Category: Microsoft news

Microsoft news, features, events, and press materials

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Microsoft Genomics releases new cloud solution for managing scientific workflows

a group of people looking at a laptopa group of people looking at a laptop

Microsoft continues to work alongside researchers and industry partners to bring cloud-based genomics analytics tools and solutions to the market. These solutions are critical in deciphering the code embedded in our individual and collective genetic blueprint. A better understanding of the genetic code will be important for improving diagnosis, developing new precision therapeutics, tailoring treatments, and optimizing therapies in ways so we deliver better healthcare and positively impact human lives.

A turnkey solution to genomics analysis

Microsoft Genomics is a highly scalable cloud-based service to perform secondary analysis of the human genome and generates durable genetic variant datasets in hours, versus days. More importantly, the service is ISO-certified and compliant with HIPAA regulations, a critical requirement for the integration of genomics in clinical pipelines. Organizations such as the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Seattle Children’s Hospital have been using the Microsoft Genomics service to build high-quality clinical genomic data sets for pediatric diseases.

Microsoft alongside its partner DNAnexus continues to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in enabling pediatric cancer research with the continued global adoption of the St. Jude Cloud, a platform to aggregate high-quality clinical genomic data for pediatric diseases.  St. Jude Cloud now hosts 10,000 whole genomes from pediatric cancer and other childhood catastrophic diseases. Since the launch of St. Jude Cloud in the spring of 2018, more than 50,000 users from across the world have accessed the site, including more than 1,000 registered users from 49 institutions in 15 countries. This research effort is already having an impact on helping children with the rarest of rare diseases.

The Integrative Brain Research Institute of Seattle Children’s Hospital is working with Microsoft and Veritas Genetics in building the first cloud-based genetic and phenotypic database focused on infant mortality and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This database will allow researchers to harness the power of Microsoft Genomics and AI services on Azure to analyze how genetic variation contributes to infant mortality. You can learn more about this collaborative effort here.

Cromwell and WDLs flowing on Azure

Today I’m excited to announce the release of an open-source project on GitHub from Microsoft Genomics: Cromwell on Azure. Cromwell is a workflow management system geared toward scientific workflows, originally developed by the Broad Institute. Cromwell on Azure uses the GA4GH Task Execution Service (TES) backend and orchestrates the dynamic provisioning of computing resources via Azure Batch. With Cromwell on Azure, researchers can now take advantage of the hyperscale compute capabilities of Azure to execute their genomics pipelines. This open-source project is fully backed by the Microsoft Genomics engineering team, and we are actively driving the development of this code base and enabling new analytic pipelines. We also know that this project will only get better with the feedback and contributions from the community and customers such as Answer ALS. Answer ALS is a multi-institution organization focused on advancing research and stopping Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) using a multi-disciplinary approach. The Answer ALS research teams will be using Cromwell on Azure for their multi-omics analysis platform to analyze the genome, epigenome, RNA, proteins and cellular metabolism of healthy people and ALS patients. 

Genomics sample-2-answer showcase at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting

Microsoft Genomics team will be at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2019 Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas from Oct. 15-19 alongside the world’s leading genomics researchers sharing advances in genomic analysis technologies. We will be featuring EPAM and Tag.Bio, two of the partners who are leveraging the power, performance, scalability, and security of Azure to innovate and scale their solutions and services. The EPAM Cloud Pipeline is an open-source, web-based cloud environment for building and running the scripts and workflows used for genomics analysis and modeling, and can be easily customized with your tools and pipelines. The Tag.Bio platform empowers doctors and scientists to perform complex, robust, reproducible data analyses in seconds – with proven, best-practices techniques in data science, machine learning, and AI delivered via user-friendly apps. Both EPAM and Tag.bio can be easily customized with your tools and integrated with the Microsoft Genomics service.

Stop by our booth (#1421) at American Society of Human Genetics 2019 annual meeting (ASHG 2019) to learn more about how Microsoft and its partners are making genomic analysis easier and more accessible on Azure.

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Microsoft Garage project Sketch Pal helps you sketch your best work

It’s that time of year again! And no, we’re not talking about the leaves changing color, pumpkin picking, or deciding on the best pop culture reference to inspire your Halloween costume (The Scoops Ahoy crew from Stranger Things, obviously) for those of us residing in the Pacific Northwest. We’re talking about Inktober, the annual artist community challenge to create a new sketch a day in the month of October. We’re excited to announce a modern tool that will help digital inking enthusiasts everywhere sketch their best work. Sketch Pal, a Microsoft Garage project, is a UWP app that enables artists and designers to sketch in new, seamless ways with the Surface Pen. The project is available for download in the Microsoft Store worldwide.

Showcasing inking on Windows 10 and Surface

Sketch Pal team photoArcadio Garcia Salvadores, the creator of Sketch Pal, first began working on the project at the 2018 Hackathon. By day, Arcadio is a Software Engineer on the Windows 10 team, was originally inspired to make a unique experience that highlighted Windows Ink. Arcadio insists that he isn’t an artist, but you would never know it as he sketches Ninja Cat, unofficial mascot of Windows, for me; with Sketch Pal, he uses a reference mode to sketch Ninja Cat astride a dragon using a reference picture underneath his creation, cleaning up lines, and adding sophisticated colors swiftly like a pro.

Mike Pell, Lead Designer at the Microsoft Garage also loves the tool. “From our first discussions about Sketch Pal, it was a fascinating showcase of the advanced features of digital inking that people don’t usually see or even know exists.” Powered by Windows Ink and designed for the Surface Pen, Sketch Pal offers unique features that optimize a digital sketching and drawing experience while leveraging the strengths of the Surface hardware. The project provides a modern inking experience, combining classic features like layers and custom brushes with new tools like coloring assist, stroke cleanup tools, and a reference mode.

Key Features

Sketch Pal includes a number of modern inking features to open up a world of opportunities with sketching.

  • Advanced inking features Brush creation, layers, line clean-up with joining, trimming and straightening strokes, and faster coloring with vector boundary detection, bring new capabilities to your drawing
  • Reference Mode Add a reference picture alongside or underneath to help with your sketch
  • Cross-device connection Use a second device as a remote palette, continue drawing on anther device or tool, and export .psd files
  • Powered by Windows Ink Built on top of the fast and fluid Windows Ink experience for must-have features like low latency and crisp vector ink rendering
  • Designed for Surface Pen Sketch and draw naturally as you would with pen and paper with pressure sensitivity, tilt recognition, and Surface Dial support

By the way, today’s Inktober Challenge? Patterns. Download Sketch Pal today and give it your best shot. We’ll be retweeting our favorite Sketch Pal sketches tagged with #Inktober and @MSFTGarage all month.

Try it out

Sketch Pal is available for download in the Microsoft Store worldwide. Share your feedback on our new Garage Communities page. We’re looking forward to seeing your sketches on Twitter!

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Smiles beam and walls blush: Architecture meets AI at Microsoft

Architecture meets AI

For more than three weeks this summer in building 99, Sabin, Roseway and their teams of researchers, designers and engineers connected nodes and rods into the exoskeleton, stretched the fabric into place, strung LEDs, mounted stage lights and hung the tensegrity cone.

Meanwhile, McDuff’s sensors began collecting data in public spaces throughout the building – the atrium, office kitchens and common areas.

Each sensor is the size of a hide-a-key box and consists of a web camera and microphone wired to a black box the size of a cable modem that sends data over Wi-Fi to a secure Azure database.

“If I am complaining about something and I’m angry and everything is going wrong, then it will hopefully detect that as negative, and if I am happy and it is sunny outside and positive, then it will detect that,” explained McDuff.

Horvitz, the director of Microsoft’s research organization, noted his teams have already been exploring the value of harnessing AI technologies as part of building operations. For example, in 2012, his AI team developed and integrated into building 99 a system that employs machine learning and sensing to proactively order elevators based on observations of the patterns of people moving through the building. The system remains a part of daily life in the building.

Separately, Schneider Electric, a global company working to digitally transform energy management in homes, buildings and industry, is working with Microsoft researchers to test whether AI could help reduce the carbon footprint of HVAC systems that are used to heat and cool large buildings.

Beyond applications of real-time sensing and action, AI is also starting to play a more fundamental role in design and engineering including methods that are helping architects explore out-of-the-box design possibilities under the real-world constraints of shape, strength and utility, noted Horvitz.

“One can imagine other uses,” he added. “Like, how might environments in the future shift to make themselves be more conducive to collaboration based on the participants, and their goals and needs?”

Ada’s algorithms are designed to convert any source of data into color and light. For example, the researchers imagine the smart canvas could also be used to visualize music, building vibrations, the number of people in a given space and other yet-to-be imagined scenarios.

“Anybody in here,” Roseway said with an arm gesture sweeping across building 99, “can plug a mod in and get the piece to respond.”

For now, McDuff’s sensing platform controls Ada’s responsive light network. His final sensor is attached to the base of the tensegrity cone, allowing people within the pavilion to drive Ada. Standing there, looking around in awe, smiles come easy. The goal is for Ada to respond in kind.

Related:

John Roach writes about Microsoft research and innovation. Follow him on Twitter.

Top image: Ada, designed and built by Microsoft artist in residence Jenny Sabin, fills an airy nook in building 99 on Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, campus. The installation translates data into color and light. Photo by John Brecher for Microsoft.

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5 times Hollywood has taken on AI

Artificial intelligence is a staple of many movie plots – and those thrilling stories often revolve around the potential dangers of AI, rather than the good it can do.

Since popular culture plays a part in shaping attitudes about technology, it’s not surprising that questions surrounding AI are informed by what we see in the movies.

People are asking whether we are creating a future that we’ll be able to control, and whether computers will remain accountable to people. This, too, has been the stuff of science fiction in popular films. Here are five times Hollywood has taken on AI.

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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

HAL 9000 is a super-intelligent computer in charge of the operations of Discovery One, a spaceship undertaking a journey to Jupiter. Hal, as he’s known, has a personality and a human-sounding voice. However, he experiences a severe malfunction and stops listening to the humans he’s assisting in order defend the mission’s programmed directives.

Blade Runner (1982)

YouTube Video

Replicants – humanoid robots that are almost indistinguishable from people – are used for dangerous jobs in this movie. They have a short lifespan, and some have started to rebel in a bid to live longer – no matter what. Blade Runner culminates in a standoff, where the leader of a band of rogue replicants delivers an impassioned monologue on the meaning of life.

Ghost in the Shell (1995 & 2017)

The French philosopher René Descartes believed the human mind was separate from the body – like a ghost in a shell. In this story, people can upgrade their bodies with cybernetic implants. Imagine a smart hearing aid or a prosthetic limb that’s integrated with the nervous system.

But when a scientist embeds an upgraded mind in the form of AI implanted into another person’s body, a conflict emerges. Memories of an unknown life begin to trouble the cyborg. Which internal monologue is the real one?

I, Robot (2004)

It is 2035 and robots are common, acting as servants to people. These robots are guided by the three laws of robotics:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

Those three laws of robotics were drawn up by Isaac Asimov, who wrote Robot series of short stories and novels in the middle of the 20th century. The first in the series – “I, Robot” – was the inspiration for the movie.

The movie considers what happens when a robot is suspected of committing murder, and what it means when a robot claims to have its own thoughts and dreams.

Ex Machina (2014)

YouTube Video

This is another movie where robots can be hard to differentiate from humans and have developed their own sense of self.

A computer programmer, Caleb Smith, spends time with a sociopathic robot creator, Nathan, and a robot, Ava. Nathan wants Caleb to help conduct a live Turing test – he wants to know if Caleb can be fooled by Ava.

Caleb and Ava form an emotional attachment. Not only does she resemble a human in form, but in her speech and mannerisms, too. After convincing himself that Nathan is a malevolent presence, Caleb plots to help Ava escape.

While all these movies are set as fiction, the questions they raise are real. We should be asking hard questions about the technology we create. Can we control it? Who will it impact and how?  And perhaps instead of asking what technology can do, asking what technology should do. For example, AI can benefit the world in many ways including enhancing efficiency in the workplace, assisting in saving languages, preserving history and helping save the environment.

When it comes to AI, the benefits are real, but so are the risks. Tech companies have a responsibility to ensure products are developed responsibly, employ transparency and be guided by a principled approach. However, governments and civil society have an important role to play as well. It’s critical that we all work together to ask the hard questions and develop the right answers.

The New York Times Best Seller “Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age” by Brad Smith and Carol Ann Browne looks at the impact of AI, the rise of cyberattacks, threats to digital privacy and more. Order it here.

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When you don’t install patches, cybersecurity attacks win. Here’s how we and you can turn the tide

In the wake of the devastating (Not)Petya attack, Microsoft set out to understand why some customers weren’t applying cybersecurity hygiene, such as security patches, which would have helped mitigate this threat. We were particularly concerned with why patches hadn’t been applied, as they had been available for months and had already been used in the WannaCrypt worm—which clearly established a ”real and present danger.”

We learned a lot from this journey, including how important it is to build clearer industry guidance and standards on enterprise patch management. To help make it easier for organizations to plan, implement, and improve an enterprise patch management strategy, Microsoft is partnering with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE).

NIST and Microsoft are extending an invitation for you to join this effort if you’re a:

  • Vendor—Any vendor who has technology offerings to help with patch management (scan, report, deploy, measure risk, etc.).
  • Organization or individual—All those who have tips and lessons learned from a successful enterprise management program (or lessons learned from failures, challenges, or any other situations).

If you have pertinent learnings that you can share, please reach out to cyberhygiene@nist.gov.

During this journey, we also worked closely with additional partners and learned from their experience in this space, including the:

  • Center for Internet Security (CIS)
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity
  • Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) (formerly US-CERT / DHS NCCIC)

A key part of this learning journey was to sit down and listen directly to our customer’s challenges. Microsoft visited a significant number of customers in person (several of which I personally joined) to share what we learned—which became part of the jointly endorsed mitigation roadmap—and to have some really frank and open discussions to learn why organizations really aren’t applying security patches.

While the discussions mostly went in expected directions, we were surprised at how many challenges organizations had on processes and standards, including:

  • “What sort of testing should we actually be doing for patch testing?”
  • “How fast should I be patching my systems?”

This articulated need for good reference processes was further validated by observing that a common practice for “testing” a patch before a deployment often consisted solely of asking whether anyone else had any issues with the patch in an online forum.

This realization guided the discussions with our partners towards creating an initiative in the NIST NCCoE in collaboration with other industry vendors. This project—kicking off soon—will build common enterprise patch management reference architectures and processes, have relevant vendors build and validate implementation instructions in the NCCoE lab, and share the results in the NIST Special Publication 1800 practice guide for all to benefit.

Applying patches is a critical part of protecting your system, and we learned that while it isn’t as easy as security departments think, it isn’t as hard as IT organizations think.

In many ways, patching is a social responsibility because of how much society has come to depend on technology systems that businesses and other organizations provide. This situation is exacerbated today as almost all organizations undergo digital transformations, placing even more social responsibility on technology.

Ultimately, we want to make it easier for everyone to do the right thing and are issuing this call to action. If you’re a vendor that can help or if you have relevant learnings that may help other organizations, please reach out to cyberhygiene@nist.gov. Now!

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Next #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet explores life in space – liftoff at 10 a.m. PT Oct. 15

Announcing the October 15 TweetMeet

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of humans continuously living aboard the International Space Station (ISS). In celebration, the Microsoft Hacking STEM team (@Hacking_STEM) has partnered with NASA’s STEM on Station team @NASASTEM to design eight exciting STEM lesson plans targeted at middle and high school students. Each activity in the NASA collection focuses on the challenges that astronauts face while living in space. For example, students learn what it means to experience microgravity and to detect radiation.

For instructional videos covering each lesson and background information on important NASA milestones, read the blog post “Closing the distance between the International Space Station and the Classroom,” by Microsoft Education Workshop senior director Karon Weber (@KaronWeber).

All eight lesson plans are now available for free on the Microsoft Educator Center website.

The partnership between Microsoft Education and NASA was announced at the ISTE 2019 EdTech conference.

Watch the live interview by Jeff Bradbury from @TeacherCast with Matthew E. Wallace from NASA’s STEM on Station team and Karon Weber from Microsoft in which they announce the partnership:

Video for Life in Space—STEM and NASA #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet on October 15

TweetMeet on STEM and NASA starting at 10 a.m. PDT

Whether you’re a total space geek or a newcomer to the crossover between STEM and space education, our TweetMeet has something for you.

Hosted by 12 educators who are extremely passionate and highly specialized in the topic, this Twitter conversation invites you to share and learn from the best ideas, tips and resources. Our hosts will provide you with ideas on how you can bring space into your classrooms while keeping your students inspired and engaged.

With all this in mind, we welcome you to a 75-minute TweetMeet on Tuesday, October 15 at 10 a.m. PDT.

Welcoming TweetMeet newcomers

Our brand-new “You can join a #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet” video was created especially for newcomers, so please share it with friends and colleagues who might be interested in joining:

Video for Life in Space—STEM and NASA #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet on October 15

Know someone who is totally new to Twitter and could use an introduction? Point them to the Twitter EDU tutorial ebook by David Truss @datruss.

TweetMeet Fan? Show it off on your Twitter profile!

Show your passion for this month’s STEM- and NASA-themed TweetMeet by uploading this month’s #MSFTEduChat Twitter Header Photo as a banner on your own Twitter profile.

Twitter Header Photos are available in many languages and time zones.

Create your own TweetMeet Friend Card

Another way to share your enthusiasm for STEM, NASA, space education and the TweetMeets in general is to create a TweetMeet Friend Card. Share your own version of this image anytime, anywhere. It will come in handy when introducing yourself at the start of a TweetMeet. Just follow the steps in the TweetMeet Friend Cards PowerPoint.

Here’s an example:

Looking back on the September TweetMeet on Minecraft in Education

We captured highlights for this TweetMeet in a new @MicrosoftEDU Twitter Moment. There’s even a comprehensive collection of 1,200 tweets in this Wakelet Collection.

Did you miss the post-TweetMeet Live Event about the latest Back-to-School update for MinecraftEdu? A recording of the presentation by Meenoo Rami is now available to watch at your convenience.

Why join the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets?

TweetMeets are monthly recurring Twitter conversations about themes relevant to educators, facilitated by Microsoft Education. The purpose of these events is to help professionals in education learn from each other and inspire their students while they are preparing for their future. The TweetMeets also nurture personal-learning networks among educators from across the globe.

Check out this helpful blog post by former host James Kieft that describes why educators should consider participating in Twitter chats and how to get started.

When and how can I join?

Join us Tuesday, October 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. PDT on Twitter using the hashtags  #STEM, #HackingSTEM, #SpaceEd, #NASA, #MSFTEduChat and #MicrosoftEDU (which you can always use to stay in touch with us). Be sure to double-check your own local event time. You can find the event time for 215 countries with this time zone announcer.

Our next recommendation for you is to set up a Twitter dashboard TweetDeck and add columns for these same hashtags. If you are new to TweetDeck, then check out this brief TweetDeck tutorial by Marjolein Hoekstra.

When a tweet appears that you want to respond to, press the retweet button and type your comments.

Additional tips are offered in this animated GIF that you’re most welcome to share with newcomers:

#MSFTEduChat TweetMeet Tips! | 1) Quote-Retweet the question with your answer, 2) Start retweet with A1, A2 .. A5, 3) Use hashtag #MSFTEduChat in all your tweets, 4) Monitor tweets in TweetDeck

#MSFTEduChat TweetMeet Tips! | 1) Quote-Retweet the question with your answer, 2) Start retweet with A1, A2 .. A5, 3) Use hashtag #MSFTEduChat in all your tweets, 4) Monitor tweets in TweetDeck

Too busy to join at event time? No problem!

From our monthly surveys we know that you may be in class at event time, busy doing other things or may even be asleep—well, no problem! All educators are welcome to join any time after the event. Simply look at the questions below and respond to these at a day and time that suit you best.

You can also schedule your tweets in advance. In such cases, be sure to include the entire question in your tweet and include the hashtag #MSFTEduChat so that everyone knows to which question in which conversation you are responding.

To better allow everyone to prepare for the event, from now on we’re providing the question timings in a text table:

PDT # #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet question timings
10:00am Welcome Please introduce yourself. Use #MSFTEduChat.
10:04 1 Why does space education matter and how does it inspire students?
10:18 2 How can we bring space into our classrooms?
10:32 3 What problem-solving opportunities does space education offer? Share stories.
10:46 4 How can newcomers get started with space education? Share tips and resources.
11:00 5 What can you do tomorrow to begin your classroom’s space journey?
11:15 Event closes Announcing the next event and Participant Survey

SuperWakelet: resources curated by this month’s hosts

Wakelet is a useful web service to bookmark, curate and annotate resources, images, tweets and other content.

We’ve invited our hosts to share their personal favorite resources and introduce their resource collections with a Flipgrid video. Find all of these resources in our new STEM and NASA SuperWakelet, live-embedded here:

Hosts

Meet the 12 hosts for this month’s TweetMeet! After going through weeks of preparation for this TweetMeet, they are thrilled to engage with you on their favorite topic: STEM and NASA.

Check out all the hosts, see what they are tweeting about and consider following them: https://twitter.com/TweetMeet/lists/msfteduchat-2019-10/members

List of hosts and their profiles

  • Adam Rummelhart @Adam_Rummelhart (Microsoft Learning Consultant, MIE Expert, ScreenBeam Expert, passionate about empowering teachers and students—Chicago IL, USA)
  • Betty Jo Moore @bjmoore1640 (Science Teacher, Robotics and Science Olympiad Coach, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, SEEC Crew Member, Smithsonian Teacher Innovator Institute Member. Passionate about STEM and STEAM—Winston-Salem NC, USA)
  • David Lockett @DavidJLockett (STEM Teacher @BokSTEM NASA JPL SSA, @OSIRISREx Ambassador, Teach STEM Like an Astronaut—Lake Wales FL, USA)
  • Erik Leitner @Professor_Erik (@BrowardSTEM STEM+CS Instructional Facilitator, SECME STEM Olympiad regional coordinator, robotics competition coordinator, and Code.org CSF Facilitator. Star Wars fanboy extraordinaire—Fort Lauderdale FL, USA)
  • Jennifer Duffer @mhs_aero (Aerospace Engineering & Robotics Teacher, RV-12 Airplane Builder, SEEC Crew Member, Space Camp Alumni, and passionate about empowering all students—Montgomery TX, USA)
  • Jennifer Ferguson @Fergeeksongirl (Educational Specialist, Professional Learning for Let’s Talk Science / STEM Consultant for Calgary Academy • SDG Goal 4 • ADHD, Autism & Asperger awareness—Cochrane, Alberta, Canada)
  • Jodie Guillen @TheAstroTeacher (Space Education Specialist @SpaceFoundation, Inaugural SEEC Crew Member, and Space Camp grad! Enthusiastic & passionate about changing lives one kiddo at a time!!!—Colorado Springs CO, USA)
  • Kellie Taylor @KellieTaylorEdD (3rd Grade Teacher @BSDEducation, STEM Educator, 18-19 Einstein Fellow, SEEC Crew Member, MAVEN Educator Ambassador, NASA inspired—Emmett ID, USA)
  • Kim James @teacherkimj (Instructional Technology Specialist, Chino Valley Unified; Professional Learning Specialist, i2e; MIE Expert; passionate about student voice and creativity!—Chino Hills CA, USA)
  • Lisa Lista @LisaLista73 (8th Grade CTE Teacher/Math & Science Instructional Coach, STEAM Lab Facilitator @ Woodcrest Junior High, passionate about access/equity for all—Chino Hills CA, USA)
  • Natasha Rachell @apsitnatasha (Former high school science teacher turned Science Digital Learning Specialist, MIEExpert, Flipgrid Certified Educator-Level 3, passionate about empowering the voices of ALL students—Atlanta GA, USA)
  • Valeria Rodriguez @Valeriateaches (STEM Teacher, Instructional Technologist M.Ed, SEEC Crew, RPCV, Children’s Book Author &  Sketchnoter passionate about designing meaningful learning experiences—Miami FL, USA)

Next month’s event: Future-ready Skills & Computer Science

The theme of the TweetMeet on November 19 will be Future-ready Skills & Computer Science. We’re looking forward to this event and hope you’ll spread the word!

Got questions about the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets?

Please connect with TweetMeet organizer Marjolein Hoekstra @TweetMeet on Twitter if you have any questions about the TweetMeets or how to become a host at a future event.

Explore tools for Future Ready SkillsExplore tools for Future Ready Skills

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Let us count the ways new tech tools can help students get better at math

Greetings teachers! As you get back into the back-to-school routine, we thought we would give you a quick update on one of your favorite subjects—math!  Below you will find amazing tools that will help your students learn and practice math in a fun and engaging way—thanks to our teams from Bing, OneNote, Windows Calculator and our partners from GeoGebra and FluidMath. We hope you’ll find these tools useful whether you are on-the-go with your mobile device or sitting down at your Windows 10 PC.

Learn on your mobile phone with Bing Math Helper

Newly introduced Math Helper is available in the Bing app for iPhone and Android. Whether your students are taking a photo of a math problem or drawing it by hand, this tool can help them solve the problem and guide them through the interactive solution steps and graphs. Math Helper can assist students with a variety of problems, including arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry and calculus. Additionally, the app offers access to learning resources such as related instructional videos and practice worksheets, utilizing the full power of the Bing search engine. Download the free Math Helper app here.

Practice inside OneNote with the Math Assistant

OneNote’s Math Assistant empowers your students to be independent learners. The Math button not only helps students solve equations, but it also shows the steps needed to get to that point. Breaking down a complex problem into steps allows students to build understanding of the solution process. And students can use Immersive Reader to hear the solution steps read aloud. In addition, we’ve just launched an interactive demo of our inclusive math features, so you can learn about these features at your convenience.

For more practice, the Math Assistant can generate a practice quiz with a set of similar questions to those the student is working on.

Also, OneNote can graph functions, providing visual assistance in understanding math concepts and procedures.

Learn more about the Math Assistant here.

Visualize math functions with Windows Calculator graphing mode (coming soon)

Windows Calculator will soon have a graphing calculator mode, providing teachers with a new modern tool to teach graphing concepts in the classroom. It will help empower students to learn mathematics by improving conceptual understanding and attitudes towards math. With this feature, teachers and students will have access to a great baseline graphing calculator experience out-of-the-box on Windows 10, where they will be able to plot and analyze multiple equations and manipulate equation variables in real time to help understand how changes to equations affect graphs. This feature will be available to Windows Insiders later this year, and we cannot wait to hear your feedback! You can  find the latest information on the Windows Calculator here.

Leverage community resources with the GeoGebra Graphing Calculator on Windows 10

GeoGebra is a leading provider of math apps, STEM education resources and community services, having provided calculator apps and curriculum services to 500 million students and teachers globally since 2015. Its powerful graphing calculator for math students and teachers, made for your PC, Surface and mobile devices, also offers access to curriculum resources created by the global GeoGebra community of teachers. You can search, browse, use directly or make a copy and adapt over 1 million shared resources for just about any curriculum, anywhere. For more information, please visit www.geogebra.org or download the free GeoGebra Graphing Calculator app for Windows 10 here.

Use the pen to ink your math in the FluidMath app

For those of you who love picking up a pen to do math, you will find the FluidMath app on Windows 10 a joy to work with. This award-winning app enables teachers and students to easily create, solve and graph math and physics problems all in their own handwriting—especially tailored for 6th to 12th graders. Its animation function (see screenshot below) offers a great way for students to grasp concepts more easily. FluidMath was developed and tested in consultation with teachers over several years with support from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health and the US Department of Education. You can find a free trial version of the Windows 10 FluidMath app here.

Explore tools for Future Ready SkillsExplore tools for Future Ready Skills

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Teens say parents share too much about them online – Microsoft study

The new school year is well underway in many parts of the world, and parents may be inclined to share news and photos of their star pupil’s success or involvement in new activities. Before you do, however, know that teens around the world say parents share (or “sharent”) too much about them on social media – so much so that it’s become a concern for more than four in 10.

Forty-two percent of teenagers in 25 countries[1] say they have a problem with their parents posting about them on social media. Of that sum, 11% say it’s a big problem; 14% say it’s of medium concern, and 17% consider it a small issue – all according to preliminary results of a new Microsoft study about the state of digital civility today. In addition, two-thirds (66%) of teens say they’ve fallen victim to at least one online risk at some point, with the same percentage worried that a similar negative online experience will happen to them again.

Chart showing teen feelings about their parents posting on social media

The findings are from Microsoft’s latest research into aspects of digital civility — encouraging safer, healthier and more respectful online interactions among all people. The study, “Civility, Safety and Interaction Online — 2019,” polled teens ages 13-17 and adults ages 18-74 about their exposure to 21[2] different online risks. This latest research builds on similar studies between 2016 and 2018. The previous years’ projects polled the same demographic groups in 14, 22 and 23 countries, respectively. A total of 12,520 individuals participated in the 2019 study, and we’ve surveyed more than 44,000 people over four years. Full results from this latest poll will be made available on international Safer Internet Day 2020 on Feb. 11.

“Sharenting” and online risk: What’s the connection?

While our research didn’t explore any direct correlation between parents’ online behaviors and young people’s potential risk exposure, both academic researchers and financial experts have warned that such sharing puts children’s online privacy and potentially their physical safety at risk.

To share or not to share is an individual family’s decision, but if the choice is to share, parents should be attentive, exercise discretion and not inadvertently reveal too much, including children’s real full names, ages, dates of births, home addresses, mothers’ maiden names, favorite sports teams, names of pets and photos, to cite a few examples. On one hand, these individual tidbits of personally identifiable information can be misused in online social engineering schemes, culled together to make children and other young people the targets of online fraud or identity theft, or in extreme cases may even lead to online grooming. Indeed, young children and infants in particular are prime targets for credit fraud. If someone were to take out a line of credit in a child’s name, odds are the child wouldn’t discover it for more than a decade later – until they applied for their own credit cards or other loans. Meanwhile, online grooming takes place when someone builds an emotional connection with a child in order to gain the child’s trust for sexual exploitation or abuse, or recruitment to terrorist or extremist causes.

“Share with care” should be everyone’s mantra both online and off. For more on protecting your family’s online privacy, visit our digital safety resources page and see this factsheet. To learn how to stay alert to online grooming, see this link.

Teens continue to look to parents for help

In keeping with a trend identified in last year’s results, in 2019 teens continued to turn to their parents and other trusted adults for help with online issues. After jumping an impressive 32 percentage points from year two to year three, nearly half (48%) of teens surveyed this year said they’d reached out to a parent about concerns over online activities. That’s up another 6 percentage points from 2018. Just two years ago, fewer than 10% of teens said they had turned to an adult for help with online risks.

In addition, when asked about the best role models for civil and respectful behavior online, teens overwhelmingly pointed to parents (80%), followed by teachers at a distant second (49%), and other adults, athletes and celebrities at 22%, 17% and 15%, respectively.

That’s why we continue to encourage adults to:

  • Become familiar with and, where appropriate, involved in young people’s online activities
  • Be welcoming of and open to conversations about their online lives
  • Listen and suspend judgment when approached by teens about online issues, and
  • Agree on any course of action together

Three countries added to 2019 study

This year, we added three countries to the study – Indonesia, The Netherlands and Poland, and we maintained all 22 countries from the 2018 report. When we make full results available in February, we’ll also release the latest reading of the Microsoft Digital Civility Index, as well as results of what respondents anticipate and hope for in terms of digital civility and life online in the coming 2020s decade.

Microsoft’s Digital Civility Index measures the perceived level of online civility in a given country based on the reported level of risk exposure of individuals in that country. From 2016 to 2018, the Digital Civility Index held steady, averaging 66%, despite changes to both the mix of countries polled and the various risks included.

We will post at least one additional early look at some of the study’s key findings in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, to learn more about digital civility and how you can become a champion for common-sense online behaviors, visit www.microsoft.com/digitalcivility. For more on digital safety generally, visit our website; “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

[1] Countries surveyed: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia*, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands*, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland*, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. (* Indicates the first time this country has been included in this research.)

[2] The 21 risks span four broad categories: behavioral, sexual, reputational and personal/intrusive.

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Sea of Thieves’ next update – Fort of the Damned – coming Oct. 16, just in time for Halloween

October has just arrived, and inevitably brings with it Halloween and the anticipation of gaming events given a certain graveyard twist. Sea of Thieves is set to continue this tradition with its next Monthly Content Update – Fort of the Damned, a challenging event arriving on Wednesday October 16th, echoing last year’s popular Festival of the Damned.

These are chilling times indeed, but thankfully many Sea of Thieves players will be sailing into October with hearts warmed by the pets introduced in our previous Monthly Content Update. September saw Smuggler’s Fortune throw open the doors to the Pirate Emporium, putting furry and feathered friends on sale for the first time.

A huge 98% of people who’ve spent Ancient Coins (Sea of Thieves’ new premium currency) so far have picked up a pet. Parrots have just pipped monkeys to the post as early Pirate Emporium favourites with 52.4% of sales, with the Parakeet the most popular pet breed overall, and Blue Moon Parakeet the most popular of these; of the monkeys, the White Beard Capuchin has been our players’ top pick.

Of course, all this variety in pets is nothing compared to the variety in pet names, so if you’re curious about what most people are calling their Sea of Thieves parrots and monkeys, here’s the current combined top 10:

  1. Jack
  2. Rafiki
  3. Polly
  4. Blue
  5. Mango
  6. George
  7. Luna
  8. Steve
  9. Shadow
  10. Bob

Disney-inspired monkey names have naturally proven popular, with Rafiki in second place and Abu very narrowly missing the top 10. There have also been 177 Jack Sparrows and 120 Barbossas, inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean – in fact, fans with a good memory might wonder if a certain iconic line is the reason why Jack took the number one spot.

Names inspired by Sea of Thieves developers and Rare’s rich gaming history also surfaced quickly. Antonio was sure to do well, following our Pirate Emporium preview stream and the monkey who stole the show by having a little incident on host Jon’s shoulder:

  • 153 pets named Joe Neate
  • 136 pets named Kazooie
  • 70 pets called Antonio
  • 70 pets called Donkey Kong

Names inspired by general pop culture proved similarly popular:

  • 340 pets named Harambe (the gorilla)
  • 248 pets named Winston (Overwatch)
  • 233 pets named Marcel (Friends)
  • 149 pets named Curious George (the character)
  • 118 pets named Marty McFly (Back to the Future)
  • 94 pets named Loki (Marvel’s Avengers/Norse mythology)
  • 48 pets named Pidgey (Pokémon)

Pets seem to have captured the imagination of content creators too, something that we’re keen to embrace with programmes like the Sea of Thieves Creator Crew, also launched last month. Much-loved Twitter account @CanYouPetTheDog quickly gathered 68k likes (and counting) on a clip demonstrating how pets can be fired out of cannons. Meanwhile, popular Sea of Thieves content creator Captain Falcore produced a helpful guide to pets and all things Pirate Emporium, while honouring Antonio the monkey’s moment of glory – just like this fan-made T-shirt featured in Sea of Thieves’ thriving Design by Humans Fan Shop.

Fans are encouraged to keep sharing these fantastic screenshots and clips, with a new social competition aimed at showcasing the best! Submit your best pet pic or clip by tagging @SeaOfThieves on Twitter or @RareLtd on Instagram and including the hashtag #PetsOfThieves. Five winners will be chosen to win the Bird & Bear Collector’s Edition Figurehead and Sails! The competition is live now, running until 00:00 BST on October 16th. For more information, see the terms and conditions here.

Find out more about Fort of the Damned on the official Sea of Thieves website and social channels. Fort of the Damned is free for all players who bought Sea of Thieves on the Xbox One family of devices or on Windows 10 PC, or who have access to it as part of Xbox Game Pass. This update arrives on Wednesday October 16th and will bring new additions to the Pirate Emporium and Black Market too – pet fans should watch out for a spooky surprise!

New to Sea of Thieves? Join the adventure with Xbox Game Pass or on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. If you haven’t tried Xbox Game Pass yet, join today to get your first month for $1 and get access to over 100 great games, with new titles being added all of the time. Prospective pirates can learn more at xbox.com/seaofthieves or visit SeaofThieves.com to embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities.

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Microsoft Power Platform supporting drones carrying out rescue missions for US Department of Interior

a man sitting at a table using a laptop computera man sitting at a table using a laptop computer

When a hiker goes missing or a large-scale natural disaster unfolds, it is often the remote pilots at the Department of the Interior (DOI) who respond. Increasingly, instead of traditional aircraft, remote pilots maneuver unmanned aviation systems (UAS), or drones, on these critical missions. That is why Microsoft is proud to provide DOI’s Office of Aviation Services support through the Microsoft Power Platform in this important and rapidly growing sector.

Modernizing a mission

The DOI’s history goes back as far as 1849. It is now the largest land steward in the US, responsible, among other things, for monitoring some 500 million acres for dangerous events including wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes. UAS has become a valuable extension of the use of traditional aircraft for monitoring and responding to these emergent events where every minute counts and safety is of the greatest importance. Most of the drones are quad- or hex-copters, small and agile, and can carry a variety of cameras and sensors including night-vision and thermal optics. Along with avoiding the hazards of putting people in dangerous situations like wildfires, drones can create imagery that is much higher in resolution than data acquired by manned aircraft and can perform many tasks seven times faster and at one-tenth the cost of traditional methods. Microsoft is contributing to the transformation of UAS fleet management processes by increasing the speed, accuracy, and scalability of data capture as the UAS or drone fleet continues to grow.

Rapid growth

And it is growing rapidly: From the program’s inception in 2009 until 2016, there were fewer than 600 unmanned flights a year. In 2017, that jumped to 5000 flights, and the number continues to climb, with over 700 devices making over 13,000 flights already in 2019. “Drones can go into conditions that are dangerous or even prohibitive to send manned aircraft, like smoke inversions,” explains Bradley Koeckeritz, Division Chief for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. “They allow us to conduct missions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible, like overnight search and rescues.” He recalls how a drone was able to aid in the rescue of a person trapped in a thick jungle near the Kilauea volcano eruption: “We had them flash their cell phone light, and the drone was able to locate them and lead them to safety.”

Four horizons

Microsoft’s cooperation is rolling out in four phases, or horizons. “Using PowerApps will completely change how we generate flight-use reports,” says Koeckeritz of the first horizon. “Forms pilots had to manually fill out before can now be auto-populated.” Early applications of Power BI and PowerApps are slashing the time and effort needed to stay on top of sets of data that are continually changing, like usage reports, pilot credentialing, and pilot flight histories. “Down the road, it will be about big data and moving into the cloud,” Koeckeritz says, explaining that the cloud offers processing power that individual workstations simply don’t have.

Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, which is what makes these tools and their custom applications so important. Once various use-cases have been tested, best practices and lessons learned can be applied to other applications in other agencies in the later horizons of the project. Meanwhile, UAS continues to explore the possibilities that increased capability gives them every day. “I want to make sure DOI operators have access to the tools they need,” Koeckeritz says. “If there’s a missing hiker out there, we don’t want our pilots thinking about the software – we just want to make sure they have access to a drone with a thermal camera so they can search for the missing individual.”

To learn more about digital transformation for government visit the Microsoft Government Homepage.