Many of you are already familiar with the broad range of resources Microsoft makes available to IT Pros and system admins but were you aware of the huge amount of information and tools they make available to those working in education?
Last week Microsoft unveiled a re-design of their Microsoft Educator Community Portal that offers a single point of access to almost everything they offer educators.
According to Microsoft, this new layout was intended to make the site more efficient, personalized and easy to use.
The new site is laid out with more intuitive navigation and is broadly separated into these categories:
Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Program
This is a global program that works to recognize educators who use technology with their peers to improve learning and improve student outcomes.
Badges, Points and Certificates
This area is used to keep track of your progress in the portal as you complete various courses and earn accomplishments which in turn help others identify your expertise when they are seeking assistance.
The portal offers a vast amount of training through online courses, webinars and Quick Tip videos. You can also find various learning paths that bring together a series of courses around a specific subject area like OneNote and the Microsoft Classroom.
Skype brings the world closer by offering four key areas to help extend the learning in your classroom such as Skype Lessons, Mystery Skype, Virtual Field Trips and Guest Speakers. Imagine being able to connect your students with others around the world through this tool while still in your classroom at school.
Find, create and share a lesson
Here you can find lessons created by other educators that you can use and tailor or even share your own with fellow educators around the world.
The repository is searchable by subject, age level or the tools used in the lesson.
It is always good to find others in your field to expand your own experiences and learning. With this tool in the portal you can search for and find fellow educators either nearby or across the globe to give you access to resources that might not be available elsewhere.
Since they are listed on the Microsoft Education Community Portal the likelihood is that they are using some of the same tools you are from Microsoft.
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