14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently announced the signing of a new partnership with the Miami authorities that would bring no less than 100,000 Windows 8 devices in local public schools.
While Redmond hasn’t revealed the manufacturer of these devices, so we can’t tell for sure whether they’re Surface or not, it’s still an important program that would definitely boost Windows 8 adoption in the United States.
The campaign will kick off this spring with 13,000 elementary school students who will get new laptops, while 15,000 7th grade civics students and 9th grade world history students will receive Windows 8 devices.
“For the students, it was wonderful to see Miami-Dade deeply consider the diverse needs of its student population and avoid a one-size-fits-all technology solution. We believe that choice in devices is critical and we support the variety of our hardware partners with their diverse Windows 8 offerings,” Margo Day, vice president, U.S. Education, Microsoft Corp., said in a statement.
“It may be that 4thgraders will benefit from a more ruggedized laptop, whereas Middle- and High schoolers need the flexibility of tablet devices. Yet even with a diversity of devices, all students will have the consistent, secure, privacy-respecting experience of one platform.”
This new announcement comes only a few days after Redmond officially confirmed that it was joining Barack Obama’s ConnectED program by giving away no less than 12 million Office licenses to students across the United States.
Of course, Microsoft hasn’t missed the occasion to praise its applications and devices a little bit, pointing out that Windows 8 has what it takes to make teaching and learning a lot easier.
“It’s critical to help teachers reduce the time they spend on administrative tasks such as grading homework. With the use of tools such as shared OneNote Notebooks, this is finally possible. Ultimately we want to help teachers spend the most time doing what they do best and love to do most: teach.”