Every year Microsoft runs a Microsoft Office competition for students who are proficient in Word and Excel. This is in partnership with Certiport and Prodigy, our IT Academy Partners.

Yesterday morning Melissa Scott, the Irish Champion in Microsoft Excel, along with Suzy Farrell, the Irish Champion in Microsoft Word , flew out to represent Ireland in the “Worldwide Competition on Microsoft® Office” held in the Hilton Hotel in Toronto.

Melissa (left) and Suzy (right) at the airport

They will be competing with entrants from around the World for the title of “World Champion”.

Melissa Scott from Ballyclare High School in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland will take part in the Microsoft Excel Final.  Ballyclare HS is a NI Specialist School for ICT.

Suzy Farrell from Maynooth Post Primary School in Co. Kildare, Ireland will take part in the Microsoft Word Final.

Along with the competition our Irish champs will enjoy a trip to the CN Tower and Niagara Falls and get the opportunity to mingle with hundreds of other entrants from all over the World.

Congratulations to Melissa and Suzy -  GOOD LUCK IN TORONTO !!!

Generally, I write about Educational issues but when I saw this video I had to put it on the site.The Microsoft Xbox Team are developing new technology called  Xbox Project Natal. If you wanted to see what our answer to the Nintendo Wii is, look no further.

I’m certain these new technologies are going to play a major role and have a significant impact on how students and teachers engage in the classroom in the years ahead !!!

From the site:

No Strings (or Controllers) Attached.

Introducing Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required.  See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it.  If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun -- the only experience needed is life experience.

"For us, this E3 is about breaking down barriers – between generations, between games and entertainment, and most importantly, between dreamers and the future – in a way only Xbox 360 can."

DON MATTRICK

"This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games"

STEVEN SPIELBERG

And if that’s not enough amazing technology , go to Microsoft Wave and watch the video for it.

It’S difficult to comprehend how fast technology is advancing and the changes it will bring in the next few years. CAN’T WAIT

Who says that Education shuts down during the summer . In just the past few days these announcements have come from various groups within Microsoft that all impact Education for Teachers, Students and Institutions. They are:

REDMOND, Wash. — July 22, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the next versions of its flagship desktop and server operating systems. With the completion of this development phase, industry partners are readying products in time for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 worldwide general launches. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. As always, current customers of the Windows Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and TechNet subscribers will be among the first to get customer access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in the coming weeks.

The launch of Microsoft Education Labs

Microsoft Live Services Plug-in for Moodle

Microsoft Research Add-ins for Scientists

Microsoft Surface SDK will be available on MSDNAA Subscriptions

From Alfred Thompson –The Computer Science Teacher

That’s just some of them. NOT BAD FOR A SLOW SUMMER WEEK !!!!! Enjoy your vacation

As you can imagine, things really slow down in July when you work in Education. Teachers, Students and us at Microsoft take a well earned break. That doesn't mean that Education stops though. Once you’re hooked on RSS feeds, like I am, you’re always learning and discovering new things. So I thought I would just share some of the cool feeds I got just today.

What’s new in OneNote 2010

From Alfred Thompson- The Computer Science Teacher, I went to the links for Mr Higgins’ Blog site and his Math Classroom links. If you’re a Math Teacher, you should be following theses feeds,

From Robert Scoble, his take on Office 2010 with a link to the video tutorials

And from Kristen  and Stuart on one of my favourite sites Teaching Ideas and Resources

This is just a very small sampling of the type of feeds that come through every day. One that I should point out in particular is:

Jane Hart’s Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies. This site, more than any other I’ve come across, showcases more Web 2.0 solutions and applications for Teachers, Students and Educators than anyone else out there. It is a MUST FEED !!!    Thanks Jane for doing all of the leg work.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer and make sure to bookmark my site.