliance – Designer AA is a membership designed around the Microsoft Expression suite intended to meet the needs of academic departments teaching Visualization, Illustration, Design, and Art (VIDA) disciplines. Don't forget to tell your 'designer' colleagues!
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Regular readers of this blog will already know about the Academic Resource Centre. This is a repository of articles and resources contributed to by academics and researchers from around the world. Last month the top ten downloaded articles were: New articles posted to the site were: New resources posted to the site were: 
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Ed Dunhill is on the case again and today blogged about the XNA v2 beta which is now ready to download. His post gives all the detail you need to get started and you will be pleased to read that it is free and no uninstalling of v1 is required.
Let us know what you think!
Claire
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Ed Dunhill, Academic Developer Evangelist, answers just this question in his blog and links you to the XNA team blog too. There is still massive interest in XNA v1 and so we have produced some more of the popular 'Getting started with XNA' DVDs. If you are a UK Academic then please let me know if you would like some and how many (max 50). Claire 
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Technorati Tags: Imagine Cup, StudentsThe Imagine cup registrations are flooding in and the competition is definitely hotting up. If you need anymore compelling reasons to prompt your students into registering (apart from the chance to win an Xbox 360 Elite) I thought I would share with you the prizes that are on offer which could really make a difference to their live's and give them a great start into their chosen career. Competition | Prize | | Software Design | 2 weeks in Seattle working alongside the Popfly team. A great work experience opportunity to see how Microsoft builds software that the winners can use when they apply for jobs and go into industry | | Game Development | 2 weeks work experience at a Microsoft Games Studio in the UK | | Embedded Development | 2 weeks work experience at a Microsoft embedded partner | | IT Challenge | A Tranquil PC Windows Home Server | | Project Hoshimi | 2 weeks work experience at a Microsoft Games Studio in the UK | | Algorithm | A top specced desktop PC with Visual Studio 2008 | | Interface Design | A top specced desktop PC with Expression Studio | | Short Film | An HD video camera with tripod and accessories | | Photography | A Digital SLR camera, tripod, extra lens and accessories | As you can see some of the prizes could really make a difference to your students future,so what are you waiting for go to the Imagine Cup Website and find out how you can get involved. Kate 
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 As more and more students are registering for the Imagine Cup I have noticed that many are not giving us factual names and addresses. We understand a person's reluctance to provide such personal info but there is a very good reason why we need it - last year we had trouble issuing several prizes because we did not know who and where to send them and the students involved thought that our 'You have won a prize' emails were spam. Our privacy policy states that we will only use the personal information provided in relation to this event so please make sure that your students let us know who they are. This can be done by signing in and selecting My Profile.
Technorati Tags: Imagine Cup, Students
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Hi everyone, 
We held our events at Gamecity Nottingham last week and were delighted by the enthusiasm of everyone who attended. The afternoon saw the academics eating popcorn while hearing about: Delegates also received an Imagine Cup brochure and an XNA CD. We are having more of each made so if you are a UK academic and would like some, let me know (full name, job title and university postal address please) 
In the evening we all decamped to Bluu and were joined by hundreds of students for a games party like no other. The video of the party can be found on Channel 10 soon. Thanks to the Xbox team for the equipment, Rare for the Games and Gamers, the Frag Dolls for being great fun and everyone else who helped and played. The next step is to have all those students and many others enter the Game Development category of the Imagine Cup. If you need info about this then please get in touch. Claire 
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