Deploying Live to school computers

There are many bloggers/journalists actively discussing Windows Live publishing out several new free tools this month.  So what?  Well these tools will be available through WSUS which many schools already have in place, so deployment is very low-cost.  There is also a big "so what" across what the applications have to offer.

These tools are interesting to education, especially in labs where a teaching exercise may include collaboration, digital media, how to check Email, and/or blogging.  This may also be of interest for pre-loading student 1-1 laptops with free tools including Live Family Safety for parents to apply filters and create a safer browsing environment, in addition to the Vista parental controls.

So what would you get?  I've taken a recent post from the Microsoft Update team and retro-fit their bullets below.

Windows Live Messenger - Instant messaging client which includes integration with Xbox Live, Yahoo, PC-to-PC webcam calls, sending Text Messages, and File Sharing.

Windows Live Photo Gallery - Tool for editing photos and organizing and sharing photos and videos. This program expands and improves on features available in Windows Photo Gallery (part of Windows Vista), and works on either Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Windows Live Mail - Free tool for checking Hotmail and other Email accounts, as well as Newsgroups and RSS.

Windows Live Writer - The tool I use nearly every day for posting to this site.  You can automatically import the style from your blog so the environment where you write looks/feels as it will appear online.  It is also great at managing your drafts, old posts, and has an online gallery of plug-ins for integrating with other applications.  Works great with popular blog platforms including Live Spaces which students can use at no cost.

Windows Live Family Safety - Adapts your computer so parents have even more control than what's offered in the Vista parental controls, and adds parental control to XP.  With Family Safety you can set rules on what web sites your kids are allowed to access, who they can chat with in Live Messenger, and who they can add as friends to their blog in Live Spaces.

Windows Live Sign-in Assistant - Installs in the background so you can take advantage of single sign-on across all the tools without always being prompted for a username and password.

Windows Live Toolbar - Installs a toolbar within Internet Explorer to add search functionality for websites and your desktop, search online maps and directions, weather, photos, and helps alert you to online phishing scams as you browse.  Works with IE6, XP, and with Vista.

There are more where this came from.  Check ideas.live.com for other interesting tools.  Did you know you could share your desktop with someone for remote collaboration or support, for free?  Did you know students can store their files online for free?  There are a plethora of tools available and more coming that together can empower classrooms even though they are offered at no cost and support a very low cost of deployment.

Technorati tags: Microsoft, Education, Live

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Thanks for your comment Michael.  You are absolutely right about local.live.com, and btw, did you know you can fly around in live maps using an Xbox 360 controller?  Very attention getting method for students to navigate historical sites. hmmm, I think you just inspired a blog post for next week AND an excuse to go to Best Buy...  ;-)

• Anonymous
  September 07, 2007
  Hey Michael, I totally agree.  Windows Live could absolutely be utilized by students, schools and educators, either directly in the classroom or 'behind the scenes' or at home.  My wife is a 4th grade teacher and she is also her school's IT Specialist.  Getting non-technical teachers to use new software can be difficult at times, but I believe Windows Live Suite is going to be simple enough that teachers could embrace the applications with relatively little ramp up.  Today's generation of students will naturally pick it up and run with it. Also, one of the best teaching tools yet to be really discovered in the education field is http://local.live.com.  Imagine a teacher talking to his/her class about a specific historical site or a geographical location for science, and then bringing it up on the projector and seeing it in all angles/perspectives/levels using Birds Eye View or 3D View!  It's possible today! Cheers, Michael

• Anonymous
  September 08, 2007
  Yup, I've seen the Live Maps demo with Xbox controller many times. ;)  It was even demo'd at CES this year during BillG's keynote. Keep up the good work! Michael