Guest post from Kimberly Voltero, Microsoft.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF DEVELOPERS BEGIN WITH YOU
Faculty Connection (microsoft.com/faculty) is your online source of curriculum resources for teaching computing technology concepts using Microsoft technologies. The Faculty Connection provides relevant materials and applicable tools—from syllabi to lecture presentations and from videos to labs and assignments aligned to ACM Knowledge Areas.
It’s all here to help make your classroom more engaging and your students more successful.
FIND IT ALL IN ONE PLACE
Faculty Connection is where you will also findpointers to many Microsoft resources, programs, and grants relevant to technology educators. Assembled here are events and offers from Microsoft Learning, Microsoft Research, and other Microsoft product groups to help maximize Microsoft technology learning in the classroom. Some examples are:
- DreamSpark offers no-cost access to Microsoft professional-level developer, designer, and gaming software, giving educators the resources to ensure that their classrooms and labs have the latest technologies to engage students in new ways. www.dreamspark.com
- TheImagine Cup technology competition is a great way to enhance project learning by empowering students to use their creativity to change the world. Resources are available to help students work in teams, present their ideas, and make professional connections. www.imaginecup.com/main/faculty
- Windows Azure offers Educator Grants for faculty looking to use the Microsoft Windows Azure platform and SQL Azure in their curricula. These five-month Educator Grants may be requested to develop and teach curricula and to enable leading-edge student projects. Some of the leading Universities around the world are teaching cloud computing, distributed systems, virtualization and other concepts using Windows Azure. Educators will receive a special 12-month pass along with any approved request, visit http://aka.ms/owppyl today.
CURRICULUM RESOURCE AREAS
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- Cloud Computing
- Phone Development
- Embedded Systems and Devices
- Information Management (DB)
- CRM & ERP
- Net-Centric Computing
- Operating Systems
- Programming
- Security
- Software Engineering
PUT A COURSE TOGETHER—FAST
Our Resources Kits can easily assist you in developing course materials. Find links to curriculum materials and rich resources such as presentations, labs, exercises, software tools, research talks, source code, and more. http://aka.ms/xpnzrh
TEACH WHAT THEY CRAVE
Windows 8 Application Development—This new interactive resource kit provides curriculum materials, training resources and software tools for teaching programming and application development using Windows 8 technologies.
Phone Application Development—teach the fundamental concepts and design guidelines of mobile computing using top professional developer tools and comprehensive training resources. Inspire students to create apps for Windows Phone. http://aka.ms/xc5wy3
Game Development—the next great games are in your students’ minds. Teach programming using games. Find free courses, tools, XNA Game Studio software, and even code examples here: http://aka.ms/tjhcpn
Operating Systems—everything you need to teach and experiment with an innovative and industry-leading OS that differs significantly from the limited UNIX-like systems available for study today, including presentations, tutorials, projects, videos, and hands-on labs with Windows Kernal source code. www.microsoft.com/windowsacademic
Cloud Computing—Introduce students to and educate them in the new computing paradigm using the Windows Azure platform for development, labs, and projects; take advantage of free and long-term access to top cloud resources. http://aka.ms/tioxvb
FACULTY CONNECTION NEWSLETTER
Each quarter, the Faculty Connection newsletter reports interesting Microsoft developments to computer science educators. Discover the newest and most popular curricula and be invited to connect with Microsoft experts at Microsoft and relevant industry events. Register now
Microsoft is committed to helping you enable the next generation of innovators with software, tools and resources. Visit www.Microsoft.com/Faculty for more information, or contact me or the rest of our faculty team with your suggestions and comments by email to Faculty Connection Help fchelp@microsoft.com.