In the words of Anthony Salcito, Vice President for Microsoft Worldwide Education, "sometimes all it takes for an amazing project to be born is the ability to listen."

"It was March 2013, and Jonathan Grudin was attending the Workshop on the Impact of Pen and Touch Technology on Education (WIPTTE). It’s not immediately apparent from his unassuming aura, but Jonathan is actually a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and somewhat of a legend within Microsoft and beyond as a pioneer in computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). With years of experience and groundbreaking research contributions, Jonathan certainly has a lot to share, but on this day his ability to listen allowed him to truly hear the needs of educators around the world, planting a young seed in his mind that would come to be nurtured by passionate peers in the company to become the OneNote Class Notebook Creator."

So, what is the OneNote Class Notebook Creator?

OneNote Class Notebook Creator lets teachers set up an ideal OneNote environment for their classes in minutes. With this SharePoint app for Office 365, teachers will quickly set up a personal workspace for every student, a content library for handouts, and a collaboration space for lessons and creative activities, all within one powerful OneNote notebook. OneNote class notebooks free the teacher to focus on learning, not software or a device. Student work and teacher feedback are exchanged automatically in one place virtually anytime, anywhere.

This app will create a class notebook, which includes three types of sub-notebooks:

• Student Notebooks – private notebooks that are shared between each teacher and their individual students. Teachers can access these notebooks at any time, but students cannot see other students’ notebooks.

• Content Library – a notebook for teachers to share course materials with students. Teachers can add and edit its materials, but for students, the notebook is read-only.

• Collaboration Space – a notebook for all students and the teacher in the class to share, organize, and collaborate.

With OneNote powering your class learning experiences, join teachers around the world who:

• Empower students to take naturally visual notes with ease—place images, text, printouts, tables, ink, screenshots, and files anywhere in OneNote’s “anything, anywhere” freeform canvas

• Keep tabs on student performance—see exactly which students soar and struggle by observing their full learning process, from note-taking, to problem solving, to submission

• Revolutionize homework feedback with real-time coaching while students work

• Encourage collaborative creativity between students with fast synchronization on pages

• Lead class with OneNote projected in full screen mode as the digital whiteboard

• Eliminate paper by replacing printouts on paper with printouts to OneNote

• Organize every lesson, handout, and assignment in flexible shared notebook structure

• Combine OneNote with the creative power of digital ink to deliver the most natural digital educational experiences possible

You can find fantastic, easy to follow, step-by-step set up instructions right here. Below is a sneak peak into what you'll get to do. We'd love to hear about your experiences with the OneNote Class NoteBook Creator - tweet us at @MSNZEducation!

What happens when you bring some of Australia’s most innovative educators together? Well, the Microsoft education team in Australia & New Zealand was looking forward to finding out when the Innovative Educators Expert Program Australia/New Zealand kicks off with a two day forum in the weekend just been.

The Innovative Educator Expert Program is a global Microsoft initiative which recognises pioneer educators who are using technology to transform education.   

The programme features 37 Australian and 12 Kiwi educators who are coming together to share ideas and the details of how they are using Microsoft technologies to engage students and their peers in innovative ways to positively impact learning.

Throughout the year-long programme, our ANZ Expert Educators will be sharing their experiences and working together as a community to promote ideas to innovate in teaching and learning.

As a starting point, our educators used the hashtag #mseduweekend, over the course of the 11 and 12 October so Twitter users could keep an eye out for tweets over the weekend. You can still look at these tweets now - head on over to Twitter and check out @MSNZEducation while you're there. 

To keep up with our Expert Educators, visit this blog to see their posts and experiences throughout the program! Look out for a post very soon introducing New Zealand's Innovative Educator Experts too.

Take a look at how the teachers at Cary Academy in Cary, North Carolina, seamlessly integrate OneNote into their classrooms to elevate the education of students through presentation, organisation, and real-time collaboration with both students and other educators.

But what about a Kiwi school's experience? Shane Mann, physics and science teacher at Rathkeale College in Masterton, recently sent us a fantastic email sharing his experiences with OneNote in the classroom. We thought we'd share it with you!

"I have been using the tool with my Year 9 Science class for the past 5 weeks and it is fantastic. As a teacher, it is extremely easy to share content and monitor student progress. My students have not needed to use a pen and paper at all! The feedback from students is very positive. They are desperate to continue using the technology for the rest of the year and have found lessons to be far more interesting and engaging. In addition to this, I have found myself becoming more of a facilitator of learning helping the students to work through the content at their own pace.

During the trial I had most students using the original Surface Pro with the stylus pen. At the moment we have 70 of these devices that form 2 COW trollies and a number that are issued from the Library. This was by far the best device as it enabled students to complete the tasks while getting the most out of the technology without limits. The use of the pen was very popular and became a normal function of every lesson. We also had 2 iPad minis, 1 iPad, 1 Windows 8 laptop, 1 MacBook Air and a Samsung Galaxy tablet. All of these other devices had limits and were not as functional as the Surface Pros."

We are delighted to hear of Shane's positive and exciting experience with OneNote and Surface in the Classroom. Got a story like Shane's to share? Email us at nzeducation@microsoft.com.

Want to learn more about how to set up OneNote in your classroom? Check out this awesome link - Getting Started with the OneNote Class Notebook Creator: A Walkthrough for Teachers.

Teach with Tech: How you can transform your classroom with technology!  

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ABOUT THIS EDUCAST

As educators, the innovation you bring to the classroom amplifies and influences a generation. Staying ahead of the technology curve is critical to delivering current and compelling lessons that help students earn certifications critical to college and career goals. In this webcast, hear from educators including Katherine Schmit who has used technology to help her students compete at the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championships and award-winning science teacher, author, and researcher Steve Martin and Katherine Schmit on how teaching and innovation can come together to advance students’ skill sets in the most effective and engaging way.

October 14th, 2014 at 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Pacific

For start and end times in other locations, please click HERE

Upcoming Microsoft EduCast webinars. Register for the series today!

NOV 11, 2014:  Let's Get Creative!: Learning with Bing and Office Mix

DEC 9, 2014:  Collaborative Classrooms: Using O365 to learn together

JAN 14, 2015:  Flip This Classroom! Creating deeper learning experiences with personalised learning

FEB 10, 2015: Wow, Windows 8!: Now Windows 8 can simplify and amplify student learning experiences 

MAR 10, 2015: Job Well Done! Prepping students with 21st century college career

APR 14, 2015:  Up in the Clouds: Using the cloud to deliver engaging and immersive learning experiences

MAY 12, 2015:  Winning in a Digital World: Helping your students succeed in technology

JUN 9, 2015:  Blended Learning 101: A technology toolkit for 21st century classrooms

Ensure your school leadership team is across the learning opportunities afforded by new technologies, by hosting a Microsoft in Education seminar.

What is it?

This complimentary seminar will help you explore the tools and technologies available to help educators teach 21st century skills and optimise the classroom for advanced student achievement.

It's a great starting point for any school considering or enhancing their 1-to-1 learning programme, and it allows you to see the diversity of Microsoft software and HP devices applied to learning. Windows 8.1 will also be demonstrated through learning how it can be used to inspire students and improve educational outcomes.

Your end-to-end solution begins here.

In this seminar you will:

• See rich curriculum samples and global examples of best practices that demonstrate how technology can enhance teaching, learning, and assessment for students.
• Understand how technology and devices enable consumption, creation, and collaboration for students, educators, and parents.
• See how students can continue learning where they left off - at home, in the library, or at the park.
• Discover how students can organise their learning, take notes, and become highly efficient in the way they study.
• Learn where to get free tools that spark imagination and inspire learning.

Booking:

To book a Microsoft in Education Seminar at your school or for more information, email nzeducation@microsoft.com. You can also find out more by visiting microsoft.co.nz/educationseminars.

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