Follow these Step-By-Step Guides for configuring IT Academy Federation Services to establish trust with Microsoft Corp.STS (ADFS v2.0)

ADFS 2.0 Step-by-Step Guide: Federation with CA Federation Manager

ADFS 2.0 Step-by-Step Guide: Federation with IBM Tivoli Federated Identity Manager

ADFS 2.0 Step-by-Step Guide: Federation with Ping Identity PingFederate

ADFS 2.0 Step-by-Step Guide: Federation with Oracle Identity Federation

ADFS 2.0 Step-by-Step Guide: Federation with Shibboleth 2 and the InCommon Federation

For a complete list of Federation services visit Step-By-Step Guides:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/adfs2-step-by-step-guides(WS.10).aspx

In January 2012,   DreamSpark program was combined with MSDNAA  resulting in 3 offerings:

1. Traditional DreamSpark that is a direct-to-student (B2C) offering
• Only students are licensed to download and install this software on their personal PCs
• Continues to be a no-cost download offering for students and
• DreamSpark includes full-featured software  - i.e. these are not evaluation copies and there is no time-bomb.
• Currently there are 23 titles including Visual Studio 2010 Professional, Expression Studio 4 Ultimate, Windows Server 2008 R2 Std, SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer,  XNA Game Studio 4, Robotics Developer Studio and Pluralsight OnDemand training access for 90 days.
2. Institution-wide DreamSpark subscription is a through institution offering (B2B), that is open to any educational institution, including high schools
• This is a new subscription that licenses an educational institution to distribute DreamSpark development and design products across the institution's labs (using lab licenses) and to all students and faculty for installation on their personal PCs.
• Includes the same 23 software titles as the direct to student DreamSpark offer
• Does not include Windows 7, Project, Visio, OneNote, etc (such titles are only available to STEM departments through the DreamSpark Premium subscription)
• Costs $99/- per year to cover the license costs for all Institution PCs.  labs and personal PCs of students & faculty.
• License provides perpetual rights to the software – i.e. once eligible students install the software on their personal PCs, they can continue to use the software for non-commercial use even when they are no longer a students
• Subscription Agreement restricts software for non-commercial, academic usage for  teaching and research https://www.dreamspark.com/licensing/Basic-EULA.aspx
• Institution-wide programs such as the IT Academy may include this Institution-wide DreamSpark subscription as a benefit, at no cost.
• The Designer AA and High School AA have been discontinued and replaced with this new institution wide DreamSpark. However, existing Designer and High School customers’ subscriptions will run thru term.  Microsoft will continue to support these offers thru January 2015 (customer support, software shipments, etc.).  At the conclusion of the subscription term, these customer will be offered the DreamSpark subscription renewal path.
3. DreamSpark Premium – that is a through Institution offer, restricted to STEM departments.
• This is similar to the MSDNAA Developer (Developer AA) offering which has now been rebranded DreamSpark Premium, yet retains all the same software offerings, benefits and rules.
• Includes all Microsoft software of over 300 titles but excluding Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Games.
• Software is licensed only to eligible STEM department labs, staff, faculty and students enrolled in a course in the member STEM department.
• Subscription Agreement restricts software for non-commercial, academic usage for  teaching and research  in STEM departments: https://www.dreamspark.com/licensing/Premium-EULA.aspx
• License provides perpetual rights to the software – i.e. once eligible students install the software on their personal PCs, they can continue to use the software for non-commercial use even when they are no longer a students in a STEM course
• Any eligible STEM department can sign-up for DreamSpark Premium

For more information about this program and how it works, review the DreamSpark frequently asked questions or contact DreamSpark Support at https://www.dreamspark.com/Support/ContactUs.aspx

1. Single Sign-On provides access to multiple sites/resources [no additional usernames/password to be remembered /supported]
2. The institution retains control over the Student identity/PII data
3. Existing student identity at the institution can be used to access multiple benefits [there is no need to ‘sponsor’ the student for additional identities such as  WLID]
4. Automatic provisioning and de-provisioning of access to resources

The process of setting up the Federation handshake between each institution’s federated identity STSs and MSIT’s ADFS STS includes: federation infrastructure review, claims-mapping, test, training/knowledge-transfer

1. Review the institution’s current identity management infrastructure environment to assess how it will act as an identity provider to the Microsoft IT Security Token Service (MSIT STS)
2. Document assessment results and recommended approach to establishing the federated trust between the institution’s identity management infrastructure and MSIT STS.
3. Ensure the institution meets the the technical guidelines and validate that the Requirements for ITA Federation are met [such as providing a single end point providing the authentication token].
4. Ensure the institution has a test environment ready to verify the trust set up (prior to implementing this in production).
5. Communicate the SLAs, interoperability uncertainties, timelines, commitments and onboarding project work/efforts
6. Identify customer expectations (ex: data migrations) that may not be expressed; so expectations are managed upfront.
7. Engage the institution to update the IDP on-boarding information and pass it on to MSIT and MSL SE team
8. Document Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) token attributes & element that will be passed between the institution’s identity management infrastructure and MSIT STS.
9. Facilitate the establishment of the federated trust between institution’s Identity infrastructure and MSIT STS
10. Assist the institution implement the assessment recommendations for claims-mapping
• SAML token formats often contain schema design limitations – attributes and elements  in the schema – resulting in schema mis-match issues.  SAML 2.0 spec is huge and evolving, hence most STSs, including ADFS do not fully comply with the entire spec. When interoperating with a SAML IdPs, the process involves  finding individual inbound elements that need to be modified as part of the trust setup spec.
11. Identify any gaps and fill-in with custom code in support of federation solution, to ensure the infrastructure is ready for MSIT STS integration.
• Ensure the institution has the required server software and development software Visual Studio 2010 to maintain any custom code solution deployed in support of Federation solution
12. Engage IT Academy to update the IDP on-boarding information and pass it on to MSIT and MSL SE team.
13. Coordinate between IT Academy and MSIT so they share their on-boarding info to set up the federation trust relationship.
14. Get a ITA testing account for test and production environments
15. Provide detailed testing plan that demonstrates that the solution functions properly
• Integration testing: Integration Testing focuses on the integration and interaction with external or third party components. Test cases will be based upon verifying that the functionality described in the assessment documents are working correctly.
• Production Verification testing: After deployment to production, perform verification tests replicating those performed during Integration Testing.
16. Share with SE the on-boarding info available to on-board a new EK federation URL for the ITA.
17. Share the EK e-learning sites federation URL to Customer.
18. Track Identity Provider on-boarding progress with MSIT and Customer.
19. Facilitate meetings between Customer and MSIT if there are any on-boarding issues.
20. Get sign-offs from Customer and MSIT that all of the on-boarding exit criteria has been met, post on-boarding.
21. Provide any required training and knowledge transfer so that the customer's staff is equipped to use the solution

Federation is based on internet standards, yet, standards are rarely comprehensive and each implementation tends to have its own approach. The differing implementations of the standards introduce variability in the way various features work and some may break – rarely is a solution ready out-of-the-box.

• SAML token formats could contain schema design limitations – attributes and elements  in the schema – resulting in schema mis-match issues.  SAML 2.0 spec is huge and evolving, hence most STSs, including ADFS do not fully comply with the entire spec. When interoperating with a SAML IdPs, the process involves  finding individual inbound elements that need to be modified as part of the trust setup spec.
• ADFS was certified by the Liberty Alliance on the IdP Lite, SP Lite, and eGov 1.5 SAML profiles for interoperability  and makes every attempt at facilitating interoperability. The base presumption is that NameID is in the subject and XML namespaces are properly defined; beyond that there are often individual elements that need to be modified or that will not be supported on the ADFS side.
• ADFS cannot ignore unsupported attributes; there is no configuration option to allow for anything other than an error.

Resolving issues that arise during the federation handshake (due to the different dialects of the SAML implementation)  will involve cooperation from institution’s technical personnel and could be time consuming.

Please direct any questions via e-mail to Acadsupp@microsoft.com, or phone at 1-800-508-8454 Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PST).

The Resource provider/Relying party on-boarding process involved claims/assertions-enabling all 3 sites for eLearning:

• IT Academy  member site  www.microsoftitacademy.com   for the institution’s IT Academy Administrators
• Instructor eLearning LMS: http://itacademyinstructor.microsoftelearning.com (hosted by Element K)
• Student eLearning site  http://itacademy.microsoftelearning.com (hosted by Element K)

and providing a unique URL (different from the WLID URL) to the federated institution’s users (educators & students), for use in the federated access.

The requirements for Federating with IT Academy include:

1. Support for the following WS-Federation protocols
• Passive Requestor Profile for Token Issuance http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb608217.aspx
• Federation service has to expose an end-point through which AFS can communicate for the SAML request and SAML Response from IdP
• WS-Federation Passive Requestor Profile, allows AD FS to perform authentication and authorization by way of HTTP 302 and HTTP POST redirects that originate from the user’s web browser
• WS-Federation 1.2 Trust Compatibility http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb498017.aspx
2. End point requirements
   • a single Sign-in URL endpoint
   • a single Sign-Out URL endpoint
   • HTTPS security on all endpoints
   • a single trust per ITA institution (that provides the authentication token).
     • This is a requirement of the ADFS infrastructure as it can work with with only one IdP entity-description in the metadata.
3. Token formats
   • SAML 1.1 or SAML 2.0 token formats
   • Publishing Token format in Federation Metadata (shared through https URL or via metadata.xml file, for on-boarding)
4. Enduser login mechanism
   • Login URL (i.e. Federation Passive Requestor URL endpoint) that is HTTPS enabled
   • Name resolution to these services (DNS published to the internet)
     • ADFS requires a fully qualified domain-name and cannot support the IP format of addresses
5. Client browser support for Cookies and JavaScript [i.e. cookies and JavaScript should be enabled on Student browsers]
6. Support for following Claim Types: (Schema of the Claim)
• PrivatePersonalIdentifier (Mandatory)
• Givenname (Optional)
• Surname (Optional)
• EmailAddress (Optional)
• Country (Optional)
• InstitutionName (Optional)

Note: When Optional attributes contain null, there is   a) Limited Student reporting functionality for ITA Instructors   and  b)  User support troubleshooting is more challenging.

    7.   An institution should have an existing identity infrastructure in-production along with a test infrastructure to ensure that the federation handshake process can be completed in a sand-box environment in a timely/agile manner, without impacting the institution’s  students, educators, and staff on the production environment.

Federation is based on internet standards, yet, standards are rarely comprehensive and each implementation tends to have its own approach. The differing implementations of the standards introduce variability in the way various features work and some may break – rarely is a solution ready out-of-the-box.

• SAML token formats could contain schema design limitations – attributes and elements  in the schema – resulting in schema mis-match issues.  SAML 2.0 spec is huge, hence most STSs, including ADFS do not fully comply with the entire spec. When interoperating with a SAML IdPs, the process involves  finding individual inbound elements that need to be modified as part of the trust setup spec.
• ADFS was certified by the Liberty Alliance on the IdP Lite, SP Lite, and eGov 1.5 SAML profiles for interoperability  and makes every attempt at facilitating interoperability. The base presumption is that NameID is in the subject and XML namespaces are properly defined; beyond that there are often individual elements that need to be modified or that will not be supported on the ADFS side.  
• ADFS cannot ignore unsupported attributes; there is no configuration option to allow for anything other than an error.

Resolving issues that arise during the federation handshake (due to the different dialects of the SAML implementation)  will involve cooperation from institution’s technical personnel.

To partake in federation with ITA, the institution must provide a single end point providing the authentication token. This is a requirement of the ADFS infrastructure as it can take only one identity provider entity-description in the metadata.

Please direct any questions via e-mail to Acadsupp@microsoft.com, or phone at 1-800-508-8454 Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PST).

Technorati Tags: ITA,IT Academy,SSO,Federation

With the large number of disparate benefits in the ITA program, each fulfilled by different suppliers, student and educators (‘users’) have to maintain multiple user accounts and passwords  to access each benefit.  Single sign-on is an attempt to use a single account and password to get access to multiple sites/ resources.

The ITA eLearning benefit has  3 different website resources:

1. ITA member site  www.microsoftitacademy.com   for IT Academy Administrators
2. Instructor eLearning site: http://itacademyinstructor.microsoftelearning.com (hosted by Element K)
3. Student eLearning site  http://itacademy.microsoftelearning.com (hosted by Element K)

 SSO in IT Academy program allows two authentication methods for eLearning access

       a)   Windows Live ID:

• Windows Live ID is a single sign-on web service that allows users to use a single set of credentials to log into multiple websites [that support this service], by checking the user’s credentials with a Windows Live ID authentication server.
• WLID implements an identity provider STS in the cloud. The token provided by WLID contains a simple set of claims - a PUID. The structure of this identifier is opaque and an application can use this calue to recognize individual users but cannot derive additional meaning from the identifier's content or structure.
• For example: a web site accepting WLID has to store a user's name and shipping address along with user's WLID and then look this up later.

     b)   Federated Identity

• Federated IDs (Federated Identity) is another single sign-on technology linking a user’s identity and attributes, stored across multiple different identity management systems.
• Federation enables the institution’s Identity Providers to establish a trust relationship between existing internal student authentication mechanisms for students and educators with Microsoft Active Directory Federation System [ADFS}, by sharing only the information required to access the IT Academy program sites.

All the other IT Academy benefits such as Safari E-Reference, MSDNAA/DreamSpark, TechNet, MOC, MCT, etc   are not claims/assertions-enabled [i.e. not federation-enabled]  and will continue to use existing authentication mechanisms of WLID or custom user-accounts

The different federation identity provider STSs that are able to federate with the  IT Academy program include:

1. Microsoft Active Directory Federation System [ADFS] 1.0 and 2.0
2. CA Site Minder
3. IBM Tivoli Federated Identity Manager (6.2.0.2 or higher)
4. PING Federate
5. RSA Federated Identity Manager
6. Oracle Identity Federation
7. Novell Access Manager
8. Shibboleth

All these systems allows one party holding user accounts to project those identities to another party that hosts resources.

One potential issue with Federation is that standards are rarely comprehensive and each implementation tends to have its own approach. The differing implementations of the standards introduce variability in the way various features work and some may break – rarely is a solution ready out-of-the-box.

For example the ADFS accepts one identity provider in entity description, in metadata.   Also there could be schema mismatch limitations in SAML token format – what attributes and elements should be there.

• Single Sign-On (SSO) as the ability for customers to use a single set of credentials to access both on-premises and online resources.
• Federation is a trust relationship between the Identity Providers and Service Providers that allows Identity providers to share previously agreed upon set of user information in a secure manner.
• A federation provider is an intermediary between a Claims Provider and a Relying party; where in the RP trusts Federation provider.  FP converts the CP's claims into a format that the RP can understand.
• Identity Providers are organizations that provide user authentication services and share user identity information after successfully authenticating the user.

Once authentication is completed, the authorization needed to access ITA websites is provided by the Educator or Student ‘ITA Access code’.

While this model may require some server investments and deeper architectural decision making, it does allows support for richer single sign on with your corporate credentials, integration with on-premises multi-factor authentication and a configurable password policy.

Please direct any questions via e-mail to Acadsupp@microsoft.com, or phone at 1-800-508-8454 Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PST).

IT Productivity Curriculum

• E-Learning Portfolio

IT E-Learning multi-media course content on

• Information worker courses included in Microsoft Office 2010 including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Access
• IT Professional courses on Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Exchange Server, and Microsoft SQL Server
• Developer courses on Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft .NET.

The complete Microsoft E-Learning  course list is at http://www.microsoft.com/education/MSITAcademy/benefits/elearningcourses.mspx. The E-Learning courses are organized into collections and can be used for in-class students teaching, out-of-class student self-learning, or for Educator Professional development, and to garner ideas for the classroom.

• Lesson Plans and Exam Review Kits

• Complementing the IT E-Learning multi-media content are the Microsoft IT Academy lesson plans and projects  on the IT Academy website. These Lesson plans and projects help guide the teaching for High School classes.

• The Exam Review Kits help students evaluate their preparation for the Certification Exams.

• E-Reference Library

• E-Reference library subscriptions provide educators with a virtual library of over 120 technology books, through the Safari Online website. Educators can add books to a personal bookshelf, bookmark, make notes, and download chapters to use in the classroom with students, as well as for self-study to expand their professional skills and capabilities.

• The Safari Online E-Reference Library includes Microsoft Press books on topics including Microsoft Office & Productivity Applications, Microsoft Operating Systems, Microsoft Databases & Reporting Tools, and Microsoft Web Applications & Services.

• Microsoft Digital Literacy

• The Microsoft Digital Literacy curriculum provides essential computing skills for learners new to computing  and consists of courses in Computer Basics, The Internet and World Wide Web, Productivity Programs, Computer Security and Privacy, and  Digital Lifestyles (incl. digital media)

• Includes E-Learning, assessments and a Digital Literacy test so these can be assigned to students for out-of-class learning as well.

• Microsoft Official Courseware (MOC)

• Microsoft Official Courseware (MOC) is instructor-led training course developed with Microsoft software product teams and  designed for IT professionals and developers who build, support, and implement technology solutions

• MOC trainings are available in multiple formats

• Course: Instructor-led training with lecture and practice with Microsoft software  technologies

• Workshop: A collaborative, hands-on learning environment based on real-world scenarios

• Clinic: A detailed how-to presentation of technical information, illustrating features, functions and demonstrations.

• Seminar: A dynamic presentation of early and relevant information featuring business scenarios, case studies, and success stories

• MOC can be purchased at discounted academic pricing through distributors listed at http://www.microsoft.com/education/MSITAcademy/benefits/moc.mspx

• Microsoft Official Academic Course (MOAC) textbooks

• MOAC textbooks are designed for academic semester/quarter use and provide a rich pedagogical foundation for faculty and students to acquire the latest real-world skills for emerging technical jobs.

• The MOAC textbook series published by John Wiley and Sons, in partnership with Microsoft include:

• Market-leading textbook and full coverage of Microsoft Certification exam objectives; lessons with real-world scenarios; and a wealth of hands-on practice exercises

• Online instructor resource center including course setup ideas, lecture outlines, teaching tips, virtual labs, assessments, PowerPoint slide presentations and instructor guides.

• Instructor E-Learning Course Management Tool

• An online course management tool used to create classroom level access codes to E-Learning courses, allowing them to manage class-level messaging, and access usage reporting for each of the classes.

Software

• Lab Licenses

• Classroom use Lab licenses to install and run upto 100 of the Microsoft Office Professional and another 100 of Microsoft Windows Operating System, Visual Studio and/or Exchange Server, provided the use of the software is for

• Solely by IT Academy Program members’ students and instructors in the lab or classroom located at the IT Academy Program member’s facility only,
• Only for training and instructional purposes when teaching the courseware available under the IT Academy Program,
• Compliant with the terms of the End-User License Agreement accompanying the software,
• Compliant with the Global IT Academy Program Guide and the Agreement under which the IT Academy Program subscription was purchased, and

• All software is a valid licensed copy of the Microsoft software.

• DreamSpark/MSDNAA Software

• DreamSpark/MSDNAA is a subscription program for  STEM students and faculty in the technology and design fields to get the latest Microsoft software they need  for institutions labs, classrooms, and on student PCs.

• See additional details at the MSDNAA blog post http://blogs.msdn.com/b/gautam/archive/2008/11/05/what-is-msdn-academic-alliance-msdnaa.aspx

• TechNet Professional Subscriptions

The Microsoft TechNet subscription provides IT resources, whitepapers, etc on the latest technical solutions from Microsoft technologies.

Certifications

• Microsoft Certifications

• Academic discount pricing on select 073 Microsoft Certification exams for ITA students, educators and support staff.

• Microsoft certification exams provide the endorsements for the IT industry, stressing both  the technical knowledge and real-world experience, and are designed to:

• Validate technical knowledge and skills
• Provide a competitive edge in the job market
• Offer visible demonstration of commitment to the IT profession
• Demonstrate a reliable benchmark in addition to a certificate or degree
• Enable a career development path for ongoing advancement of Microsoft technology skills

• Testing Center

• ITA can offer Microsoft Certification exams on campus by becoming a Prometric and/or Certiport testing center and offering on-site exam testing for students and faculty.

• Microsoft Certified Trainer program

• Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) are the premier technical and instructional experts in Microsoft software, technologies, and solutions. The MCT program provides tools, resources, and other benefits to help educators build, maintain, and prove their expertise on Microsoft software and technologies, as well as help them prepare for, teach, and support blended learning solutions.
• The MCT program enrollment fee for one qualified faculty member is included and discounts are available for additional qualified faculty members seeking MCT certification. MCTs meet high initial and ongoing certification requirements and enjoy access to many benefits:
• Access to the complete library of Official Microsoft Learning Products
• Substantial discounts on exams, books, and Microsoft products
• Members-only newsgroups and online community resources
• Invitations to exclusive events and programs

For more information about the Microsoft Certified Trainer program, please visit: www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mct

Marketing Benefits

• Differentiate your institution as a provider of top-quality education on cutting-edge Microsoft technologies and promote your academic institution as an IT Academy Program member using market-ready resources such as:

• The Microsoft IT Academy Program Welcome Kit, which includes a membership plaque and posters for you to display in your halls and classrooms.
• Access a wide array of marketing materials available for download from our marketing collateral page, including various brochures, program logo, posters, flyers, and email templates.
• Testimonial videos created by other IT Academy Program members discussing how they get the most out of the IT Academy program, which resources they find most useful, and how they help their students succeed after graduation.
• Placement in the public IT Academy locator tool, which allows prospective students to find their local Microsoft IT Academy Program members. This referral service helps connect your academic institution to students, local industries, and the community.
• A monthly newsletter that delivers the latest IT Academy Program updates, information about new marketing opportunities, and helpful educator and student resources right to your desktop. Subscribe to the IT Academy member newsletter.

Please direct any questions via e-mail to Acadsupp@microsoft.com, or phone at 1-800-508-8454 Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PST).

The Microsoft IT Academy program offers students a world-class Microsoft IT learning solution on the latest productivity technologies,

• through online IT eLearning resources for anytime, anywhere learning and collaboration
• with content at the beginner-level and progressing to professional-level IT productivity skills
• so students learn real-world skills and abilities needed for career success
• have a foundation for a lifetime career development, and
• supporting employers and communities with validated workforce skills

The Microsoft IT Academy program is designed to enable schools to plan, manage and deliver IT learning courses effectively and efficiently using the latest in productivity software and time-saving resources. The infrastructure and information included help schools design the right course offerings, align to industry hiring needs and deliver a an engaging and dynamic learning experience to a diverse community of students.

1. IT Productivity Curriculum
• E-Learning portfolio for student and educator learning
• Lesson plans and Exam Review kits embedded with project-based learning
• Essential computer skills with Microsoft Digital literacy
• Microsoft Press eBooks online through the E-Reference Libraries
2. Certifications:  Validation of Microsoft Productivity Skills
• Academic pricing on Microsoft Office  and Microsoft Technology Associate exams
• Ability to become a Microsoft Certification testing Center for on-site certification exam offerings
• One free Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) membership and a 25% discount on additional MCT memberships
3. Software
• Lab licenses for Microsoft Office 2010, 2007 and Windows 7
• Subscription to DreamSpark software for students
• Subscription to TechNet for software, Knowledge base articles, resource kits, tools and utilities
4. Educator Tools for student learning management and Educator Professional Development
• Learning Management System (LMS) to manage and track student E-learning
• Learning Content Development System (LCDS) to create your own E-Learning courses
• Educator Professional development through the access to wide range of E-Learning content portfolio
5. Differentiate your institution
• Resources to market your institution to students
• Institution listing on IT Academy program site to be discovered by potential students

Eligibility: The Microsoft IT Academy is an annual membership program open to all primary, secondary, post-secondary, preparatory schools, vocational and trade, military or technical accredited educational institutions, and accredited sources of continuing education.

Please direct any questions via e-mail to Acadsupp@microsoft.com, or phone at 1-800-508-8454 Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PST).

Microsoft bliink is about providing a opportunity for Aspiring Technologists in US high schools to create websites that ‘Imagine a future made better by technology’.

Microsoft bliink provides an avenue for student to:

• Dream big about how technology can make the world a better place
• Learn more about the power of technology to solve real-world problems
• Receive Microsoft Expression® Studio professional software
• Create a website to communicate their learning and creativity
• Be excited about the opportunity for local and national recognition
• Work hard to earn prizes that include Xbox 360 and Kinect

Teachers using Bliink have found it useful in:

• Engaging students with big ideas and meaningful problem-solving activities
• Receiving Expression Studio professional Web design software for their school
• The free teacher-created and class-room tested curriculum resources
• The abundant support and resources with the contest and Expression Studio

 Microsoft bliink competition aims to build student interest in technology by providing a contest to explore web design and an oppurtunity to be creative with technology. 

Expression Studio software for use by students and teachers in the Microsoft bliink competition is provided in 2 ways:

1. Through the MSDNAA-High School program [sign-up]
   • MSDNAA-High School is an institutional offer to any secondary school in the US [sign-up]
   • sign-up instructions are provided here
   • Latest, full featured, professional-level design and development software provided is licensed for use by teachers, students and labs. Students and teachers can also install the software on their personal machines, at no cost.
2. Through DreamSpark program
   • DreamSpark is a direct-to-student software program, at no cost to students.
   • Latest, full featured, professional-level design and development software provided is licensed for use by students (on their personal machines)
   • Every student who registers in the Microsoft bliink competition (beginning Jan 5th) is sent an DreamSpark access code that will grant you 12-month access to all the full version software available at http://bit.ly/DSDownload.
   • Once you get the access code from Bliink registration confirmation email,
     • Navigate to: http://bit.ly/DSActivate
     • Login with your LiveId [Create a LiveID if you do not have one]
     • Enter your unique, one-time use access key
     • Download Expression Studio software for the Bliink contest and any other software available in DreamSpark for your learning
     • Get training material and other learning resources from http://bit.ly/TechHandson

if you have any questions about Bliink contest or the getting the Expression Studio software, contact us at

• Facebook: On the Discussion page at Facebook at http://bit.ly/facebookTech
• Twitter: http://bit.ly/TweetBliink #Bliink
• Ask Technical questions about Microsoft web platform and Expression Studio at: http://bit.ly/ExWebSupport[http://social.expression.microsoft.com/Forums/]

MSDNAA High School in the US consists of the latest Microsoft designer and developer software including:

1. Visual Studio 2010 Professional
2. Expression Studio 2010
3. SQL Server 2008 Developer edition

This full-featured, professional software is licensed for installation on all teacher and student instructional computers in a school and on student personal computers.  This software license terms enable the software to remain on those computers for the life of the computers.

The 2 step process to sign your school up for MSDN AA:

1. Send the signed MSDNAA High School Donation Acceptance Letter, (pdf) along with a list of the secondary schools covered by this agreement.

   Note: We cannot send the software until this document is received. It must be signed by an ethics officer or designated executive/officer at the district level responsible for your organization’s gifts/ethics policy and who is authorized to accept gifts. The principal’s signature does not qualify. This signed form qualifies all secondary schools in your district to receive this free software.
   • Fax to: (608) 563-1030   OR  Scan, attach, and email to:  ew4hs@InnovativeTeachers.us

   MSDNAA High School Donation Acceptance Letter MSDNAA High School Letter

2. Provide the following information to request MSDN AA subscription for your district or school.

•  
  • School district name:
  • Name of person requesting information:                         Title:
  • Telephone number:
  • Email address:
  • School name:
  • Complete school shipping address (street, city, state, zip):
  • Number of secondary schools in the district:
  • Person at district level responsible for instructional technology:
  • Telephone number:

If this request is for more than one secondary school in the district, please also include the following information for each additional school.

•  
  • Educator Name:                                                Title:
  • Telephone number:
  • Email Address:
  • School Name:
  • Complete school shipping address (street, city, state, zip):

Physical media (DVDs) of limited titles in the MSDN AA subscription are available. To request physical media instead of electronic download, place an ‘X’ on the line below.

•  
  • ______ Please provide instructions for ordering physical media for Expression Studio and Visual Studio.

If you have any questions about MSDNAA-High School in US, please email ew4hs@innovativeteachers.us