Bing in the Classroom & Microsoft Educator Network #WindowsChampions

While in Seattle for the Champions Summit in April I was introduced to Bing the the Classroom. I was quick to let the other teachers at my school know about this awesome resource!


Here are some facts on what Bing in the Classroom is all about...

Part of Microsoft’s continued focus on promoting digital literacy in education, Bing in the Classroom is an ongoing program focused on helping kids use technology to inspire and satisfy their curiosity. It provides ad-free, safer, more private search in schools, daily lesson plans that inspire critical thinking, and a rewards program that community members can use to earn tablets for their schools. More information can be found at http://www.bing.com/classroom, and you can track the progress of specific schools at http://www.bing.com/findyourschool.

• Ad-free, safer, more private search. Bing in the Classroom removes all advertisements from Bing search results, filters adult content, disables the use of searches to send personalized ads, and adds specialized learning features to enhance digital literacy. {Program excludes Bing apps.} Over 4.5 million students in more than 5,000 schools are covered by our enhanced search, with over 35 million ad-free queries served to date.
• Daily lesson plans. Bing is well known for having a big, beautiful homepage image that changes daily and inspires visitors to explore their world. With Bing in the Classroom, we’ve used that homepage inspiration to create free daily lesson plans that help students learn how to search the Web effectively while inspiring their curiosity.
• Earn Surfaces with Bing Rewards. The Bing in the Classroom tablet program is an extension of an existing Bing program, Bing Rewards. With Bing Rewards, you can earn credits just by searching the Web on Bing from your browser or phone and for trying out new Bing features. And now, with Bing in the Classroom, you can donate those credits to the school of your choice; Microsoft will pool them with other supporters of that school and, as soon as your school meets the credit minimum, send it a Microsoft Surface tablet with Type Cover. About 60 people using Bing Rewards can earn a tablet for a school in a month.
• Keep track of your school. Bing in the Classroom offers a page for every school in the U.S. that tells you not only if it is receiving ad-free, safer search but also how many Rewards credits have been donated, by how many people, and how many Surface tablets schools have earned.

I used some of the daily lesson plans with my students last year and they really enjoyed the activities. I love that the lessons require students to use critical thinking to search for their answers.

The Microsoft Educator Network is another resource that I love as a teacher. All of the tools listed on this website are free for teachers to use. Resources include apps, tutorials & guides, Office plug-ins, and more. My favorite guide is OneNote Toolkit for Teachers. OneNote is now free on all devices and can be synced across your devices when you sign in with your Microsoft account. I use OneNote for planning - both at home and at school. I plan out meals/recipes, vacations, to-do lists, etc. at home and plan lessons, projects, collaborate with other teachers, etc. at school. I absolutely love it.

Disclosure: I am a Windows Champions blogger and I received loan of a laptop and tablet, and may receive other equipment from Microsoft to assist me in evaluating Microsoft products and services for my blogging activity.    

Technology in Education with Microsoft & Parade Magazine #WindowsChampions

Last Tuesday I had the amazing opportunity to sit on a panel at a local Microsoft event with Parade Magazine to chat about technology in education. I absolutely love my career and couldn't imagine doing anything else - blogging and running my small businesses are added perks in my life. Ever since my dad bought our first family PC in 1997, I've been fascinated with technology. It amazes me to see the huge changes that have come in tech just in my lifetime thus far. From overhead projectors to SmartBoards to tablets and TVs - technology has made teaching even better.

But with all of these rapid changes in technology, is tech in education a good thing or a burden? This was the biggest question we faced during our event in Salt Lake City last week. Maggie Murphy, editor-in-chief of Parade Magazine, was the facilitator of our panel conversation. In our hour together, a lot was discussed, pondered, and learned.

One of the biggest issues being faced in education - as determined through our conversation, through my communication with other teachers, and seen in schools by tech specialists - is not knowing what to do with the devices schools buy for classroom use. As technology advances, schools are upgrading and just handing over the new devices to teachers and telling them to figure it out. Realistically, the issue here is that the devices that we're provided with are school owned. Therefore they can only be used for educational purposes, which is great, but without direction on how to use these devices, teachers don't know what to do with them. Microsoft Stores have tech teachers that will visit schools and teach teachers how to use the devices their school is using.

Another issue being faced by teachers is obtaining the technology they need in their classroom. Sure, schools are beginning to provide more and more tech like laptops and tablets in classrooms, but some teachers need listening centers {which can be created from an old smartphone or MP3 player} or eReaders for literacy centers. {These things can be donated to classrooms as a tax write-off.} Microsoft has a free way to earn Surface tablets for your school by using Bing search rewards. Every 500 points you earn can be donated to the school of your choice to earn them a Surface.

Overall, we can all agree that technology in education - both at school and at home - is something that can be a great resource, if we know how to utilize it to it's full potential. Tomorrow I'll be back with another post on Bing in the Classroom and Office - with tips on how to use these amazing resources!

Disclosure: I am a Windows Champions blogger and I received loan of a laptop and tablet, and may receive other equipment from Microsoft to assist me in evaluating Microsoft products and services for my blogging activity.