Tag: Recent News

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Educators: Check out favorite resources introduced in 2019 and how your colleagues are using them

With the first half of the school year wrapping up in most places and the holidays upon us, we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the resources we introduced in 2019 that you said were most helpful to you and your students. And we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss anything that could have a positive impact on your instruction going forward.

Learning Tools

Reviewing engagement across our social media channels, it’s clear you liked this year’s updates to Learning Tools, free Microsoft resources that make classrooms more accessible and support students with reading, writing, math and communication. Learning tools are available in Microsoft products you use every day in the classroom. For more on how to incorporate Learning Tools into your classroom, check out this post.

We’re particularly grateful to you for sharing your stories about the benefits of Immersive Reader, which improves the readability of content and is integrated into Microsoft products as well as third-party applications. You noted that this integration was particularly helpful for students with dyslexia and other reading-related learning differences. Maria Mercedes Gazaneo, a teacher in Buenos Aires, explains eloquently here how previously reluctant readers have come around to loving reading with the help of Immersive Reader. At Microsoft Education, it’s our mission to empower every student to achieve more, and we’re so glad this tool, coupled with your commitment to your students, is helping advance that goal.

Product Updates

As far as product updates go, you told us loud (especially so at the rocking Flipgrid party at ISTE) and clear that the newly designed Flipgrid was a hit and is helping you elevate student voices in and beyond the classroom. We have you to thank. From FlipgridAR to the new Shorts Camera to Disco Library Playlists, every improvement to Flipgrid was created, driven, and inspired by your innovative ideas and feedback.

“Flipgrid gives students a VOICE! Flipgrid allows those that are quiet and nervous the opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts in a manner that is conducive to their learning styles.  It appeals to every student in the classroom.” – Natasha Rachell, Education Technology Specialist with Atlanta Public Schools.

Crowd watching Flipgrid Live stageCrowd watching Flipgrid Live stage

You also told us the new PowerPoint Presenter coach is another tool that is helping students develop strong communication skills. In case you haven’t tried it yet, the AI-powered tool lets students practice presentations and then provides guidance on pacing, language and more.

Thanks for letting us know you loved Microsoft Teams‘ new Simplified UX! The redesign is among many improvements to make teaching, assessment, and collaboration effective and easy, all while saving you time. 

Speaking of saving time, Grade Sync is now integrated with PowerSchool, enabling teachers to sync assignments and grades directly to PowerTeacher Pro. But wait, there’s more! The new teacher gradebook with individualized student progress, weekly assignments summary email for parents and guardians and many others. Check out this post for more detail on all the Teams updates from this year!

Several exciting updates to Minecraft: Education Edition came your way this year too, based on helpful feedback from our educator community. Immersive Reader was integrated along with single sign-on and multiplayer join codes for an easier classroom experience. We launched Minecraft lessons and immersive worlds with NASA, World Wildlife Fund, and partners in New Zealand. Finally, a new Minecraft Hour of Code introduces students to coding with a lesson on preventing forest fires and artificial intelligence! Check out the free coding lesson in Minecraft: Education Edition, no license required. We talked about Hour of Code in last month’s What’s New in EDU, available here if you missed it. 

Just ahead of the current school year, we made dozens of updates to OneNote and Class Notebook based on your input, and we’re glad to see you’re using those successfully. They include the ability to distribute pages to specific students, integrating OneNote and Class Notebook with Teams, and making it possible for students to generate math practice quizzes in OneNote. We’re glad to hear these updates are helping you personalize instruction and promote student-centered learning.

“I found OneNote to be a huge help, both in note taking and Immersive Reader. Also linking Microsoft Lens to OneNote has made other subject content ‘interactive.’ My learners were amazed, and this teacher applauds the ingenuity of Microsoft to cater for inclusive education.” –Viola Van der Westhuizen, a teacher in South Africa who works with youth in the criminal justice system.

Finally, we’ve seen those social media posts indicating you like the latest Microsoft Excel update, allowing you and your students to take a picture of data, say in a textbook, and then upload it and open it in Excel, where it’s converted into a table. We hope that’s helping your students develop analytical skills and solve real-world problems using data.

Partnerships

We’re thrilled to work
with educators like you every day, as well as other partners committed to fostering
inclusive learning environments that help all students succeed. This past year,
we teamed up with some inspiring collaborators, and we’re so glad to see you celebrating
those partnerships with us on social media. Just some of these include:

Click here to read our Partner Spotlight series from ISTE 2019.

Free trainings,
workshops and more

We know how committed
you are to professional growth, and we’re so glad you found many of our teacher
development tools to be useful in 2019. Among those you indicated were most helpful
this year were:

  • Free in-store trainings on using Microsoft Education tools. Our stores offer more than 200,000 hours of free workshops throughout the year, so find one that’s right for you!
  • Our You Can in :90 video series, which offers quick tips for using Microsoft Education tools. We pick topics based on your input, so keep that coming.
  • Resources like this how-to video to help you bring digital storytelling to life in your classroom with Video Editor for Windows 10.
  • Our new Microsoft Educator Center, where you can take online courses and stay up on a host training opportunities and resources for educators.
  • Our new newsletter. If you haven’t yet signed up, you can do so here.

Peer networking

It’s clear you enjoy connecting with each other and helping students do that, too. This year, thousands of students from more than 80 countries connected during our Global Learning Connection event, in which students meet virtually and listen to guest speakers using Teams, Skype and Flipgrid.

“The MSFTGlobalConnect was a HUGE HIGHLIGHT of my year.” –Kerry-Ann Van Der Merwe, a Grade 5 teacher in South Africa.

Speaking of guest speakers, you shared that you were inspired by the Skype in the Classroom event with world-renowned scientist and environmentalist Jane Goodall. Missed it? We’ve got you covered. You can find a recording here.

To those of you who participated in Hack the Classroom in June, a big thank you. We’re so grateful to you for being part of that engaging discussion on developing social and emotional skills in students, preparing them for future success, meeting the needs of English language learners and more.

We’re also thrilled to see how supportive you are of one another. Thank you for sharing the news about our Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts class of 2019-2020 and responding to our call on Twitter to tag other potential nominees. Speaking of Twitter, we also are overjoyed to see your enthusiasm for our regular TweetMeets. By far the most popular one of the year was the July TweetMeet focused on student-centered learning.

Device spotlight

Windows 10 helps deliver personalized learning for every student. Find the right device for your school today. This month we’re featuring the Lenovo 100e, with pricing starting at just $199 USD for a 4/64 storage configuration with the latest-gen Intel Celeron processor. This durable laptop is built to endure the rough and tumble of the classroom with a new, sleek chassis and weighs just 2.7 lbs. All-day battery keeps everyone’s focus on lessons, not on hunting down a power cord.

In conclusion

Well, 2019 really was quite a year for us here on the Microsoft Education team. We’re so glad you found many of the resources we shared to be helpful to you and your students. We can’t wait to show you what’s ahead in the new year.

Mark your calendars for January 16, when we’ll have a Facebook Live event highlighting what we’re rolling out at the start of 2020. You won’t be disappointed.

As always, we love hearing from you and value your feedback. Let us know what you think of this list of highlights from the year on Twitter by tagging @MicrosoftEDU!

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Xbox Sessions: Watch as actor John ‘Finn’ Boyega tests his Jedi skills in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Making his way across the galaxy to our studio, we sat down with talented actor John Boyega to catch up on one of the world’s most iconic franchises and play the brand-new, action-adventure game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in the latest episode of Xbox Sessions.

Although John’s Star Wars character, Finn, rejected his
stormtrooper armor, John was ready for battle and showed us his own surprising
aptitude with the Force as he mastered the art of lightsaber combat in a boss
fight against the hulking Inquisitor, the Ninth Sister. Not to mention John
appreciated the new cinematic cuts in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – especially
because they gave him enough time to grab a snack while playing.

Don’t miss out on learning about John’s favorite Jedi of all time and seeing his unboxing of the epic Xbox One X Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Bundle during this episode of Xbox Sessions, out now on the YouTube Xbox Channel!

You, too, can become a Jedi and take on the galaxy-spanning adventure that awaits in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order available now for Xbox One, the world’s most powerful console.

Stay tuned to Xbox Wire for more upcoming episodes of Xbox
Sessions!

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Ransomware response — to pay or not to pay

The increased connectivity of computers and the growth of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in most organizations is making the distribution of malicious software (malware) easier. Unlike other types of malicious programs that may usually go undetected for a longer period, a ransomware attack is usually experienced immediately, and its impact on information technology infrastructure is often irreversible.

As part of Microsoft’s Detection and Response Team (DART) Incident Response engagements, we regularly get asked by customers about “paying the ransom” following a ransomware attack. Unfortunately, this situation often leaves most customers with limited options, depending on the business continuity and disaster recovery plans they have in place.

The two most common options are either to pay the ransom (with the hopes that the decryption key obtained from the malicious actors works as advertised) or switch gears to a disaster recovery mode, restoring systems to a known good state.

The unfortunate truth about most organizations is that they are often only left with the only option of paying the ransom, as the option to rebuild is taken off the table by lack of known good backups or because the ransomware also encrypted the known good backups. Moreover, a growing list of municipalities around the U.S. has seen their critical infrastructure, as well as their backups, targeted by ransomware, a move by threat actors to better guarantee a payday.

We never encourage a ransomware victim to pay any form of ransom demand. Paying a ransom is often expensive, dangerous, and only refuels the attackers’ capacity to continue their operations; bottom line, this equates to a proverbial pat on the back for the attackers. The most important thing to note is that paying cybercriminals to get a ransomware decryption key provides no guarantee that your encrypted data will be restored.

So, what options do we recommend? The fact remains that every organization should treat a cybersecurity incident as a matter of when it will happen and not whether it will happen. Having this mindset helps an organization react quickly and effectively to such incidents when they happen. Two major industry standard frameworks, the Sysadmin, Audit, Network, and Security (SANS) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), both have published similar concepts on responding to malware and cybersecurity incidents. The bottom line is that every organization needs to be able to plan, prepare, respond, and recover when faced with a ransomware attack.

Outlined below are steps designed to help organizations better plan and prepare to respond to ransomware and major cyber incidents.

How to plan and prepare to respond to ransomware

1. Use an effective email filtering solution

According to the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 24 of 2018, spam and phishing emails are still the most common delivery method for ransomware infections. To effectively stop ransomware at its entry point, every organization needs to adopt an email security service that ensures all email content and headers entering and leaving the organization are scanned for spam, viruses, and other advanced malware threats. By adopting an enterprise-grade email protection solution, most cybersecurity threats against an organization will be blocked at ingress and egress.

2. Regular hardware and software systems patching and effective vulnerability management

Many organizations are still failing to adopt one of the age-old cybersecurity recommendations and important defenses against cybersecurity attacks—applying security updates and patches as soon as the software vendors release them. A prominent example of this failure was the WannaCry ransomware events in 2017, one of the largest global cybersecurity attacks in the history of the internet, which used a leaked vulnerability in Windows networking Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, for which Microsoft had released a patch nearly two months before the first publicized incident. Regular patching and an effective vulnerability management program are important measures to defend against ransomware and other forms of malware and are steps in the right direction to ensure every organization does not become a victim of ransomware.

3. Use up-to-date antivirus and an endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution

While owning an antivirus solution alone does not ensure adequate protection against viruses and other advanced computer threats, it’s very important to ensure antivirus solutions are kept up to date with their software vendors. Attackers invest heavily in the creation of new viruses and exploits, while vendors are left playing catch-up by releasing daily updates to their antivirus database engines. Complementary to owning and updating an antivirus solution is the use of EDR solutions that collect and store large volumes of data from endpoints and provide real-time host-based, file-level monitoring and visibility to systems. The data sets and alerts generated by this solution can help to stop advanced threats and are often leveraged for responding to security incidents.

4. Separate administrative and privileged credentials from standard credentials

Working as a cybersecurity consultant, one of the first recommendations I usually provide to customers is to separate their system administrative accounts from their standard user accounts and to ensure those administrative accounts are not useable across multiple systems. Separating these privileged accounts not only enforces proper access control but also ensures that a compromise of a single account doesn’t lead to the compromise of the entire IT infrastructure. Additionally, using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions are ways to effectively combat privileged account abuse and a strategic way of reducing the credential attack surface.

5. Implement an effective application whitelisting program

It’s very important as part of a ransomware prevention strategy to restrict the applications that can run within an IT infrastructure. Application whitelisting ensures only applications that have been tested and approved by an organization can run on the systems within the infrastructure. While this can be tedious and presents several IT administrative challenges, this strategy has been proven effective.

6. Regularly back up critical systems and files

The ability to recover to a known good state is the most critical strategy of any information security incident plan, especially ransomware. Therefore, to ensure the success of this process, an organization must validate that all its critical systems, applications, and files are regularly backed up and that those backups are regularly tested to ensure they are recoverable. Ransomware is known to encrypt or destroy any file it comes across, and it can often make them unrecoverable; consequently, it’s of utmost importance that all impacted files can be easily recovered from a good backup stored at a secondary location not impacted by the ransomware attack.

Learn more and keep updated

Learn more about how DART helps customers respond to compromises and become cyber-resilient. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

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Windows search bar: The one stop for answers, now with Bing Visual Search

Every day, we have questions. Search engines, apps, digital voice assistants, or phones are usually our go-to places to find answers.

You may already know that you can use the search bar in Windows – found on your PC taskbar – to find things like an app, setting, or a file you’ve been working on.

But did you know it can also find answers to questions like…

What’s the weather like in Paris? What’s the score of the Leicester City match? How do you unzip a file?

Windows brings all these searches together in one place. It’s easy to find and easy to use.

Screenshot of Windows search home, pulled up in lower left hand corner of Windows home screen

You don’t have to scroll through a long list of results, you don’t have to open a browser, and you don’t have to leave whatever application you’re in. With a couple of keystrokes, you can find your answers.

Screenshot showing conversion of 5 pound sterling to 5.91 euro in search

“The goal was to enable search in Windows to bring the web to where you are,” says Alexander Campbell, a senior program manager working on search. “People spend a lot of time on the web and in browsers. We saw an opportunity to help people save time in Windows by bringing convenient, fast web results directly to the search bar in Windows. Stay on task and in your flow, just by hitting the Windows key or clicking on the search box.”

It’s also a convenient place to start a search that leads to a website. From the search bar in Windows, you can quickly type and navigate to a URL, without having to open a browser first.

“We have a search experience that gives you quick answers, web results and helps you start your web task. It’s amazing what you can do with it,” he adds.

Screenshot showing Reddit URL in search results

Every day it gets more useful: a full web search experience powered by the intelligence of Bing. You can search for quick calculations, music videos, movie trailers, sports scores, stock prices, movie times, weather forecasts and much more. Results turn up right in the taskbar. If you want to see more, you can open the results in your browser.

Screenshot showing Boston to Seattle flight status results

“The search bar in Windows gives you the quick info you need with none of the distraction,” Campbell says. “In the middle of an essay? It’s easy to jump in, check a fact and then get back to your work.”

The Windows and Bing teams worked together to bring a true web search experience into Windows, just like what you’d expect in a browser, into the search bar. And the teams continue to improve the search capability thanks to your feedback and Bing innovation.

Screenshot showing search results of how to zip files

The search bar is also the best place to go when you need to get things done on your Windows 10 device. Let’s say you need to download an app, Search can find it for you fast. For example, type “download microsoft to-do” or “download solitaire” and get an install link in the results preview. It’s also an easy way to get Tech Help answers to common questions, like “how do I connect a printer” or “how do I unzip files.”

Screenshot showing search results for "download microsoft to-do"

And now, in addition to entering a text search, you can search with an image by taking a screenshot. This feature is rolling out to users in the U.S. first with international markets to follow shortly after. (You need the Windows 10 May 2019 Update or newer to see this.)

Simply click the Bing Visual Search button in the bottom right corner and snip any part of your screen to search the web using the image.

GIF showing how Visual Search works, using searching for a blue couch as an example, with similar results popping up after sniping a screenshot of the couch

“Visual search is a new way of searching,” says Ravi Yada, product lead for Bing Visual Search. “There are a lot of things you can’t describe in words to get good enough results. By using an image as input for search, Bing can help you search what you see.”

Bing added camera-based searches in 2017, and made visual search features available in the Windows Photos App, Microsoft Edge, the Bing App and on Android phones through Microsoft Launcher. With the latest releases of Windows, you can use Windows Search to snip any part of your screen and search.

Screenshot of a bright orange flower with a pulldown menu in the Photos app, showing the choice to click on similar results

Screenshot of Bing results of Visual Search on photo of bright orange flower

“We found people also wanted to search with screenshots, so we brought searching with screen snips to the Windows search bar,” says Nektarios Ioannides, Bing Image Search lead.

For instance, if you’re planning your wardrobe for winter and you want inspiration from what your favorite celebs are wearing? You’ll find similar results. Or you might be shopping for furniture and see a sofa you like. Snip it and use it to comparison shop with Visual Search results [1].

Aside from finding similar products, Visual Search can recognize landmarks, flowers, celebrities, animals. It also recognizes text in images, so you can copy or search it [2].

“Search is evolving. We’re still expanding the breadth of capabilities,” Ioannides says. “It’s cool to see the growth and excitement it generates, especially as we move into a world where using our eyes to search becomes more common.”

For developers, there’s an API to incorporate Visual Search within products and apps they create.

“Search in Windows is now more intelligent than ever at getting you where you want to go, saving steps and time,” Campbell says. “We can’t wait to see how you use it.”

Let us know your feedback and what you want to see next by clicking the “Feedback” button in the top right corner of the search experience.

Eager to try this yourself? If you’re reading this on a device running Windows 10 May 2019 Update or newer, click on the following examples:

[1] Shopping results are only available to users in the United States and United Kingdom.

[2] This is available in English for now.

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The future past: Microsoft President Brad Smith and others discuss how tech is helping preserve our cultural heritage

About the guests

Brad Smith (left) is the president of Microsoft. He leads work on a range of issues involving the intersection of technology and society, including ethics, artificial intelligence, human rights, and environmental sustainability.  

Yves Ubelmann (center) is an architect and the founder of Iconem, a digital architecture initiative whose mission is to preserve cultural heritage sites around the world with new technology. 

Will Lewis (right) is the Principal Technical Program Manager with Microsoft Translator.  He’s led the Microsoft Translator team’s efforts to build Translation engines for many of the world’s languages. 

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3 core ideas for empowering citizens, societies and governments

Promote citizen well-being, influence positive societal change, and enhance your government services

Exponential change is happening in the world around us and within governments. This change is being driven by one core idea, expectations of governments are changing. Modern technology is causing a shift in societal behavior. Citizens and residents expect their governments to adapt to the ways in which companies interact with their customers. They expect to be able to access services quickly, efficiently, and in any location that is convenient for them.

From the thousands of digital transformation journeys Microsoft has taken with local, regional, and national governments around the globe, we’ve learned that governments are constantly having to juggle this shift while managing a variety of challenges both internal and external. How do we provide quality services to our citizens as budgets either remain flat or are reduced? How do we address major societal problems such as aging and retiring workforces and education and labor gaps? How do we connect agencies across cities, regions, and borders, while making sure our data, and more importantly our citizen’s data, is secure? And how do we keep our citizens, communities, and countries safe and protected?

That juggling act can be exhausting, confusing, and overwhelming, but it can also be exciting. Government organizations have the ability to become more efficient and to better optimize existing resources leveraging modern technology, to deeply connect with citizens in powerful ways, and to empower government employees to be more efficient and effective and give them time back to focus on their agency mission.

Governments are changing, adapting, and evolving, just like the world around us. And while the challenges are real, so are the opportunities. Addressing the challenges governments are facing can be tied back to three, core ideas:

  1. Engage and connect with citizens. Citizen engagement is core to every government’s mission. Today’s citizens want to have access to government services 24/7/365 on their terms and when convenient to them.
  2. Modernize the government workplace. Governments must provide their employees with the tools they need to do their jobs as efficiently, and as securely as possible. This is where governments can address things like labor and re-skilling gaps and promote safety and security.
  3. Enhance government services. Governments are constantly under pressure to become more efficient, which means finding ways to optimize their operations and transform their processes. It’s here that governments can connect those siloed legacy systems and utilize innovative applications such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and machine learning.

These three ideas make up the heart of digital transformation of governments. At Microsoft, we are committed to helping governments through a variety of transformational journeys, as seen with our customers such as City of Los Angeles, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health Thailand, State Court Justice of Sao Paulo, Belgian Federal Police, Alaska Department of Transportation, and Missouri Department of Conservation.

To learn more, watch this new short video and see how Microsoft helps governments meet their mission and serve citizens better.

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Educators: Here’s how to get the most from Jan. 22-25 Bett event, in-person or online

A new year brings new opportunities to learn about all the latest and greatest from Microsoft Education. Join Microsoft at Bett 2020 in London on January 22-25, either online or right there with us at the event, being held at London’s ExCeL venue.

Bett is an annual event that explores how technology can empower educators and students to reach their full potential. Microsoft, as a worldwide partner of Bett, will be hosting a wide array of sessions and hands-on demonstrations on the show floor, along with inspirational talks to support educators looking for new ways to engage and empower their students.

To kick off a whole week of Bett, we’re releasing a special episode of What’s New in EDU, our show that gets you caught up on the new tools and updates coming from Microsoft Education this year. This Bett episode will be available on January 22 – watch it to learn more about all the new and exciting Microsoft classroom technology that will be available. And don’t forget to stay tuned to the Education Blog for more as it comes in!

We’ll also have special edition What’s New in EDU live events streaming daily from Bett in London. You can register to catch the livestream events each day with the following links:

Whether you’re looking for the latest in mixed reality for education, some grounded advice on how to transform your classroom digitally, or want a peek at what’s next for Minecraft: Education Edition, the schedule below is a good place to start, learn and participate. Make sure to stop by Booth NF40 to see all the new experiences we have relating to STEM, Virtual Reality and new tools for the classroom.

If you’re joining us at Bett in person, we hope to see you at one of the following highlights:

Microsoft keynote | Bett Arena | Wednesday, 22 January, 13:35 – 14:15

Hybrid Intelligences: Amplifying Human Potential

Young people are leveraging emerging technologies such as AI to raise their voices and build solutions to the most pressing issues they face. Emotional intelligence is converging with artificial intelligence as researchers merge psychology and computer science. And educators are adapting and innovating in a profession that will look significantly different by 2030.

Join Microsoft’s Anthony Salcito and Barbara Holzapfel,  Affective Computing researcher Dr. Daniel McDuff, and NetHope Emerging Technologies Initiative Lead Leila Toplic as we explore the technology that will empower educators to navigate the changing needs of the staffroom and the classroom, and enable students to accelerate their impact and transform the world.

Microsoft Sessions
In addition to joining for our keynote in the Bett Arena, be sure to visit us across the Bett show at our own Learn Live Theatre, Microsoft Training Academy, the Bett PD Theatre, Bett Schools Theatre and the Bett Higher and Further Education Theatre!

Learn Live Theatre

This is the perfect place to go if you are looking to see and hear about the latest product releases, see demonstrations, and discover ways you can unlock learning in your students. Each session is held on Microsoft stand NF40 and lasts 25 minutes.

 Time Title
Wed – Sat
10:15-10:30		 What’s new in EDU?
Wed – Fri
10:30-11:00		 Meet the New Microsoft Edge & Learn How to Deploy it Today
Sat
10:30-11:00		 Immersive Reader is Everywhere and other Apps to support your inclusive classroom including: Translator, Presenter Coach, and Seeing AI
Wed – Fri
11:00-11:30		 Engage and amplify every scholar with Flipgrid
Sat
11:00-11:30		 Unleash Creativity with Windows 10
Wed – Fri
11:30-12:00		 Make your classroom more inclusive with built-in, free, and non-stigmatizing learning tools
Sat
11:30-12:00		 Intelligent Forms features to transform your data collection and analysis
Wed – Sat
12:00-12:30		 Greenwood Academies: Empowering students with Dell Affordable Devices and M365
Wed – Fri
12:30-13:00		 Immersive Reader is Everywhere and other Apps to support your inclusive classroom including: Translator, Presenter Coach, and Seeing AI
Sat
12:30-13:00		 Build confidence and improve your communication skills with Presenter Coach in PowerPoint
Wed – Sat
13:00-13:30		 Empower individual teachers and your entire school system with Microsoft’s free and adaptable professional development resources
Wed – Fri
13:30-14:00		 How Office can help your students develop into great writers
Wed – Fri
14:00-14:30		 Going for full 1:1 with Surface Pro – journey of infrastructure, CPD and teacher involvement
Wed – Fri
14:30-15:00		 Using Microsoft Teams to enable effective professional development
Wed – Fri
15:00-15:30		 Develop a Teaching and Learning Video Culture with Teams and Stream | Connect with meetings and live events, teach with web-based screen recording and create on mobile using the Flipgrid Camera
Wed – Fri
15:30-16:00		 How Microsoft Sparks Learning: Classroom stories
Wed – Fri
16:00-16:30		 Make your Own Arcade Games with MakeCode
Wed – Fri
16:30-17:00		 Create inclusive live presentations with PowerPoint
Wed – Fri
17:00-17:30		 Deliver Student Centered Learning with Education Devices
Wed – Fri
17:30-18:00		 Drive greater faculty engagement and professional development with your faculty using Teams


Microsoft Training Academy

If you are looking for a hands-on opportunity to try, test and experiment with Microsoft products and devices, this is the perfect stage for you. Get tips and tricks and learn about the best way to use a Microsoft solution in the classroom, from and with our own teachers, trainers, and Microsoft Learning Consultants. Each session is held in the Platinum Suite Level 2 foyer and lasts 25 minutes.

Time Title
Wed – Sat
10:30-11:00		 How we empower teaching and learning by getting teachers to learn and students to teach
Wed – Sat
11:00-11:30		 Grow your practice with free professional learning and resources with the Microsoft Educator Center
Wed – Sat
11:30-12:00		 How you can build an Inclusive classroom with Microsoft Learning Tools
Wed – Sat
12:00- 12:30		 Helping students grow and improve with Teams Assignments
Wed – Sat
12:30-13:00		 The impact that OneNote Class Notebook is driving for teachers, students, and classrooms everywhere
Wed – Sat
13:00-13:30		 Enabling your school with Office’s free and easy-to-use web apps!
Wed – Sat
13:30-14:00		 Utilizing smart assistance and intelligence across Office apps
Wed – Sat
14:00-14:30		 Transformative Teaching with Minecraft: Education Edition
Wed – Fri
14:30-15:00		  Build an app in 25 mins or less to free up teacher time
Wed – Fri
15:00-15:30		 App Smashing in Teams
Wed – Fri
15:30-16:00		 Maximizing Teams for your education institution
Wed – Fri
16:00-16:30		 Foster an inclusive classroom with Flipgrid
Wed – Fri
16:30-17:00		 Grow your practice with free professional learning and resources with the Microsoft Educator Center
Wed – Fri
17:00-17:30		 The impact that OneNote Class Notebook is driving for teachers, students, and classrooms everywhere
Wed – Fri
17:30-18:00		 How you can build an Inclusive classroom with Microsoft Learning Tools


Microsoft on the Stage (PD Theatre)

Time Title
Wed
13:00 – 13:30
(South Hall)		 Empower students with the Immersive Reader in the inclusive classroom
Wed
15:00 – 15:30
(South Hall)		 Whole school professional learning with the Microsoft Educator Center
Fri
15:00 – 15:30
(North Hall)		 Saving time through authentic assessment using Microsoft Forms


Microsoft on the Stage (Schools Theatre)

Time Title
Wed
11:50 – 12:20		 Digital transformation of teaching and learning to support all
Wed
15:10 – 15:40		 Innovation Driven By Community
Thurs
11:45 – 12:15		 Improving outcomes through the use of technology in the classroom
Thurs
14:45 – 15:10		 Implementing digital transformation – Wimbledon High’s Journey
Fri
11:50 – 12:20		 Enriching and engaging learning in a challenging environment
Fri
15:10 – 15:40		 Learning Tool in Action:  Helping Students of all Abilities thrive at Louis Riel


Microsoft on the Stage (Higher and Further Education Theatre)

Time Title
Wed
11:50 – 12:20		 DigiLearn: Empowering transformational change in education
Wed
15:30 – 16:00		 Working better together: Using Microsoft Teams to embed digital skills at Newcastle University
Thurs
11:35 – 12:05		 Strategic Digital Transformation: A blueprint for adoption
Thurs
15:00 – 15:30		 A digital University by ethos and design – how the university of Bath is putting digital at its core
Fri
11:35 – 12:05		 Establishing a digital learning platform that works for all
Fri
15:00 – 15:30		 Transforming Teaching, Learning and Assessment using technology: empowering all learners to achieve more

Community Learning Center | Booth SM45 |Wednesday, 22 January – Saturday, 25 January

jp.ik and Microsoft have been partnering together for the last decade and gathered the necessary expertise in this vertical by implementing several large-scale sustainable projects around the world and impacting over 16 million students and 1 million teachers in over 70 countries. Throughout our journey we have been facing the lack of basic structures (schools), the lack of basic utilities (electricity and sanitation) and the lack of telecommunication network. This is why jp.ik, Microsoft and their partners have come together to create a Community Learning Center to empower rural areas and connect them throughout the entire globe.

We look forward to welcoming you in Booth SM45, located next to the Bett arena in the South Hall to discover our solar-powered, digitally connected Community Learning Center.

Microsoft Certifications Testing Lab | Platinum Suite 5 |Wednesday, 22 January – Saturday, 25 January

In partnership with Microsoft, Prodigy Learning is offering Bett 2020 attendees the opportunity to complete a Microsoft Certification Exam for FREE. We are delighted to announce the Microsoft Technical Certifications (MTC) in Azure Fundamentals, M365 Fundamentals & Dynamics Fundamentals. Learn more.

Microsoft Partner Adventure |Wednesday, 22 January – Saturday, 25 January

Take part in the Microsoft Partner Adventure and for a chance to WIN a Surface Pro, a Surface Go, or a 3rd party partner Windows device daily! Discover Microsoft’s unique off-campus partners and answer a question to reveal a code, scanned using the Bett app!  Participants will have to visit all 15 partner booths to answer all the questions, scan the QR codes.  Competition closes at 15:00 and winner drawn at 16:00 daily (Wed to Fri) and closes at 13:00 and winners drawn at 14:00 on Saturday in front of the Learn Live Theater on the Microsoft stand NF40. Winners must be present to collect their prizes.

Solutions Showcase | Platinum Suite 7 |Wednesday, 22 January & Thursday, 23 January, 10:30 – 16:15

Digital transformation is an indisputable force revolutionizing industries and reshaping the workplace. Education leaders around the globe are faced with the need to prepare students for this new world. These sessions are your opportunity to meet fellow practitioners and hear first-hand global experiences and trends and how these might help support you.  Learn more.

Microsoft Education Developer Platform and Data Solutions | Gallery Suite 8 |Wednesday, 22 January – Friday, 24 January

This free event features sessions in two tracks for technical audiences:

CIOs and IT Pros –

Come learn how Microsoft can integrate with your IT system and learning apps to save time and data management costs, protect student data privacy, and accelerate learning in the Classroom.

Application Developers and Microsoft Partners –

Come learn how Microsoft can help you create and deliver applications that empower learners and educators to achieve more.  Whether you are enhancing an existing application or building a new solution from scratch, Microsoft’s Education platform can help you facilitate deployment, maximize inclusion, increase engagement and improve outcomes.

Secure your seat and register for the sessions that you would like to attend. Learn more.

Transformation Leaders’ Summit | Platinum Suite 6 | Thursday, January 23, 10:30 – 13:00

Driving successful change is challenging whether in an individual school or system-wide. Across the world, leaders are discovering the most effective ways to improve student experience and outcomes, using technology to support learning, teaching and school administration. This Microsoft event aims to explore innovative, impactful journeys that leaders are taking to support their students, bringing together hands-on experience, networking opportunities and strategic insight for leaders at school and system-level. Learn more.

Privacy & Security Summit | Platinum Suite 6 | Friday, January 24, 10:30 – 14:00

Microsoft Worldwide EDU will be launching VIP invitation only CEO / CIO / CSO Privacy and Security Summit at the BETT conference. Subject matter experts from Microsoft product teams will be listening to customer feedback and discussing AI, Privacy and Security in K-12. Agenda will encompass discussions around student security on campus, trends for privacy in schools worldwide as well as how AI can drive positive impact. Learn more.

Become a Microsoft Global Training Partner | Platinum Suite 6 | Thursday, January 23, 13:30 – 15:30

Join this session to learn about the Microsoft Global Training Partner Program, explore how it fits your existing Professional Development training model and what are the partnership models possible with Microsoft. Learn more.

MakeCode Saturday | Platinum Suite 6 & 7 | Saturday, 25 January, 10:00 – 15:00

Microsoft MakeCode Saturday is a fun, hands-on workshop at BETT that is free and open to teachers, parents and students.  Microsoft MakeCode is an open source platform for creating engaging computer science learning experiences that support a progression path from Blocks into real-world programming. Learn more about MakeCode Saturday.

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Announcing Imagine Cup Junior – AI for Good Challenge

As technology continues to evolve, we are faced with an incredible opportunity to leverage the power of new solutions and human expertise to unlock some of the biggest challenges we face in society. It’s why Microsoft invests in AI for Good initiatives, which support and empower those working to address humanitarian, environmental and cultural challenges by creating a more sustainable and accessible world.

What’s more, we believe the future is in the hands of students around the world who are increasingly driven by a sense of purpose and who want to have a positive impact on the world and their communities. That’s why I am incredibly excited to share that we are bringing Imagine Cup Junior to secondary students worldwide, providing an opportunity for students to take part in a global challenge while learning about the power of Artificial Intelligence and its responsible use to change the world.

Introduction to Imagine Cup Junior 2020 from Anthony Salcito, Vice President, Microsoft Education

Video for Announcing Imagine Cup Junior – AI for Good Challenge

Imagine Cup Junior is an extension of the hugely popular Imagine Cup – a global competition that empowers the next generation of computer science students to team up and use their creativity, passion and knowledge of technology to create applications that shape how we live, work and play. The introduction of the Imagine Cup Junior challenge will now enable younger students, starting at age 13 up to 18, to learn about technology and come up with ideas for improving the world around them, while building 21st century skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.

This year’s challenge is focused on Artificial Intelligence and introducing students to Microsoft’s AI for Good initiatives so they can think of solutions to issues that matter to them. This includes AI for Humanitarian Action, AI for Earth, AI for Cultural Heritage and AI for Accessibility.

The challenge is designed to be approachable for all students and educators, and it does not require any existing knowledge of technology or cloud concepts. We’ve created a host of materials, including templates and AI resource guides, that will help make it easy for educators and students to participate. The beauty of Imagine Cup Junior is that students can be entirely new to the concept of AI and build the competence to continue learning about technology and its impact throughout their school years. And for those students eager to learn more, we’ve created an extra opportunity to get hands on with Azure and the Wick Editor to bring their concepts to life.

To get started, educators need to register at www.imaginecup.com/junior which will provide access to the Imagine Cup Junior resource kit including educator guides, student guides, templates and slides for the following modules:

  • Module 1         Fundamentals of AI
  • Module 2         Machine Learning
  • Module 3         AI Applications in Real Life
  • Module 4         Deep Learning and Neural Networks
  • Module 5         AI for Good

Included in the resource kit is a “Build your project in a day” kit, with videos from members of Microsoft’s Education, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud teams. This can be used in class to inspire students and coach them on how to get started, and perhaps even spark excitement to one day work in the field of AI. Students can participate in teams of between three to six people.

Registration opens today to allow educators time over the holidays to get creative with incorporating the challenge into class curriculum. Submissions for team projects will be open from February 3, 2020 and close April 17, 2020. To ensure the privacy of students, all submissions must be made by educators/instructors on behalf of their students. While we can’t wait to see ALL the amazing ideas of students around the world, Microsoft will be proud to recognize the top three ideas from each region – America’s, Asia, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). They will win a Windows 10 device and receive an Imagine Cup Junior trophy.

Challenge rules and regulations can be found here.

It is never too early to get started, and we hope by cultivating student creativity and passion for technology it will spark interest in and support the development of careers at the cutting edge of technology.

Register today at www.imaginecup.com/junior and empower students to truly change the world.

Open only to schools/instructor led clubs for students 13+. Game ends 4/17/20. For Official Rules, see here.

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Xbox Series X unveiled – our fastest, most powerful console ever

Xbox Game Studios unveils Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, a new chapter in the award-winning Hellblade story from Ninja Theory

For eighteen years and three console generations, the Xbox community has shown us the power both games and fun can have on all of us. As we enter a new generation of gaming, we see a future where you’re instantly absorbed in your games – where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising – and where you are at the center of your gaming experience. With the new Xbox Series X, we will realize that vision. 

Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you. Its industrial design enables us to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way, something that is critically important in delivering truly immersive gameplay. We also designed Xbox Series X to support both vertical and horizontal orientation. It’s bold and unique, very much like our fans around the world and the team of collaborators and innovators who built it.

The name Xbox is an expression of our deep history in gaming, our team’s unrelenting passion, and our commitment to both our fans and the future of gaming at Microsoft. It also signifies our belief that a gaming console should be for just that – gaming.

Alongside Xbox Series X, we also unveiled the new Xbox Wireless Controller. Its size and shape have been refined to accommodate an even wider range of people, and it also features a new Share button to make capturing screenshots and game clips simple and an advanced d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.

The possibilities of what Xbox Series X enables developers to achieve was also brought to life this evening with the unveiling of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. A sequel to the award-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice from world-renowned developers Ninja Theory, the game is being built to leverage the full power of Xbox Series X.  The footage shared tonight was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJWI4bkD9ZM?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]

Bringing Developers’ Dreams to Life with Xbox Series X

Games today deliver amazing visuals and tell an array of different and deep stories.  That’s why, when we started work on Xbox Series X, it was vital we continue to advance state-of-the-art visual capabilities for developers, while also ensuring they could realize even greater feeling, emotion and empathy in their games. With Xbox Series X, we will elevate the way games look, play and feel. We will also remove the technical barriers faced in previous generations and enable developers to create more expansive, immersive gaming worlds that invite more players to play. 

From a technical standpoint, this will manifest as world-class visuals in 4K at 60FPS, with possibility of up to 120FPS, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K capability. Powered by our custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from our partners at AMD, Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing and a new level of performance never before seen in a console.  Additionally, our patented Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology will allow developers to get even more out of the Xbox Series X GPU and our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before.

We are minimizing latency by leveraging technology such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and giving developers new functionality like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to make Xbox Series X the most responsive console ever.  Xbox Series X is also designed for a future in the cloud, with unique capabilities built into the hardware and software to make it as easy as possible to bring great games to both console and elsewhere. Xbox Series X will deliver a level of fidelity and immersion unlike anything that’s been achieved in previous console generations.   

One Console, Four Generations of Gaming

One of the things we’re most proud of with Xbox Series X is the promise we’re delivering to our fans who have and continue to invest with Xbox. Thanks to backward compatibility, you can expect your gaming legacy, thousands of your favorite games across four generations of gaming, all your Xbox One gaming accessories, and industry-leading services like Xbox Game Pass to be available when you power on your Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020.

Building on our compatibility promise, with Xbox Series X we’re also investing in consumer-friendly pathways to game ownership across generations. Leading the way with our first-party titles including Halo Infinite in 2020, we’re committed to ensuring that games from Xbox Game Studios support cross-generation entitlements and that your Achievements and game saves are shared across devices.  As we branch out and extend gaming to more players around the world, console gaming will remain at the heart of our Xbox offering.  Game creators around the globe are already hard at work building content for Xbox Series X and our 15 Xbox Game Studios are developing the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history. On behalf of Team Xbox, we’re excited to enter the future of console gaming with you and can’t wait to share more in 2020.

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In Culture podcast series: Go behind the scenes with change makers harnessing technology to shape the future

Todd Whitney

Todd Whitney is a podcast producer, editor, and sound designer exploring audio in a variety of spaces. Since 2012, he’s produced stories for NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin and reported on waste, cultures, and change for KALW’s Crosscurrents. He’s also directed audio fiction and produced food travelogues for Audible Originals. Beyond the podcast space, he’s an avid hacker-maker, whose current work centers around building soil moisture sensors.