For nearly a decade, you’ve helped shape the learning experiences of countless students and educators with Windows 10. We wish to express our gratitude and appreciation for the ways you’ve used Windows 10 to empower learners, leaders, and intuitions to transform education. Thank you for being an integral part of our mission to enable equitable education for all. 

We encourage you to transition to Windows 11 sooner than later, and we’re here to help you plan your move. Learn about the options you have to smoothly transition to Windows 11, including extended protection for Windows 10 devices that may need more time to transition.   

What does Windows 10 end of support mean?

End of support means that Microsoft will no longer provide bug fixes for issues, security fixes for vulnerabilities, time zone updates, or technical support for problems that might occur.   

As noted on the Windows 10 release information page, version 22H2 is the final version of Windows 10. All editions of Windows 10, version 22H2 will remain in support with monthly security updates through October 14, 2025.    

Transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 to meet your needs 

Windows 11 helps every learner do their best work with easy-to-use tools built right in and ready to go from the first day—all in a secure and trusted environment. Windows 11 security features are enabled by default, providing protection for your school’s devices and peace of mind. The accessibility features and AI improvements built into Windows 11 help educators personalize learning and meet the needs of all students.  

In addition to upgrading eligible PCs to Windows 11 using  Microsoft Intune, your options to adopt Windows 11 include:  

• Upgrade eligible PCs to Windows 11.  
• Purchase new modern Windows 11 Pro PCs.  
• Move to Windows 11 on a Cloud PC with Windows 365.    

As we continue to develop Windows 11 for education, along with a wide range of devices from our partners, we remain dedicated to creating products that help all students access the tools and support they need to explore new opportunities and succeed in their learning. Find the perfect learning device at a low cost from Microsoft Education.  

Windows 11 helps every learner do their best work with easy-to-use tools built right in and ready to go from the first day.    

Take advantage of the Extended Security Update program for Windows 10 

We encourage you to switch to Windows 11, but we recognize that some situations might not allow you to upgrade your Windows 10 devices before the EOS date. For this reason, Microsoft will provide Extended Security Updates (ESU). The ESU for Windows 10 is designed to provide you with peace of mind as you migrate to Windows 11 and identify Windows 10 PCs that need more time to transition.   

• Devices enrolled in ESU can receive monthly security updates but no feature or other updates.  
• Similar to the Windows 7 ESU program, you will be able to purchase yearly subscriptions to security updates, renewable for up to three years.  
• Windows 365 customers, as well as those that run Windows 10 in an Azure Virtual Desktop, will receive ESU at no additional charge.   

To help you plan a successful transition, we’re offering special education pricing for the Windows 10 ESU program:  

• ESU pricing¹ for Microsoft education customers will be $1 per license for the first year, $2 the following year, and $4 the third year to ensure institutions receive the support they need.    
• This offer is extended to all education customers, including K-12 and Higher Education.   

We know educators and students have experienced great benefits with Windows 10 and there’s even more to love with Windows 11, including built-in accessibility features on devices that are secure, easy to deploy, and manage. We look forward to helping you plan your transition to Windows 11 and supporting you on your journey.   

We’ll continue to share updates about Windows 10 EOS and in the meantime, visit Lifecycle FAQ for Windows for more details. Additionally, more information on the ESU program will be shared later as availability and Windows 10 EOS approach. Read the Tech Community Blog on Windows 10 EOS or our visit the Windows Tech Community for more details on ESU enrollment. Looking for support? Visit Windows on Microsoft Q&A.  

Microsoft 365, Windows devices, and comprehensive security combine to help schools and classrooms worldwide accelerate learning, improve efficiency, and enable equitable education. Learn about a suite of products that provide a comprehensive solution for everyone at your school, from educators to students to admins.    

¹All prices are in US dollars. Regional prices will vary based on foreign exchange rates at the moment of ordering SKUs. 

The post Windows 10 end of support updates for education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

The following three resources will help create a smooth transition into the new school year, and each video will take less than two minutes to watch—about the time it takes to brew a cup of coffee. So, sit back, relax, and dive in!

1. Help enable hybrid classrooms with Microsoft Teams and Windows devices

Together, Windows devices and Microsoft 365 technologies create a powerful platform that supports any learning environment. They work seamlessly together, allowing applications like Teams to bring conversations, content, assignments, and video lessons into one convenient and secure location. Teams features, such as Breakout Rooms and Whiteboard, help recreate in-person learning experiences while enabling educators and IT administrators to control settings to keep students focused and engaged. Check out the video below to learn more.

2. Get familiar with Insights in Teams

Insights in Microsoft Teams provides immediate analytics of participants’ progress and activity within a class, which helps educators better monitor and understand their students’ engagement, progress, and academic and emotional well-being right away or over time. With easily digestible visualizations, educators receive meaningful data to make faster, more informed decisions about their learning communities—helping to ensure students’ individual needs are being met.

3. Send Praise Badges to acknowledge student achievements

Did you know there’s a special way to celebrate your students in Teams? Use Praise Badges to recognize and reinforce students’ effort, growth, and achievements. Praise Badges can foster meaningful connections between educators and students and spotlight daily student wins or progress, while acknowledging and encouraging improvements in social-emotional learning.

As education continues to evolve, so will our technology and classrooms. Microsoft will be there every step of the way, with technology that bring teachers and students together wherever they are and however they work best. If you haven’t already signed up for Teams, head over to our Teams page to get started for free. And to learn more about the affordable educational tools and technology that can help empower learning success, visit the Windows devices page.

The post 3 tips to help enrich your students’ learning experience appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

As they move forward to implement recovery plans, they want to build on these investments while filling recession-driven budget gaps. To support these goals, new government stimulus funds may be available to purchase technology that can better engage students from wherever school happens. Visit the U.S. Department of Education website to learn more.

Hybrid learning—here to stay?

Many institutions imagine a future where hybrid learning is here to stay. According to a RAND Corporation survey, 10 percent of district leaders have adopted or are considering a long-term hybrid instructional model, and another 19 percent said they were considering ongoing remote instruction.

Many find that technology adopted for remote learning has long-term value to spark new experiences and levels of engagement. At the same time, schools must ensure high levels of security and privacy. Institutions are meeting these needs with Microsoft Surface devices, giving faculty, staff, and students the freedom to teach and learn from anywhere while staying highly secure and productive. 

For example, Morehouse College improved collaboration, productivity, and equity by offering Surface Go 2 devices to all students. Shelby County Public Schools took the same approach to overcome multifaceted educational challenges. Microsoft brings a strong focus on technology accessibility and inclusion to help meet diverse student needs. 

Better learning for every student

In today’s digital, physical, remote, and hybrid classrooms, teachers need new ways to help every student achieve more. Providing them with natural ways to work can help. Touchscreens support intuitive interactions for every student, whether they’re Pre-K or postgrad. Digital inking offers the versatility to sketch ideas, take notes, or do math equations. The Surface family of devices offer rich, responsive interactions like these to help drive student success.

With 2-in-1 devices like Surface Go 2, students can quickly move from writing essays using the keyboard to navigating the web with touch and inking on the screen. These devices are also lightweight and portable for even the youngest students, and they feature a sleek design everyone can appreciate. With all-day battery life and optional LTE, students have the flexibility to keep learning from anywhere. 

Microsoft Surface devices also empower school districts to choose solutions that meet their unique needs. With the Surface Laptop Go, the features most loved by Surface Laptop customers have arrived in a smaller, more affordable design built to fit school budgets. It’s lighter than most textbooks, yet powerful enough to run essential education apps. 

Creating the classroom of the future, today

Many classrooms of the future will follow a hybrid model, mixing remote and in-person learning—a perfect scenario for the Surface Hub 2S large-format digital whiteboard and the Microsoft Teams collaboration environment. Together Mode in Teams puts remote participants in a shared digital space, reducing distraction and creating a connected class experience. 

By unifying in-person and remote participants, hybrid learning becomes more seamless and engaging. This is just one example of the many Teams features that can bring hybrid learning to life. 

Secure and manageable for the long term

Of course, for schools to use any technology, it must meet strict security and privacy requirements. Surface devices feature modern, chip-to-cloud security. Updates are pushed out automatically, helping to ensure that every user has the latest protections. By adding Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection and Microsoft Endpoint Manager (sold separately), schools can identify and mitigate attacks to prevent data loss and unify device management.

The busy IT departments responsible for managing the transition to remote and hybrid learning can breathe a sigh of relief. Surface devices are easy to deploy and manage. Windows Autopilot provides zero-touch deployment so students, faculty, and staff can set up their devices without help from IT and start using them from day one. Using Microsoft Endpoint Manager, IT administrators can manage all of their district’s devices from one place so they can focus on supporting new forms of learning. 

Microsoft is committed to supporting educational institutions as they move from recovery to reimagining. To learn more, watch the webinars about building transformative device strategies for hybrid learning in K-12 and higher education. To find out more about purchasing Surface devices, connect with a Microsoft partner today.

The post Microsoft Surface devices support the next phase of learning appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

One school system that quickly embraced remote and hybrid learning technology is Onslow County Schools. The North Carolina school district, home to 27,000 students ranging from kindergarten through high school, had already been using Microsoft Teams before COVID-19 started. This enabled both students and staff to quickly adjust when Onslow shifted to remote learning last spring. The district also took swift steps to put new technology in place, adopting a range of Windows 10 devices for every student and educator in the district. Along with a team of dedicated educators and school leaders, these technologies allowed the district transition to remote and hybrid learning environments.

Security, affordability, and relevant professional development resources were important factors when the district considered when which devices and online learning platforms to use.

Security: A secure and reliable learning environment was paramount for Onslow County when selecting the technology for the district. “It was important for us to know that Teams is extremely secure. We had to be aware of CIPA and COPPA compliance,” said Stephen Taylor, Director of Digital Learning and Teaching at Onslow County Schools, referring to the Child Internet Protection Act and the Child Online Privacy and Protection Act. “Microsoft helps give us peace of mind that we’re meeting those regulations.” 

Though the district had implemented Teams well before school closures, the platform’s strong security features became even more important during this time. With features like Hard Mute and Student Lobby, Onslow was able to keep students secure no matter the learning environment. These tools have helped many educators maintain a structured, supervised classroom at every point in the learning journey.

Affordability: Teams allowed students, educators, and staff members at Onslow to be on the same, easy-to-use learning platform. And to access this critical online learning platform, the district needed devices. Windows 10 offered a range of devices that were affordable enough to be distributed at scale across Onslow County.

Together with Windows 10 devices, Teams provide a learning solution tailored to fit the diverse needs of each classroom. “On the first day of school, I walked past classroom after classroom of teachers using Microsoft Teams to host their hybrid learning classes without a hitch,” said Erin Holland, a Digital Learning and Teaching Services facilitator for Onslow County. 

Professional development: It’s more important than ever for educators to feel comfortable and confident using technology to facilitate different learning environments. Microsoft offers a variety of free training and professional development resources to help educators gain the technical proficiency they need to focus on what they do best: connecting with students.

“We wanted to keep the focus on instruction,” said Holland. “With Teams, teachers can provide direct instruction to both groups of students synchronously, and they can monitor student progress every day. That element of consistency was incredibly important.” She said that while other counties closed school for several days or even weeks, Onslow County was able to continue teaching grades three to 12 using Teams after just one day of transition, thanks to the ongoing professional learning opportunities.

As schools like those in Onslow County shift back to hybrid and in-person settings, dependable devices and engaging learning platforms will remain as important as ever. With Windows 10 devices and Microsoft Teams, schools can help student learn from anywhere. 

Learn more about how your school can follow Onslow County’s lead and continue to create engaging classrooms in any learning environment.

The post Supporting the digital classroom with technology built for education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

That’s why we set out to reimagine the Microsoft Classroom Pen. For us, reducing pen costs while keeping the inclusive design fit for students of any age was of utmost importance. And on April 27, to continue empowering educators and students to achieve more, we will be proud to launch Microsoft Classroom Pen 2.

Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 is optimized for use with Surface Go and Surface Pro and enables students of all ages to write and draw naturally on their screens via an improved design and longer enclosure. The durable pen tip is replaceable, and it’s easy to prevent loss with a built-in slot for a tether or the clip that attaches to Surface Type Covers. And even with those improvements, the Classroom Pen 2 is only half the cost of the original.

Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 will be available exclusively to education institutions starting on April 27, 2021. It will be sold in packs of 20 for $399.80 USD ($19.99 per pen) and includes batteries and replacement pen tips.

Learn more about Surface in Education at Surface.com/Education and connect with a local Surface Education reseller in your market.

The post Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 empowers every student to achieve more appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Just ask Davis County School District, a district outside of Salt Lake City that used Microsoft’s professional development trainings to prepare educators for the shift to hybrid learning. Davis is the smallest county in Utah by land area, but it is home to 90 schools and approximately 72,900 students. And like countless other school districts around the world, Davis County spent last summer getting ready for a shift to hybrid learning in the fall.

In preparation, the district quickly scaled up technology in May of 2020, deploying nearly 75,000 Windows 10 devices to students and incorporating Canvas, a collaborative learning management system that integrates with Microsoft Teams. These technologies were critical to facilitating the move from remote to hybrid learning, in which about half of the district’s students would be in-person and half would be remote. It also meant that the district needed widespread professional development training for educators to help use the new devices and technology.

The school’s Director of Teaching and Learning, Belinda Kuck, understood that it was not enough for Davis County School District to have innovative education technology—its educators needed to understand how to use it to its full potential. Along with a team of IT administrators and curriculum leaders, Kuck encouraged educators to master the new technology over the summer to ensure they were fully prepared when hybrid learning started in the fall.

Microsoft’s free professional development resources help educators understand how to use various learning tools, like Teams. These sessions are available in a variety of different formats—from tailored one-on-one sessions with certified trainers to self-guided courses in the Microsoft Educator Center—so that district leaders like Kuck can select the trainings that meet each school’s needs. The trainings are designed to help educators make the most of Microsoft tools and continue teaching students seamlessly.

We focused on making the educator the center of the training and gave them the opportunity to bring in their own unique styles.

Belinda Kuck, Director of Teaching and Learning, Davis County School District

At Davis, educators learned not only how to operate different devices and platforms, but to successfully structure and deliver coursework for remote and hybrid learning environments. “We focused on making the educator the center of the training and gave them the opportunity to bring in their own unique styles,” Kuck said.

The trainings worked, quickly and easily equipping educators to teach in the new environment and guide students who had questions about the technology. “In one week, we re-trained the entire district’s educators,” Kuck said. Though the district has since shifted back to in-person learning given low COVID-19 cases in the community, the trainings are just as relevant for in-classroom teaching and ensure that educators are prepared to go back to remote or hybrid learning if needed. The district is also continuing to offer professional development trainings so educators can stay up-to-date on Teams, share ideas, and foster collaboration.

With greater confidence and competency with technology, educators can support their students in any environment—whether in front of a whiteboard or behind a screen. Learn more about Windows 10 devices and free training today.

The post Free educator training helps build confidence during hybrid learning appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

At BettFest 2021, we’ll be showcasing partners with solutions for your remote and hybrid learning challenges. From controls to manage digital classrooms and minimize disruptions, to solutions that enable secure learning environments—all available on affordable Windows 10 devices—you’ll find just the right Microsoft Education partner to help you make the most of your learning environments.

Providing teachers with controls to manage digital classrooms and minimize disruptions

• Beedle: This comprehensive set of education tools makes it easy for teachers to manage learning without ever leaving Microsoft Teams. Beedle includes an interactive class list and diary, daily planning tool linked to a calendar, attendance and assessment tracking (incorporating assignments in Microsoft Teams), and a linked curriculum builder. Teachers can store digital lesson resources, organise their daily work, share content with colleagues and students, mark attendance, grade assessments, and create curriculum-assessment frameworks—all within Microsoft Teams. In addition, a stand-alone Guardian app allows parents and carers to track attendance, receive messages from teachers, see assessment grades, and more.
• Dugga: Dugga is a total assessment solution used by teachers worldwide for all types of tests, exams, homework, assignments, and home exams all in one place. This easy-to-use solution lets teachers create, plan, and schedule all types of assessments ahead of time. There are many different question types to choose from, including for math and science. Teachers can select different security and monitoring options from open exam and plagiarism analysis to full lockdown and AI (artificial intelligence) proctoring. Teachers can insert videos, upload documents, use auto scoring, auto grading, and much more. Dugga can be used via the Dugga app in Microsoft Teams and with Microsoft 365.
• Go1: Go1 makes it easy to search, consume, share, and discuss many different types of learning content—like SCORM, video, etc.—all within Microsoft Teams.
• Lexplore: In just three minutes, Lexplore uses eye-tracking and AI to provide an accurate, objective reading assessment that helps enable all students get the right level of reading support. While traditional assessments take 30-60 minutes per child, Lexplore provides similar reading insights in a fraction of the time. Integrated with Microsoft Teams, Lexplore shows a unique reading profile for all students, even those who are non-verbal.
• Corinth by Lifeliqe: Corinth makes it exciting to learn science with 1,500+ interactive 3D, AR, and VR models. The scientifically verified 3D content can be quickly shared in the classroom, and the Office 365 integration makes it easy to create engaging 3D resources for teachers and students in Teams, OneNote, PowerPoint, or Word. Corinth is powered by Lifeliqe, making it available for third-party licensing.
• Ment.io: This next-generation discussion board promotes deeper learning and equal opportunities in education, offering structured, easy-to-read discussions and empowering analytics and seamless student assessment.
• Squigl: Squigl helps educators engage their classroom​ in five minutes or less with fully enabled quizzing and interactivity features built into Teams, driving engagement, and improving retention.
• Wakelet: Wakelet allows you to save, organize, and present multimedia content with your students, teachers, and learning communities. Educators around the world use Wakelet to create engaging newsletters, lesson plans, and portfolios along with many other accessible, stunning collections!

Keeping students and data secure

• 3DBear: 3DBear offers a turnkey solution for virtual learning environments. With AR and VR, you can teach skills remotely, giving K-12 students vocational school project-based and hands-on learning. From teacher training academies, to qualification, to creating lessons in VR/AR, a wide variety of pedagogical content modules can be tailored to unique classroom needs.
• Edsby: Edsby is a comprehensive, integrated K-12 learning management system (LMS) and data platform that engages students, parents, and teachers on all their devices, giving school districts, states, provinces, and national governments powerful new ways to facilitate K-12 digital transformations.
• Impero: Impero class:room is a classroom management system fully embedded within Teams, enabling teachers to view and control devices, and empowering teachers to deliver engaging lessons and drive student attainment in a hybrid teaching, multi-location environment. This scalable classroom management software is built on Microsoft Azure and is operating system agnostic, with native apps for all major operating systems.
• Kortext: Students and universities want access to their textbooks and other relevant content in digital form as easily as possible. Now, universities across the world can provide an enhanced learning experience and equip students with the digital resources for their courses from day one. With full Teams integration, Kortext ensures consistency of experience and equity of access and opportunity, leaving no student behind.
• Lightspeed Systems: Lightspeed Systems® has been a trusted partner to schools for over 20 years. Our solutions, rooted in expertise and innovation, empower you to better educate and safeguard your students. Our suite of solutions includes patented technology imagined and designed exclusively for education. In partnerships with schools around the world, we’ve innovated continuously to scale student safety from the classroom to the cloud- with cloud-based filtering, classroom management, MDM, and student and app Analytics solutions.
• Senso.Cloud: Offering numerous powerful tools, from remote device management, asset utilization reporting, classroom management, and web filtering to student well-being and remote teaching, Senso.Cloud is a truly cloud-based solution that offers many tools in a centralized real-time web portal. With a particular focus on Microsoft Teams chat safeguarding, Senso.Cloud uses an AI-based visual threat detection engine to monitor chat and inspects images for visual threats, alerting you when a violation is detected.
• School Day: When students feel better, they learn better. School Day asks students questions about their well-being, analyzes the data, and provides real-time insights. The service highlights what’s going well in the classroom and provides easily implementable solutions. From the classroom to the school and district level, School Day helps students and educators around the world learn how well-being can improve learning outcomes.
• Skooler: Skooler Learning Tools is a K-12 learning tool solution built around Microsoft 365 and hosted in Microsoft Azure. It enhances the powerful functionality and workflow of Teams, OneNote, Word, PowerPoint, and more to meet the unique needs of education for online and in-class education.

Affordable Windows 10 devices offer remote and hybrid learning solutions

• Acer: Acer for Education empowers teachers and students with reliable and tailored technology to support better learning and fuel creativity.
• ASUSTek Computer Inc.: ASUSTek Computer Inc. helps cultivate the minds of the next generation with student-centered technology to enable progressive and innovative learning in an ever-changing world.
• Dell: Enable anywhere, anytime learning with Dell’s purpose-built devices, thoughtfully designed and rigorously tested to endure the demands of student use. With world-class durability, ease of serviceability, and flexible form factors, educators are empowered to help transform teaching and learning for the digital age.
• HP Education Solutions: Enable learning for everyone, everywhere, with Windows laptops solutions for every type of teaching and learning.
• jp.ik: Currently present in more than 70 countries, jp.ik is leading the innovation of technology-based solutions for education, partnering with the main market players. jp.ik has already led the implementation of more than 20 large-scale educational projects, reached more than 16 million students, and capacitated more than 300 thousand teachers.
• Kano Code: Introduce coding in a simple and fun manner, with guided tooltips and challenges. Learn to code with blocks (similar to Scratch) or typed, colorful Javascript code. If you can read, you can code with Kano apps.
• Lenovo: Lenovo’s innovative technology and software empower educators, parents, and students to build connections that inspire learning beyond the classroom.

See you at BettFest 2021!

We look forward to meeting you virtually during BettFest (it’s free to register), and to sharing all the latest solutions from our Microsoft Education partners. Be sure to download our updated Microsoft Education partner solutions brochure and visit us at the Microsoft Hub to discover the many ways Microsoft Education and our partners can help energize your teaching in 2021.

The post BettFest 2021: Energize classrooms with the help of Microsoft partners appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Schools and systems had to respond to the crisis quickly, transition to the new school year, and are reimagining education for the future—all with a focus on student-centered learning, critical skills, social learning, safety and security, and scalability to bring pedagogy and technology together.

Today more than ever, powerful devices, collaborative environments, analytical tools, and immersive experiences are critical, and we’re excited to announce new devices and features for collaboration and social-emotional learning.

New for the next school year: Keeping students engaged with affordable, connected, and secure Windows 10 devices

One of the key lessons of the past year has been that learning can happen anywhere. Affordable, easy-to-use devices are critical to empowering all students on their learning journey.

In a recent survey, 61% of teachers selected “Better devices” and/or “Better internet access” as a primary way to improve remote learning for students. @MicrosoftEdu – Click To Tweet

At BettFest, we’re unveiling an expanded portfolio of new Windows 10 devices for the upcoming school year, many with LTE connectivity. These are the most affordable LTE connected partner devices in the portfolio yet, with the ability to power engaging, collaborative learning experiences anytime and anywhere.

The devices are*:

• Acer TravelMate Spin B3, starting at $329
• Acer TravelMate B3, starting at $239
• Asus ExpertBook BR1100, starting at $279
• JP-IK Leap Connect T304, starting at $229
• JP-IK Leap T304, starting at $185

*LTE capability available at additional cost, in addition to data plan purchase. Device availability may vary by market.

To stay connected and engaged in remote and hybrid learning environments, students need a device with all-day battery life, an HD camera, and a high-quality mic, as well as the speed, power, and storage to keep up with their inquisitive minds. One of the most unique models in our portfolio is the new Dell Latitude 3120 2-in-1, which puts the power of learning in students’ hands with the latest Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.

To learn more about the full portfolio of Windows 10 devices, take a look at the device catalog.

Adding interface options and improving learning outcomes with the updated Microsoft Pen

Students have become used to keyboards and touchscreens, but for tasks like working out a math problem, jotting notes, or drawing a diagram, a pen can be the best tool. In fact, research shows that student performance improved as much as 36 percent¹ when using a pen interface, compared to using only a keyboard.

We’re excited to announce an updated Microsoft Classroom Pen. The Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 has a longer enclosure and the same great experiences you are used to, at the more affordable price of $19.99 US MSRP. Now, more students can have the option to type, touch, or write—whichever works best for them and for their specific learning situation.

Prioritizing student well-being and inclusive learning environments

Today, more than 200 million students, faculty, institutional leaders, and teachers are actively using Microsoft Education products—with Microsoft Teams for Education as the hub—to engage students in remote and hybrid learning.

Recently, we completed a survey with YouGov² that asked more than 1,500 students and 1,500 teachers in the US, the UK, and India to share their perspectives about remote and hybrid learning. Teachers said that the most important information they need to support students during remote learning is to understand what complexities they face in their lives, their emotional state, and what motivates them.

With Reflect, an app that is available now directly in Microsoft Teams, educators can deepen the critical student/teacher relationship and help develop social emotional skills by checking in with individual students and inviting them to share how they are feeling in general or about specific topics, such as learning from home, an assignment, current events, or a change within their community. Starting this spring, Reflect will be updated to have its own app in Teams, and will integrate with Education Insights.

Last year proved that everything can change without warning. In education, the importance of personal connection was highlighted, the integration of technology was accelerated, and the role of teachers was amplified. It’s encouraging to see the dedication to moving learning forward, toward a future where all students have the opportunity, the support, and the tools to be creative, confident, and optimistic learners, realizing their full potential.

As always, we love hearing from you and value your feedback. To join the conversation, follow us on Twitter at @MicrosoftEDU. And register for BettFest, a free, three-day virtual event packed full of inspiring keynotes, professional development, and solution discovery with education leaders and industry experts.

Thank you for being on this journey with us!

^{1. Oviatt, Sharon. “Pen? Keyboard? Voice? Touch? Computer interfaces and their impact on learning.” Microsoft Education: Pages 6–7. https://edudownloads.azureedge.net/msdownloads/Microsoft-Oviatt-Paper.pdf}

2. “Learning Forward” Teacher/Student survey commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by YouGov, December 2020 among 1500 teachers and 1500 students in the US, UK, and India.

The post BettFest 2021: Engaging every learner, anytime and anywhere appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

• Build confidence in remote and hybrid teaching
• Focus on student-centered learning and inclusion
• Maintain student engagement and well-being
• Manage affordable devices and tools

Join Microsoft at the Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) in January and the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) convention in February, where we will offer sessions and live demos featuring tips from Microsoft Innovative Educators (MIEs), school leaders, and Microsoft experts. We’re also hosting a virtual booth where you can connect with our team, view content, and more.

Be sure to check out Microsoft sessions hosted by Leslie Fisher, who will share insights about using free Microsoft Education tools to help you in the classroom.

Hear the latest about your favorite Microsoft technologies, including new features in Microsoft Teams, affordable Windows devices, and classroom tools like OneNote, Forms, and Flipgrid, just to name a few.

Below are a few highlights from our session schedule. To view the complete schedules, visit Microsoft@FETC and Microsoft@TCEA. If you registered for either event, the Microsoft sessions will be available on-demand for 30 days following the conclusion of the conference.

FETC: A free interactive online event | January 26 – 29, 2021

If you registered for the conference, you may access sessions you missed on demand.

TCEA Convention and Exposition | February 1 – 6, 2021

Registration for FETC is free this year, but you must secure your virtual ticket. Special online event pricing is available for TCEA.

Learn more about resources and tools for educators and sign up for our newsletter. If you can’t attend either of the conferences, visit the Microsoft Educator Center anytime for on-demand training and resources.

The post Join Microsoft Education at FETC and TCEA 2021 appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

One example of an institution embracing technology is Frenship Independent School District (ISD). The district, which offers professional certifications and language learning programs, used both Windows 10 devices and Microsoft Teams to manage the shift to remote learning this fall. Before the shift, Frenship ISD had provided student access through a combination of individual devices, computer labs, and “device carts” where devices could be checked in and out to give students access to technology.

When Superintendent Dr. Michelle McCord understood that Frenship ISD would be fully remote this fall, she wanted to keep the technology check-out system at the Texas district alive on a larger scale. She worked with the district’s tech department to create a library system for their devices, which were primarily Dell Latitude 3190 computers but also included other Windows 10 devices. Students in the district could select a device that fit their learning needs, use it for the semester and check it back in when they completed their program.

“We fulfilled everyone’s requests. Everybody that needed a device or support for accessing Microsoft systems got it,” said Dr. McCord. The district paired the devices with Microsoft Teams to facilitate collaboration, maintaining a supportive learning environment for students.

With Windows 10 devices and Microsoft Teams connecting students and educators, Frenship ISD is prepared to handle whatever happens in the spring semester and beyond. “We’re ready at any time for a short-term closure, virtual learning, or face-to-face learning,” said Joe Barnett, the district’s Chief Technology Officer. “Blended learning is more of what I think is going to occur. I anticipate students transitioning from one instructional model to the other, and that’s what we really wanted to be prepared for.”

McCord expects the device check-out system will be lasting. “We’re never going to go back to the way it was before,” she explains. “We’re going to keep using this technology so we can be even more productive and stay connected. This will allow us to continue to remain committed to our core beliefs and serve every learner, no matter the circumstance.”

Though we don’t know what this semester will bring for education, we do know that having the right technology is critical as school systems transition to different learning environments. Windows 10 devices and tools like Teams are built to support the success of your school system.

Learn more about affordable Windows 10 devices and find the right fit for your school’s unique technology needs.

The post Affordable Windows 10 devices help students learn from anywhere appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Bringing the online classroom to life for students

1. It’s important for students to see their teacher and classmates at the same time during remote learning. That’s why Teams expanded to a 7×7 Gallery View, allowing up to 49 students to be visible on video at one time.
2. Another way to mimic the classroom setting is through Together Mode. An alternative to Gallery View, this feature has brought students out of their individual tiles and transported them into a shared setting—whether that’s a virtual auditorium, conference room, or coffee shop.
3. A smaller setting can also help foster student participation. Breakout Rooms have helped students work within smaller groups for a discussion or assignment, just like they would in an in-person classroom.
4. The new Spotlight feature has allowed teachers to control the main video feed that students see during class. This can help students focus on the presenter, rather than on the many faces on the screen.
5. It has also been critical to provide students with the right devices during remote and hybrid learning. Windows 10 devices have been crucial in giving reliable, secure technology to learn from anywhere.

Staying organized and productive while teaching and learning from home

6. Education Insights in Microsoft Teams uses at-a-glance data views to catch teachers up on their students’ activity, from turning in assignments to engaging in class conversations. The Insights dashboard can save teachers time in planning, giving feedback to students, and providing help.
7. Microsoft Lists have made it easy for both teachers and students to stay organized, assign responsibilities, manage their schedules, and more. These virtual to-do lists provide a simple and smart way to make sure everyone meets their deadlines.
8. Teachers can use the Rubrics tool in Assignments to create customizable, reusable rubrics. These help students understand the criteria they’ll be graded against and enable teachers to better evaluate their students’ work.
9. Assignment Notifications have allowed teachers to notify students about upcoming assignments, giving teachers more flexibility in how they choose to communicate with students and assign them projects.

Supporting students and developing their social-emotional learning

10. Technology can play a key part in developing social-emotional learning (SEL) from home. SEL-specific Praise Badges and Stickers have helped teachers recognize student social skills, grow emotional vocabulary, and give valuable recognition to the daily wins in their students’ learning.
11. It can be difficult to gauge well-being during remote learning, but with tools like Reflect Messaging in Teams, educators can create a quick check-in to get insights on their students and offer support as needed.
12. To spread positivity and encouragement, teachers can share Kindness Cards with students. Each virtual card has ideas, reminders, or inspiration that teachers can use to model kind behavior.
13. Many milestone moments for students, like graduation ceremonies and sports finals, were cancelled this spring. Graduation Kits gave students a chance to virtually celebrate their accomplishments at the end of the school year, and Orientation Kits helped students with the return to school through online welcome and information sessions.

Preparing students for the future while still having (virtual) fun

14. Many summer camps were canceled due to social distancing recommendations, so Microsoft created Passport to Digital Fun, a free virtual summer camp with weeks of interactive workshops. We also created winter camps to keep students engaged and learning during the winter break.
15. Students from around the world imagined solutions to some of today’s most pressing issues through a virtual coding competition with Minecraft: Education Edition.
16. To keep students engaged during online learning in other ways, we hosted multiple events such as Global Learning Week, Hack the Classroom, Hour of Code, Imagine Cup Junior, and Global Read Aloud, each attended by thousands of students and educators from around the world. Teachers have also been empowered to create their own virtual events through Flipgrid, which offers advanced features such as augmented reality and video blogs.
17. We participated in incredible partnerships to help make online learning fun for students. Learn more about our exciting collaborations with NASA, Wonder Woman 1984, the Smithsonian museums, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Building community among educators

18. We’ve been inspired by educators’ drive to learn and grow amid this year’s challenges, including through Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) programs. This community of educators has continued to thrive as teachers shared their experiences and resources.
19. Throughout the year, we participated in a variety of in-person and virtual events for teachers, including BETT, EDUCAUSE, Education Transformation Summit, and ISTE20 Live. Each of these events helped educators find community, support, and resources during an unpredictable year.
20. Global connections were perhaps more important in this year than any. Microsoft continued to build connections with educator communities, seeking to empower teachers with training resources through the Microsoft Educator Center and events like the Global Training Partners Summit, where Microsoft-trained educators help others around the world meet their unique challenges.

We will carry each of these highlights with us as we look to 2021, and hope you will too. We are optimistic about what the next year will bring for the Microsoft Education community—and know that we will continue to learn and grow together.

The post 20 ways classrooms came together in 2020 with Microsoft Education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

ISTE20 Live is here! And while we’ll miss the in-person interaction of past gatherings, Microsoft Education is excited to share what we’re bringing to this year’s virtual, immersive, and interactive event. With four partner sessions and the release of our latest Microsoft Education Solutions Brochure, you’ll be able to find just the right Microsoft Education partner solution for remote and hybrid learning.

Find the right partner

The right tools can enable teachers to create inclusive classrooms to improve learning outcomes for students. It also helps teachers save time so they can focus on bringing lessons to life—all with affordable technology for the whole school ecosystem. Working with our partners and their wide range of specialized solutions, Microsoft Education engages students and supports educators in the classroom.

The Microsoft Education Solutions Brochure helps you get started. With over 200 partners, we’ve put together a listing of solutions organized by area, age range, and Microsoft technologies used. You’ll find everything your school needs to promote accessibility, streamline classroom management, implement mixed reality learning, and complete secure, remote assessments. You’ll also find partner solutions and resources for training, learning tools, device management and security, student information, and specific curriculum areas.

Be sure to use this helpful guide to learn more about solutions from Microsoft Education partners during the live event.

Explore solutions to meet your unique needs

Want to know more? After you identify the solutions you want to check out, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more, watch a demo, and ask questions. Microsoft—a year-round ISTE sponsor—is hosting four partner-related sessions during the event, featuring some of our most innovative partners and timely solutions.

Level up! Fun STEM remote learning tools for Windows 10 devices (December 2 at 3:45 to 4:00 PM Pacific Time)

Featured partners: Sketchup, Corinth 3D, Kano PC, Rhythmic Village, Windows Calculator

Hey teachers! Looking for new ways to spice up your STEM lessons? Check out the latest built-in Windows 10 features and amazing apps that you can leverage to teach subjects such as engineering, science, music, and math!

Improve student engagement in remote learning with Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge apps (December 4 at 11:15 to 11:30 AM Pacific Time)

Featured partners: Britannica, Dugga, FluidMath, GoGuardian, Squigl

Teachers, are you looking for new ways to deliver highly engaging lessons remotely? Having challenges keeping your students focused? Come join this live demo session and see how these Windows 10 classroom apps will make your lessons more engaging and fun.

Top solutions for teaching in Microsoft 365 (December 4 at 11:30 to 11:45 AM Pacific Time)

Featured partners: Beedle, Buncee, Discovery Education, Pear Deck, Wooclap

Hear directly from our featured partners as they show how their products integrate with Microsoft 365 (including Microsoft Teams), helping you improve student outcomes and promote immersive learning. Learn how to build class lists for easy interaction, share important links and information, create fun presentations, and more!

Amazing learning apps in Microsoft Teams (December 4 at 11:00 to 11:15 AM Pacific Time)

Featured partners: Go1, Kahoot!, Ment.io, Prezi Video, Quizlet, Wakelet

Enhance personalized learning, no matter where your students are. Discover how to easily deliver and organize learning content, use partner solutions in Teams, incorporate discussion boards to empower student voices, and create fun and engaging video content.

See you at ISTE20 Live!

We look forward to meeting you virtually during ISTE20 Live and sharing all the latest solutions from our Microsoft Education partners. You can find the event guide including the complete ISTE20 Live schedule here.

If you can’t make it, our partner sessions will be available through April 2021. To learn more about these amazing Microsoft Education solutions and the partners that help deliver them, be sure to download the solutions brochure!

The post Transforming hybrid learning with Microsoft Education partner solutions appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.