The Microsoft K-12 Technology Connection
April 1997

1. Connected Learning Community
•	Living the Vision

2. 	Internet/Intranet
•	Preparing for the Future: High School Student Programmers, Distance Learning, and Internet Development
•	Tips: Making Source Comments Less Intrusive and More!
•	Troubleshooting: Visual J++

3. 	Networking
•	Pioneering New Scholastic Horizons
•	Tip: Creating New User Accounts with CTS
•	Troubleshooting: Communications Tools for Schools

4. On Your Desktop
•	Training Teachers for a New Technology
•	Tips: Managing Files and Folders in Windows 95
•	Troubleshooting: Windows 3.1, 3.11, and Windows 95

5. Q&A

6. 	Classroom Corner
•	Leveling the Playing Field with Accessible Technology
•	AATP at Jackson Hole High School
•	The Read In!

7. 	Products and Promotions
•	Products Featured in This Issue
•	New Products, Betas, and Recent Releases
•	Microsoft Open License Promotion
•	Education Solutions Briefing
•	Encarta Schoolhouse
•	AATP Announcement
•	NECC Preview
•	Classroom Software Solutions from McGraw Hill
•	Microsoft Announces Zero Administration Kit For Windows NT Workstation 4.0 

1. Connected Learning Community
Living the Vision

By Maureen O’Neill, Editor of the Microsoft K-12 Technology Connection

When Andrew Smallman, director of the Puget Sound Community School (PSCS), visited the Education home page (http://www.microsoft.com/education/) and read about Microsoft’s vision for building connected learning communities (http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/vision/clc/default.htm), he realized that the school he had founded three years ago was already living the vision—so he wrote and told us about it. 

Like all the e-mail we receive, his touched down on several desktops in the Education group before landing on mine. Since I’m always scouting for schools that have begun to include the local or even the global community in the education of their students, I decided to give Smallman a call.

PSCS, located in Bellevue, Washington, is a small independent school offering a radically different education to the middle- and high-school students it serves. Key to the school’s philosophy are these two concepts: First, if you create a nurturing, rich environment you don’t need to force students to learn; in fact, you can’t stop them. Second, children learn best by having greater access to the community. 

Each quarter, the students are given a list of up to 70 possible classes and asked to prioritize them. (“Believe it or not, we’ve had a math class every quarter,” says Smallman.) The selections they make fall into six predetermined categories: the apprenticeship program, the community service program, the field trip program, the intergenerational program, the online education program, and the tutorial program (which most resembles traditional classes). The pattern of the school week mirrors the program offerings: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are set aside for tutorials; Mondays for field trips; and Fridays for apprenticeships. There are no requirements, tests, or grades. 

The World as a Classroom
“PSCS is dedicated to being a leading example of community-involved education,” reads the school’s mission statement. As anyone who talks to a member of PSCS soon discovers, community isn’t just a warm and fuzzy abstraction. PSCS is literally a school without wallsthere is no school buildingand students are out in the working world every day. Tutorials, for example, are held in various public and private locations such as bookstores, libraries, a Seattle cafe, and the homes of students. These classes, which mix all age levels, are taught by PSCS staff and parents, as well as community members such as Cecile Andrews, columnist for the Seattle Times and founder of the Voluntary Simplicity movement. Apprenticeships also take place “on site,” so that students can build one-to-one relationships with a diverse group of professionals including a wildlife biologist, a horse trainer, an artist, and a bookstore owner. 

Reaching Out in Cyberspace
With students scattered throughout Seattle, Bellevue, and surrounding areas, computers are an important logistical tool. Every student has access to a computer in his or her home, and teachers, students, and parents communicate via e-mail on a daily basis. (Last year, one family couldn’t afford a PC, and the rest of the PSCS community pitched in and found an acceptable used computer.) If a student needs a ride to a community event, for example, he sends a request via the parents/students e-mail list. If Smallmanor another teachercomes across a learning opportunity on the Internet, he sends out an announcement with details. 

But more important, cyberspace is a venue where students can meet members of the global community. “PSCS has a strong Web presence,” says Smallman proudly, describing how poetry and stories are posted for a potential global audience. One student, a devotee of mountain climbing, maintains a Mt. Everest information page. Following the recent tragedy on Everest, his page, registered on several search engines, got hits from all over the world and he received several e-mail requests asking for more details. Just imagine the educational impact this has on a fourteen-year-old, says Smallman.

PSCS has held several virtual classes that are open to anyone who wishes to participate. Current favorites include a poetry class taught by Henry Sosnoski, a well-known Nevada poet, a book discussion group, and a very popular class on kindness, taught by Smallman, in which participants perform weekly acts of kindness and tell stories of the results online. Alex Karpoff, a middle-school student who has an apprenticeship working in a barn in exchange for riding lessons wrote a long piece that began: “Last Monday I had the most exhilarating experience and telling you all is my kindness to myself.” In the middle of mucking out the stalls, Alex realized it would be nice to listen to some music, so she put on her Walkman.  Then,  “…just so I could think a little better, I took off my head phones and realized that it was the sounds of the barn that I missed! That’s how much I love them. The sounds of the horses moving around in their stalls, munching hay or drinking or just breathing. I love it all!”

To gain real-world experience, students at PSCS have donated their HTML skills to local youth organizations, and they’ve also traded Web page design for space to hold their classes. “I’ve got students who can do HTML in their sleep,” says Smallman. At 15, Greg Morris is the techno guru at PSCS. A soft-spoken young man, he describes teaching himself HTML and PERL using sourcebooks he found on the Internet. The January issue of the PSCS newsletter thanks Greg for programming a pull-down menu on the school’s home page that makes it easy to access internal links. The newsletter also credits Greg with helping spearhead an online version of the school’s yearbook that can be viewed by anyone with Web access.

One of the most successful events the school holds is a monthly all-nighter at the Speakeasy Cafe in downtown Seattle, which sells Internet access along with great coffee and pastries. Last year, CU-SeeMe video technology was used to hold a three-way discussion on environmental issues with students from Japan and Sweden. Of course, there are great fringe benefits. “Adolescents love getting together at odd hours and being social,” says Smallman. “They love staying up, drinking Coke, eating cookies, and just being in downtown Seattle at night.” 

Smallman believes that educators need to find a middle ground between those who think that computers will ruin education and those who believe technology will save it. “The thing that’s unique about computers and the Internet,” Smallman explains, “is that a computer can be both a pencil and a book. We can make something as well as get information, and the future lies in finding a way for students to use it  for both purposes. 

“It’s common sense that the computer allows us to make more connections between people,” he says, underscoring the bottom line at a school where the forging of human connections is considered a worthy educational goal and the best possible use of technology.

•	For more information on PSCS, visit the Web site at http://www.pscs.org/
•	To find out what Microsoft is doing for K-12 education, visit our home page at http://www.microsoft.com/education/
•	To read about other schools that are building their vision of a connected learning community, go to http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/VISION/CLC/connect.htm

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

2. Internet/Intranet
Preparing for the Future: High School Student Programmers, Distance Learning, and Internet Development

By Suzanne Sowinska

For many students, an interest in programming languages begins when they learn to create their own Web pages and discover how simple it is to read, write, and design using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Since the source code for virtually every Web page is available to them, they can easily figure out how to code almost anything they see. Once students hit the limits of what they can do in a very simple language like HTML, they move on to languages like Java, Basic, C, and C++ and begin to write both simple and sophisticated programs.  

This article focuses on how distance learning programs are helping student programmers excelnot only in building the programs, applets, and controls that make Web pages more active, but also in building a solid future for themselves as computer programmers. 
The Microsoft Visual C++ Internet Distance Education Program
Janie Schwark, a product manager in the Applications and Internet Client group, is in charge of the Microsoft Internet Distance Education (IDE) program. IDE was started last year with 15 pilot schools as a way to support high school students who want to learn to program using the Microsoft Visual C++ development system.  According to Schwark, “We [Microsoft] are concerned there won’t be enough programmers in the future for all the work that needs to be done.”  Although classes in computer programming have been offered in high schools for a long time, Schwark is very excited about IDE because “it gives high school students the opportunity to learn C++ when there is not a teacher available [to teach the course] at their school.”

The IDE program offers a novel way for teachers to deliver instruction and collaborate  with students over the Internet.  The program offers a textbook, a student workbook, a study guide, a test engine on a Web site at http://www.studio-cplus.com/, and mentoring by professional C++ programmers.  IDE C++ courses are taught in the following settings:

•	Group settings: For a group whose instructor knows C++ programming but would like the additional online mentoring, chat group, and skills testing support available through the program.
•	An independent study setting: For students who want to learn C++ and receive credit, but there is no instructor available at their school to teach them the course.
•	Individual study: For students who would like to learn C++ programming through home study.  Students receive the same materials and support, but work on their own at home.

The IDE, its C++ Web site, and the related link to the high school student programming Web site at http://www.mainfunction.com are also a rich source of support for any high school student preparing for the Advanced Placement Computer Science test given to eleventh and twelfth graders.  The test recently switched from Pascal to C++ as the programming language it uses to test for language proficiency.  

Java is the next language Microsoft and other industry and education leaders plan to support with a distance learning program.  A program for Visual Basic is also planned for 1998. 

What Do Students and Teachers Think of the Program?
Bob Reith, who has been teaching for 20 years, the last 10 of which as a computer science instructor and administrator for Eastern Christian High School in New Jersey, is very excited about the C++ IDE course his students are enrolled in. For Reith, who generally knows a great deal about many different programming languages but is not a C++ programmer himself, the benefits are many: “Students can work independently, and we can provide them with programming experience that we couldn’t otherwise afford to.”

Reith’s students take the C++ IDE course as part of a block scheduling system in which all courses are taught as tutorials.  He has a range of students in his computer science blocks: some are taking required courses and learning how to use computer programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, while others are taking elective programming classes in QBasic and C++.  Reith’s role in the classroom is, in his words, “to motivate students to learn how to think in a language, and to monitor their progress.”  Reith’s C++ IDE students take the online tests and final exams in his presence and he gives them grades depending on how well they do and what they can show him they know at the end of the semester.

One of Reith’s students is Rick Sonderfan, who doesn’t own a computer at home and started the school year knowing nothing about computers or programming.  In a calculus class Rick was taking, he quickly learned to program his calculator, including creating a poker game on it, and fellow students suggested he take one of Reith’s computer science classes.  Four weeks into the semester, he asked Reith if he could abandon the Word and Excel classes and instead take QBasic programming.  He completed the QBasic course in half the allotted time and immediately began taking the C++ course. He did so well that he applied and was immediately accepted to study computer science next year at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  He is now taking the second part of the C++ IDE course.

Sonderfan says “When I first started out taking the course, it seemed really hard.”  Now that he has the concepts, however, he finds it easier and easier to understand.  “I don’t like the Internet very much; it’s kind of boring,” says Sonderfan, “but the IDE and its testing system is a good way to learn C++ programming.”  He hopes to either continue his interest in Games programming or perhaps learn to be a systems analyst during his time at N.J.I.T.
Introducing Java and Microsoft Visual J++ into High Schools
Guy Huntington is the national president of Skills Canada, a computer industry nonprofit organization. Once Huntington got wind of what Microsoft was doing with Visual C++ and distance learning, he got on the phone to Janie Schwark.  If high school programmers could learn C++ through distance learning, why not also offer Java programming?  Huntington is eager to give high school students exposure in a systematic way to the latest programming tools.  His goal is a practical one: “The average high school student in Canada graduates with no training or job experience. Learning to be a Java programmer would give graduates a chance to have skills and a job with a future.”

Huntington and Schwark plan to kick off a Microsoft Visual J++ distance learning program with 10 pilot schools across North America next September. In the meantime, to garner excitement and to get students using Java and Microsoft Visual J++, they’re setting up a Java programming contest Web site.  They plan to pose programming challenges on the Web site and ask students to solve them.  Contest winners will get a free trip to Microsoft and a chance to meet with Java programmers working on real-world solutions to programming problems.

When asked if learning C++ or Java programming might be a stretch beyond the skill level of most high school students, Huntington’s response was a definitive No! “High school students have already proven they can be good programmers. Give these students the latest tools, and let them run with them.” 
What Programming Language Should Students Learn?
When it comes to teaching programming at the high school level, the first concern is with learning basic programming concepts such as how computers are programmed, what object-oriented programming is, and what defines a function, loop, and string.  Schwark and Huntington agree that it really doesn’t matter what language you use as an example for these discussions because the basic concepts are the same.  Once students progress beyond the basics, however, they will want to choose a programming language based on the type of development they are interested in.

C++ and Java are two of the most popular programming languages used for Internet and intranet development.  Along with other Internet-related functionality, Microsoft Visual C++ allows programmers to create ActiveX controls, the small, modular programs such as ActiveMovie. It also allows programmers to link Web pages to server-side applications. Visual J++ allows programmers to create small programs in Java that run on Web sites.

What’s the Difference Between C++ and Java in Internet/Intranet Development?
C++ is the programming language responsible for most of the commercial software created today. C++ is an object-oriented language used primarily for writing large programs or for smaller components of them. Frequently a team of programmers work together to create smaller modules or objects that are then linked together into a larger program.  C++ helps programmers accomplish their goals by providing them with class libraries and other tools that allow them to create objects that can be reused, reducing programming time.

The Microsoft programming tool that uses C++ is called Microsoft Visual C++. For the type of Internet and intranet development problems most commonly encountered by K-12 site technology coordinators, Visual C++ enables you to:

•	easily create ActiveX controls, ActiveX documents, and document and control containers.
•	write programs that link database information to Web pages.
•	write ISAPI (Internet Server Application Programming Interface) extensions or filters (a standard method to write programs that communicate with Web servers through OLE).

Like C++,  Java is an object-oriented programming language. Developed specifically with the Internet in mind, Java is most useful for writing smaller programs.

With Java, you can use objects, or “controls,” to enhance your Web pages with computer simulations, interactive games, teaching tools, spreadsheets, and more. For example, the test engine on the C++ Internet Distance Education site is powered by a Java applet. One major benefit of Java is that these small programs, called applets, can fly around the Internet without regard for what kind of hardware they end up on. Applets consist of code that is translated by Java-enabled Web browsers. If you look at some HTML tags you may see the characteristic <APPLET> tag.

With applets, visitors to your Web page can watch your animations even if they don’t have the required software to run them. Their computers can pick up the Java-coded applet along with the animation file and run both. As a result of Java technology, anyone can surf the Internet—and make the most of its offerings—without regard to the software or hardware.

•	For more information on any of the Microsoft Distance Learning programs, contact Janie Schwark at jans@microsoft.com
•	Bob Reith can be reached at RAReith@aol.com
•	Teacher training workshops are also available.  If you are interested in attending, contact Syd Harmon at ideasyd@msn.com
•	Guy Huntington, the national president of Skills Canada, can be reached at guy@cyberstore.ca
•	For more information on Microsoft Visual C++, visit http://www.microsoft.com/visualc/
•	For more information on Microsoft Visual J++, visit http://www.microsoft.com/visualj/
•	For information on Microsoft Visual Programming Tools and their use in Higher Education, visit the Microsoft Academic Cooperative site at http://msdeved.isu.edu/ms

About the author: Suzanne Sowinska is a software consultant, technical writer, and university educator.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Tip: Making Source Comments Less Intrusive
You may have heard the programmer’s adage, “Well-written source code is the only documentation you’ll ever need.” 
Unfortunately, few of us write code that’s completely understandable without documentation, so we include comments in our source files. These comments may be simple explanations of special techniques, reminders about implementation rules, or countless other pieces of information we think are important for understanding the code.

By default, the Visual J++™ Applet Wizard adds lengthy comments in your code. While the comments can be useful, they can also make the resulting code difficult to read. Although you can choose not to generate the comments at all, that’s not always the best solution—especially if you’re just getting started with J++ development software.

To preserve the comments but make them less obtrusive, Developer Studio™ allows you to adjust its syntax highlighting. To do so, follow these steps: On the Format page of the Options dialog box, click the Format tab. In the Category list, choose Source Windows, and in the Colors list, choose Comment. Click the silver color in the Foreground box, and click OK. This change will dramatically subdue the appearance of comments in your source files, whether they’re excessive or not.

If you’re still distracted by the comments in a source file, try changing the comment color to white. Use this setting cautiously, though, since it will make all comments disappear from view!

Tip: Listing All Developer Studio Commands
It’s easy to generate a list of all commands—simply close all active Developer Studio dialog boxes and then choose Keyboard Map… from the Help menu. The buttons on the toolbar at the top of the list will (from left to right) print the currently displayed list, copy it to the Clipboard, or let you choose a new filter for the mapping list. The default filter shows only those commands that are currently bound to a keyboard command, but you can easily display all commands by choosing All Commands from the list.  

The heading buttons at the top of the command list let you sort the list. The default sort is by category, but if you click the heading for one of the other columns, the list will then appear in sort order by that column. This sorting capability lets you look up a command by its name or find out if a particular key combination is already mapped to a command.

One last note about the Help Keyboard list: It’s available only from the Help menu, not from the InfoViewer online Help. A moment’s reflection will reveal the reason—Developer Studio must build the list on the fly so that it accurately reflects the current keyboard mappings, while InfoViewer displays information from a static document.

You’ll probably learn a lot by browsing through this list of commands. As you see some of the commands that are available but that haven’t been mapped to any key combination, you’ll better understand how much time you can save by taking advantage of Developer Studio’s keyboard mapping capabilities. 

 1997. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of The COBB Group, a division of Ziff-Davis Publishing at http://www.cobb.com/.

Troubleshooting: Visual J++
Q. Is there an easy way to convert dialogs or other resources I created in C++ to Java?

A. Yes! Using the Microsoft Visual J++ development system, there is an easy way to convert an existing Windows-based resource (.res) file created in C++ to Java.  The Resource Wizard is a Visual J++  tool that can convert C++ to Java code to produce the equivalent Java graphical user interface (GUI) components.

When using the Resource Wizard, however, you will find that not all controls you created in C++ have an equivalent component in Java’s Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) class library.  Only those C++ GUI components that have an equivalent Java GUI component will be converted by the Resource Wizard.  For example, Java supports button controls, edit box controls, and check box controls, but if your C++ dialog contains a spin box control you’ll need to redesign that component.
Running the Visual J++ Java Resource Wizard
The Visual J++ Java Resource Wizard reads Windows template (.rct) and resource (.res) files and generates Java code to produce a user interface that uses the Java graphical user interface (GUI) component classes.  Note that this conversion procedure assumes that you have already created a Visual J++ project and resource template (.rct file) for the new resource you are creating.  If you haven’t, open Visual J++, and on the File menu, click New to create a new Visual J++ project.  To create a resource template for your project,  on the File menu, click New, and then click Resource Template on the Files tab.

To convert your C++ dialog to Java, open Visual J++ and on the Tools menu, click Java Resource Wizard.  In the Filename box, specify the .rtc or .res file you want to convert to a Java file, or click the Browse button to find it.  The second pane of the Java Resource Wizard will appear.  If you want to change the name of any of the classes that will be generated, double-click the class name and enter your modifications, and then click Finish.  A dialog box will appear, displaying the names of the files generated.

For each dialog box or menu in the resource template, the Java Resource Wizard creates a .java file containing a class whose name is the ID of the dialog box or menu. In addition, when there are dialog boxes in the resource template, the Java Resource Wizard creates a separate file for a Dialog Layout class, which is used by the dialog classes to manage the layout of controls.

There’s no need to edit the source code in the Resource Wizard-generated .java files. If you want to make any changes to your menu or dialog box, use the Menu editor or Dialog editor, resave the resource template, and run the Java Resource Wizard to regenerate the .java files.

Q. Why am I getting an out of memory error using COMCallingJava in Microsoft Visual J++ version 1.0?

A. When you attempt to drive the COMCallingJava sample through a VBDriver.exe, a C++ client sometimes generates an E_OUTOFMEMORY message.  The E_OUTOFMEMORY error is generated if the class file, CEuclid.class, for the class is not in one of the directories in the CLASSPATH. 

To fix the problem, copy CEuclid.class to one of the directories specified in the CLASSPATH. The %windir%\Java\Classes directory is one of the directories that is normally specified in the CLASSPATH. Copy CEuclid.class to this directory. 

Note: There are two CEuclid.class files generated. One in the project directory and the other in the %windir%\Java\TrustLib\Euclid directory generated by Javatlb. Copy the file from the project directory. 

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

3. Networking
Pioneering New Scholastic Horizons

Hillside Elementary is a pioneer in using Communications Tools for Schools, a set of communications tools for schools available free* when you obtain the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 operating system.  What are the benefits? Open communication between teachers, students, parents, and the community; access to online course materials; an infrastructure that can be easily upgraded; and hassle-free network administration. 

In March of 1994, Hillside Elementary in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, became one of the first primary schools in the world to present Web sites designed by elementary students on the Internet.  Hillside’s pioneering efforts were guided by Stephen Collins, Web master at University of Minnesota’s Web66 site. Since Hillside’s trailblazing foray onto the Internet, more than 6,500 schools have established a presence on the Web.

Stephen Collins recently evaluated the leading network operating systems and, based on his research, converted Hillside to the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0. At the same time, he installed Communications Tools for Schools (CTS). “The range of features that have enhanced Windows NT Server for Web access is pretty amazing,” Collins says. 

Communications Tools for Schools, available when you obtain Windows NT Server 4.0, is the only free communications solution to provide e-mail, video conferencing software, and Web tools tailored specifically for K-12 education. In addition, this offering includes new Macintosh Installable File System drivers, thus extending the cross-platform capabilities of the Windows NT network operating system by providing full network access to native Macintosh CD-ROMs. 
Easy Integration With Windows NT Server 4.0
“I hadn’t worked with Windows NT much at all when I first set about installing Communications Tools for Schools,” Collins  remembers.  “When you put the CD in, it walks you through the installation processnetwork file sharing for Macs and PCs, setting up FrontPage, and the Web site itself.  It’s really just a matter of clicking on the Next button and entering a name.  That’s all the skill you need.  Compared to Novellwhere you really have to know what you’re doing, and even then it’s difficultTools for Schools is a dream.  Virtually anyone can set up a full Internet presence in no time at all.  Customizing appearances and adding Web pages are relatively easy: Any K-12 administrator can do it.” 
Setup Wizard and School Web Template Features
The CTS Setup Wizard checks your NT Server installation and allows you to install only the CTS components you want. These components include server administration wizards, server-based software applications, and third-party client programs.  

With Communications Tools for Schools, server administrators can now:

•	Batch import and create user accounts, taking the data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or a comma-delimited text file. Hundreds of user accounts can be generated in a single minute.
•	Publish immediately on the World Wide Web or a school intranet. With the customizable school Web template, designed for K-12 education, the administrator is prompted for school information as well as the school colors. When the template is completed, information such as schoolwide announcements or homework or even activities of the French Club is propagated throughout the Web site. 
•	Take advantage of e-mail services provided with the Internet-compliant POP3 MailSrv service. 

A Window to Possibility
I remember a student with whom I’d had a lot of problems.  He was bright, but his writing skills were poor and he just didn’t see why he needed to work on them.  Once he had access to the Internet, he spent as much time on the Web as he could.  He was reading all these articles written by different physicists, and suddenly he decided writing was important.  I had a conference with his dad one evening, and the son came in with him because he wanted to use the computer some more.  After the conference his dad asked him, “What are you so interested in?”  The son said, “Dad, we need to get rid of cable and get Internet access.” Chris Collins, Hillside educator

Chris Collins is a sixth-grade Hillside teacher on a two-year leave to work with all 21 schools in the district as Internet Training Coordinator.  “With the Communications Tools for Schools software,” she explains, “the emphasis is on curriculum, not technology.  It’s so easy to use.  We’re utilizing technologynot for technology’s sakebut for collaboration, to help students and teachers communicate and conduct research over the Internet.  The leap is incredible.”  

According to Chris, Hillside students love the ability to publish Web documents and receive feedback through e-mail. “The kids who actually communicate with their readers become incredibly motivated to improve their writing. Once they publish a report, it doesn’t end there; they see learning as an extended process, not something you learn a piece of and then walk away from.

“One student said what he liked about the Internet was that it gave him a window to see what it’s like to be an adult.  People were actually listening to what he had to say. Students find that whole communities of people exist with similar interests who communicate through the Internetas equals.”

Teachers and Parents Discover Networking
Teachers are also discovering the power of networking communications.  “Now there’s teacher-to-teacher dialogue, teacher-to-scientist dialogue,” Stephen Collins says.  “That’s a real shift from the process where you look something up in a textbook or a manual, use it in the classroom and you’re done.  With Communications Tools for Schools, there is a real exchange going on within the classroom, between schools and the community, and with people all around the world every day.  Ten years ago, that was unimaginable”

“Three years ago that was unimaginable,” adds Chris Collins.  “Now a teacher has the opportunity to construct a lesson plan or a project in Microsoft Word, make it look cool in FrontPage and present it on a Web page.  All of a sudden we have teachers buying their own computers.  They’re taking this stuff home with them.  I have never seen that before.”

Parents are also getting involved. They contact the Hillside Web site to see what’s going on in the classroom: what subjects are being studied, for example, when a project is due, what activities are on the school calendar. It’s easy for parents to send questions to teachers, who can then respond when they have time. “It really opens the door between students and teachers and parents,” Chris comments.
Face to Face with the World
With the Internet, it’s more of a team effort.  Students are getting e-mail from around the world and teaching their parents how to use the Internet.  I’m getting e-mail from parents and people in the community who want to be involved.  Teachers are excited. . .there’s just so much interest.  Dorothy Reid, Hillside educator

One of the most popular products included with Communications Tools for Schools tools is CU-SeeMe, which provides real-time, person-to-person communications via the Internet with up to 10 simultaneous connections. Dorothy Reid’s third-grade class is using CU-SeeMe to work on an oceanography project.  Her students will create a partnership with a class at the Monterey Academy of Oceanographic Sciences in California, interacting through their computers and asking questions “face to face” with experts across the continent.   “With their help, my kids will compose reports, paint watercolors, write poetry, and build models in an effort to better understand the Earth’s water systems. Then we’ll put the projects on Hillside’s Web page and share everything we’ve learned.

“I met a parent at the grocery store last night,” Dorothy concludes, “and she said she couldn’t believe how much her daughter has learned about computers and finding information on the Internet.  This is a revolution.  It will continue to change education.”

Chris Collins agrees:  “A reporter called recently and asked a student about computers in school.  The kid said, ‘At school we use the computer as a tool to learn, at home we use it to play.’  With Tools for Schools you’re giving kids the ability to collaborate and communicate over the Internet.  Because when you get down to it, kids love to play with ideas.  They want to be able to talk to a NASA scientist.  You can’t discuss something with a video or a television program, but the Internet is a whole different dimension.  That’s why it’s going to make an impact where other mediums haven’t.  It already is.” 

*Shipping and handling charges apply. Offer expires December 31, 1997.

•	For more information about Communications Tools for Schools, Windows NT Server 4.0, and the Hillside Elementary case study, visit our World Wide Web site at http://microsoft.com/education/k12/cts/ or call 1 (800) 582-6014.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. 
Tip: Creating New User Accounts with CTS 

The Communications Tools Windows NT User Wizard allows you to create new user accounts based on an existing account, also referred to as a template user account. By creating a user account in Windows NT User Manager or Windows NT User Manager for Domains, you can specify a number of attributes for the account that can then be used as a template in the Communications Tools Windows NT User Wizard.

Specifically, using a template account allows you to create new accounts that have restrictions in the following areas:

•	Hours. You can specify the hours during which users can log on to the server.
•	Workstations. You can designate workstations from which users can log on to the server. Ordinarily, a user can log on to the network from any computer on the network. Using a template account, you can specify the computers that a user can log on to.
•	Multiple group memberships. The Communications Tools Windows NT User Wizard allows you to specify one group when you create a new user. A template account can have membership in several groups. If a user account is created based on the template, the user account will inherit the group memberships of the template.
•	Account expiration dates.  Accounts maintained on a primary domain controller can be made to automatically expire on a specified date.
•	Password options. You can restrict passwords. For example, if you would like to set the option that requires users to change their password when they first log on, you would need to create a template account with this option set. Template accounts are identified by a user name that begins with an underscore. For example, _Students would be recognized as a template account.

Note: Although the Communications Tools Windows NT User Wizard can create an account whose user name begins with an underscore, such an account would not be a true template account. The concept of a template account relies on the ability to change certain aspects of a user account’s environment profile. Therefore, a template account can only be created using the Windows NT User Manager or User Manager for Domains.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. 

Troubleshooting: Communications Tools for Schools

Q.  Are there any special considerations I should make before installing Communications Tools for Schools?
A.  It is highly recommended that the Communications Tools for Schools be installed on a fresh install of Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0. An upgrade from Windows NT Server 3.51 to 4.0 will work, but could lead to future problems involving some of the security features implemented with the Communications Tools for Schools Web Template. Therefore, when installing Windows NT Server 4.0, it is recommended that you do a “new installation” (even if you are really upgrading your server).

Q.  Why doesn’t Microsoft Internet Information Server show up in the list of servers available when I’m trying to install the FrontPage™ Extensions for IIS?
A. Double-check to make sure that Internet Information Server was actually installed during the Windows NT Server 4.0 installation; if it was, run the file Iisext.exe from the \Frontpg\Iisext directory on the Communications Tools for Schools (or Windows NT Server 4.0) compact disc.  Running this file copies the extension files to your Web server directory and prepares them to be installed by the FrontPage Server Manager. Once this has been completed, Microsoft Internet Information Server will appear in the list of Web servers.

Q.  I already have a mail server in place, do I need to install the Communications Tools for Schools MailSrv service?
A.  No, you can install only the components you want.  The Microsoft MailSrv service is included with CTS because its easy to use and is tightly integrated with Windows NT Server 4.0. Once a user’s logon account is created, the MailSrv mail account is created automatically at the same time. However, the Microsoft MailSrv service is a very basic SMTP/POP3 mail service. Another option is for your school or district to purchase Microsoft Exchange as your e-mail solution and use it for your mail server along with the other components of Communications Tools for Schools.

Q. 	How do I get Communications Tools for Schools?
A. Communications Tools for Schools is free to K-12 schools and school districts throughout North America, with proof of purchase of Windows NT Server 4.0.  This offer is limited to one per school and one per school district, through August 31, 1997, while supplies last. A nominal shipping and handling fee is charged. Order forms are available for download at the Communications Tools for Schools Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/cts or by calling 1 (800) 582-6014.

Q.  What are the hardware requirements for Communications Tools for Schools?
A.  Communications Tools for Schools will run on the same minimum hardware requirements as Windows NT Server 4.0.  Specific requirements depend on the size of your network.  A Pentium CPU with 32 megabytes of RAM, a network adapter, and a large hard drive is recommended. (Some components of Communications Tools for Schools will not install without a network adapter and appropriate drivers loaded.)

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

4. On Your Desktop

Training Teachers for a New Technology

By Jeff Zwier

Change can be scary when you’re a kid. Picture a kindergarten student on his very first day of school.  Suddenly, supported only by vague parental tales of how wonderful school will be, he is pulled from his comfortable, predictable home, separated from his parents, and dropped into a strange environment with new rules, new activities, and new ways of doing the tasks he’s already mastered at home. 

Now picture a teacher who is a veteran Macintosh user on his very first day using Microsoft Windows 95.  Suddenly, supported only by cheery tales of how wonderful the Windows 95 operating system will be, he is pulled from his comfortable, predictable home

Change can be scary when you’re an adult, too. Learning a new technology can be particularly frightening for reasons that go beyond a fear of the unknown or resistance to change. A question such as, Is my way of doing things obsolete? indicates a perceived threat to job security. The teacher who asks, Will I have to start all over again from scratch or will my old work translate to the new system? wants to know whether he or she has wasted a previous investment of time. One persistent and very human fear is that students will know more than the teacher does, and he or she will be exposed in “front of the class.” All too often training in new technology focuses on procedures, commands, and instructions and ignores the human beings behind the computers. 

Sarah Greenspan is a technology trainer for the Paradise Valley School District in Phoenix, Arizona.  Over the past year, Greenspan has trained many teachers making a transition from the Macintosh to the Windows 95 operating system. In addition to helping teachers get excited about a new operating system, she has also trained them to effectively integrate multimedia hardware and software in their curricula.

Greenspan’s experience in helping “Mac people” become Windows 95 users reveals that the most critical part of making this transition has nothing to do with carrying out district policy or setting up hardware: Success depends on paying attention to the participant’s underlying fears. Greenspan’s training strategy builds on this insight to create a process that virtually guarantees a smooth platform migration: creating a vision, addressing fears, building on the familiar, and measuring and celebrating success. For a summary of the training process, please read Steps to Success (below).

The “Vision Thing”
It’s not easy to communicate a vision.  Just ask former President George Bush, who may have lost the 1996 election because of an inability to clearly articulate and sell his goals.  When training Macintosh-using teachers in Windows 95 skills, Paradise Valley had to clearly and consistently communicate the rationale behind the change.  “I think the most critical component [in this effort] is that you have strong buy-in and vision, says Greenspan.  “The vision needs be articulated from the top down as to why we’re changing and why we’re working with Windows machines.”  That vision has to be toldand soldagain and again to keep enthusiasm from stalling as the program continues.

Calming Fears
According to Greenspan, the essential issue facing those who are learning new technology is “fear of the unknown. Teachers are faced with so many different challenges during the daytechnology is just one of the things on their plate.  It’s difficult for them to stay current with what’s happening in the technology world because they’re trying to stay current with everything else.”  

In the case of Windows 95, Greenspan must often address biases and misconceptions about the platform.  “The hardest part has been getting over the old mindset about the Windows platform.  Teachers think of Windows as being DOS-based with backslashes and all kinds of commands. They think that you have to be really ‘technical’ to use a Windows-platform computer.” 

To calm those fears, Greenspan spends time at the beginning of her training sessions drawing specific connections between old and new ways of computing.  “It really takes us about an hour in the introductory session to look at the things that are the same [between Windows 95 and the Macintosh].  For the most part the terminology is similar, or in many cases the same. Pointing out these similarities goes a long way toward alleviating the fear of changing to a new technology tool.”  

Greenspan dedicates significant time to “getting people excited” about Windows 95 in trainingdiscussing similarities and building enthusiasm for learning new features before focusing on technique. Generating enthusiasm in the training session builds upon knowledge gained in a pre-training needs assessment.  Doing this task well can lead to peaks in learning as students discover “user-critical” features.  Greenspan shares the enthusiasm the teaching staff has for the networking features of Windows 95.  “Once they got comfortable and could navigate around and select printers, we opened up the Network Neighborhood.  Talk about falling in lovethey have!”

Like most successful instructional techniques, Greenspan’s approach comes from firsthand experience.  “I personally had to make the switch about a year ago.  I had the same fears that the teachers have hadI was comfortable with my Macintosh and was really nervous about moving to Windows.  It was kind of trial by fire for me.”  

Taking Ownership
One of the most important factors in any training program is ownership.  The emphasis has to shift to how everyone will benefit from the new technology, rather than simply enduring a required program.

Ownership starts with assessing the needs of your trainees.  “We talked informally before we ever sat down in a computer lab.  I asked ‘What kinds of things do you usually do?  Do you do a class newsletter; do you do a calendar?  What kind of [software] titles do you use with students; what have you had success with?’  We learned what was important to them first; then we geared our training around that.”  Greenspan suggests actively pursuing resistant users to ensure you are truly meeting everyone’s needs.  “The key people are easy to identifythose who are interested, of course, and those who stand up and say ‘I really don’t want to use these new computers!’  Those are the ones we focused on first.  Together, we listened to what they wanted to do and built a plan from thatstarting with getting excited, then formally starting the training process.”

Measuring and Celebrating Progress
At Paradise Valley, Greenspan has actively managed the post-training learning process and placed responsibility for learning in her teachers’ hands.  “It wasn’t enough for me to say, ‘Look how far you’ve come.’  They need to see for themselves how far they’ve come.”  Greenspan introduced her trainees to Windows 95 with extensive goal checklistsambitious learning objectives based on their “real world” needs and broken down into small steps.  These checklists are reviewed monthly to keep teachers’ awareness of their progress high.

“Now, as we near the completion of the first year, they’re looking back at their checklists and seeing that they’ve accomplished a lot,” says Greenspan.  These confidence-building steps continue the process of moving the focus away from the tool itself toward its application in the classroom.

Ongoing Support
Greenspan emphasizes that a training program is an ongoing process, one that needs constant support to ensure that new tools are effectively integrated. Revisiting checklists once a month, celebrating successes, and sharing specific tips, tricks, and real-world applications all constitute ongoing support. One especially useful tactic is the public sharing of teachers’ expertise, as it develops, so that school “gurus” are quickly identified and can serve as resources to their peers.

As Greenspan sees it, integrating the tool seamlessly into the classroom is the end goal of the training, and that goal must drive the conversion/training process from start to finish.   “We’ve given our teachersand are giving our students the advantage of looking past the label or the chip inside the computer.  They’re truly using the machine as a tool.”

•	To download a copy of In and Out of the Classroom with Windows 95, go to K-12 Teacher Resources at http://www.microsoft.com/Education/resource/default.htm#TeacherResources, click Windows 95  in the product dialogue box, click the Go button, and then download the file.

About the author: Jeff Zwier is a technology services consultant with expertise in technical training, recruiting, and Windows NT networking.  He is currently a consultant with Interim Technology’s Technical Communications and Training Practice in Oak Brook, Illinois. You can reach him at jzwier@msn.com.

Steps to Success
•	Create and communicate a vision for how the new technology will be used, what its benefits will be, and the rationale behind the change.  Address fears by involving key (even resistant) users in developing specific goals, and enthusiastically sell the benefits of your new tools.

•	Work with teachers before training to identify how they use today’s technology.  Understand their comfort level, priorities, and concerns.  Make connections between what they need to do and how the new tools will make those tasks easier at the start of your training program.

•	Celebrate their successes.  Give teachers a forum for sharing and receiving positive feedback on their first classroom and administrative projects using the new technology.

•	Have realistic expectations for progress.  If the pace of change seems too slow, remember that technology should be a toolnot a focus. Use checklists to help teachers gain confidence in their growing skills.

•	Keep your sense of humor.  No one and no training program is perfect, and there will be mistakes, frustrations, omissions, and setbacks.  Build people support systems that help teachers take ownership of the training process, overcome fears, share knowledge, and recover from mistakes.  Accept the challenge to foster the same positive learning environment for your teachers that they create for their students.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Tip: Managing Files and Folders in Windows 95 

Creating New File Folders
Creating new folders in Windows Explorer can be frustrating. To do so, you have to open the File menu, click New, and then click the Folder command. You can also create new folders by right-clicking in the Contents pane of Windows Explorer, and when the context menu appears, clicking the Folder command on the New submenu. Both these tasks require three mouse clicks and can be time-consumingespecially with a slow computer. 

Fortunately, you can quickly create folders from either Windows Explorer or My Computer with a keyboard shortcut: Just press ALT+F, then W, and then F again. While it may sound awkward, it’s really handy once you get used to it. 
Quickly Renaming Files and Folders
To quickly rename a file or a folder, select it by clicking once on the file’s icon and then press F2. The Rename box will open, and you can type the new file name over the old one.
Bypassing File Associations
Did you know that you can open a file with an application other than the one it’s associated with? For example, a text document (with the extension .txt) is associated with Notepad by default. However, if you need to open the document with another text editor or word processor, you can do so by following this technique:

First, start Windows Explorer or My Computer and find the file you wish to open. Next, select the file by clicking it once with the left mouse button. Now, hold down the Shift key and right-click the file. A context menu will appear. Click Open With… and select the application you want to use. 
Undoing Operations in Windows 95
If you’ve inadvertently moved, renamed, or deleted a file, you may be rescued by the Windows 95 Undo feature. To undo an action in Windows 95, simply press Ctrl+Z. Or, from the Edit menu, click Undo. Using this technique, you can undo the last 10 file management activities you’ve performed, including file deletions. However, if you delete an item and then empty the Recycle Bin, it’s gone for good.

Dragging with the Right Mouse Button
Did you know that dragging files with the right mouse button displays a context menu with a choice of several actions? You can choose from several options—Move Here, Copy Here, Create Shortcuts Here, or Cancel. Dragging with the right button gives you more control than dragging with the left button, which automatically performs the default action (bold on the right-drag context menu). Also, the Cancel command comes in especially handy when you accidentally drop a file on the wrong folder.

 1997. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of The COBB Group, a division of Ziff-Davis Publishing at http://www.cobb.com/.

Troubleshooting: Windows 3.1, 3.11, and Windows 95

Q. Several of the items that normally appear on my Start menu are missing. How do I restore the default Microsoft Windows 95 Start menu items or convert my existing Windows 3.1 program groups to Start menu items? 

Restoring the Default Windows 95 Start Menu Items

To re-create the default folders that ship with Windows 95: 

1.	Click Start, and then click Run. 
2.	Type grpconv /s 

Converting Program Groups to Start Menu Items
Windows uses groups and group items represented by icons to provide access to programs. The default groups for Windows are Main, Accessories, Games, and Start Up. The Control Panel is an example of an item within the Main group. Windows 95 uses folders and links to provide the same functionality as groups and items in previous versions of Windows. 

To facilitate the upgrade from Windows to Windows 95, an executable file named Grpconv.exe is included with Windows 95. This file provides the translation of groups and group items to folders and links. Each group is converted to a folder, and its items are converted to shell links, which are placed within that particular folder. 

To convert existing Windows groups to the Windows 95 format: 

1.	Click Start, and then click Run. 
2.	Type grpconv /m
3.	Click the group you want to convert. 
4.	Click Open, and then click Yes in the Program Manager Group Converter dialog box.  

When you click Yes, the Start Menu Shortcuts dialog box appears. When the process is complete, you are returned to the desktop."
-OR-
Convert the group by double-clicking the group name. For example, if you have a group called Group.grp, you can double-click Mygroup.grp to convert it to the Windows 95 folder format. 

Grpconv.exe uses information from the registry to track changes in group files that have occurred since the last time Grpconv.exe was run. There are no entries in either the System.ini or Win.ini file that take precedence over these system registry entries. 

The last modified date and time of the Progman.ini file and all group files are stored in the system registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GrpConv

Grpconv.exe runs automatically after Setup has copied most of the files needed for a complete installation and restarted your computer. You can also run Grpconv.exe manually. Grpconv.exe supports the following switches: 

•	/S 
•	/M

When run with the /S switch, Grpconv.exe rebuilds the default Windows 95 folders. The Start Menu Shortcuts status box appears during the rebuilding process. When it is complete, you are returned to the desktop.

When run with the /M switch, Grpconv.exe lets you manually convert existing Windows groups to Windows 95 folders. You can convert only one group at a time using this method. If the groups are in the directory in which you install Windows 95, they are automatically converted during Setup. 

Other Grpconv.exe Specifics 
The first time Grpconv.exe runs, the search path criteria for finding existing groups are strictly based on the contents of the Progman.ini file in the current Windows directory (if it exists). Group names and item names are not sorted prior to conversion. Group conversion begins with the first group in the directory, and shell links are created beginning with the first item in a group. Memory required for conversion of groups is allocated per group item as needed and then released all at once at the end of processing each group. No temporary files are created during conversion. All data in a .grp file, except icon location (x, y coordinates in a group), is used during conversion and migrated to folders in the Windows 95 \Programs folder. Grpconv.exe calls the shell link creation APIs directly, and as such does not call any executables during conversion. Windows Program Manager has been known to create corrupted .grp files that may work in their native environment, but have the potential to cause errors during conversion in Windows 95. Grpconv.exe recognizes corrupted .grp files and properly converts them. 

If one or more groups are not converted to folders, or if one or more items in a group are not converted to links, follow the methods outlined in the “Troubleshooting Group Conversion” section below. 

Restrictions Migration for Upgrades 
Grpconv.exe migrates the [Restrictions] section of the Progman.ini file from previous versions of Windows into the Policies section of the system registry. 

Troubleshooting Group Conversion 
If a group fails to be converted or if an error is displayed during conversion, use the following steps to troubleshoot the problem: 

1.	Use Grpconv.exe to convert a group file that was previously converted successfully. If this fails, Grpconv.exe has been corrupted, and you must replace this file with the Grpconv.exe file from your original Windows 95 disks. If this step is successful, continue with step 2. 
2.	Run the Progman.exe file that ships with Windows 95, and view the group that did not convert. If it displays and acts correctly in Program Manager, create a new group and copy (do not move) the items from the original group to the new one. 
3.	Close Program Manager, and run Grpconv.exe in interactive mode (grpconv /m) to convert the newly created group. 
4.	Run Program Manager, delete the items in the newly created group, and copy a few of the items from the original group into the new group. If this fails, repeat this step with different items until you have determined which item is causing the failure. 

Important: It is also possible for a virus to cause conversion failure.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

5. Q&A

From Terry Sorenson, Mission Middle School, Bellevue, Nebraska

Q. I am a member of the Technology Committee at the middle school where I teach.  As such, I am presented with the unique opportunity to preview and recommend software.  My current goal is to obtain Microsoft Internet Explorer for my school.  We are currently saddled with Firefox and Netscape.  Additionally, we have 50 Internet connections, which run through two central servers.  We also use Windows 3.1.  I would appreciate answers to the following questions:
 
1. 	Which version of Internet Explorer do we need?
Internet Explorer 3.02 for Windows 95 and Windows NT Server 4.0; version 3.01 for the Macintosh; and version 3.01 for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 5.".

2. 	Is it “networkable”?
When you ask if it’s “networkable,” we’ll assume that you are asking if you can put a single copy of Internet Explorer on a server and launch it from multiple  workstations.  The answer to that question is no. Internet Explorer is designed to be  run from individual workstations and customized with individual home pages, favorite Web sites, etc. 

However, using an improved editing tool available with the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK), network administrators can centrally control the default settings for all browser installations on a network. 

For information on obtaining the IEAK, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ieak/

3. 	What are the minimum memory (RAM) requirements?
The minimum memory requirement for Windows 95 is 8 megabytes, but 16 are recommended. For Windows 3.1, 4 megabytes is the minimum requirement, and 8 are recommended.

4. 	Is it copy-protected?
 Microsoft Internet Explorer is available for you to redistribute royalty-free within your school or district, whether you use Windows 95 or 3.1, NT 4.0 or 3.51, or the Macintosh. To do so, you must first sign a license and redistribution agreement. Please use our online sign-up form at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ieak/

5. 	What will be the total cost incurred?
The only cost you will incur is to purchase the Microsoft Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) for $20.00.

6.  Do you have a brochure I can see?
Please visit our Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/default.asp where you can find information on all versions of Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Internet Explorer is available for free download from http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

From Thomas A. Harmon, Eau Claire Area School District, Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Q. I am going to be setting up a Windows NT server for a classroom lab
environment. All of the lab computers will be running Windows 95. What
would you suggest for configuration of NT and Windows 95 to allow the
greatest flexibility but not allow students to “mess up” the client
workstations.

A. Following is an excerpt from an article in our March issue that describes how Steve Carr, technology coordinator for a junior high in Southern California solved the same problem:

Creating policies for student users through the Windows NT Policy Editor can help you steer students toward the right resources without the need for extensive levels of password security.  In fact, a small group of logons and user profiles can serve a wide range of users, from students to network administrators.  Carr has established a limited set of standard user profiles for the students and staff at Blackstock.  “What we do, essentially, is create generic users on the [Windows NT] server and enable the client side to log on to our domain,” says Carr.  “Once they log on, a profile [including settings for desktops, available programs, printers, and controls] is dictated to them.  We lock things down pretty tightly, depending on the environment that kids are in.”  Students and teachers have a wide range of access: For example, Carr has full administration rights to the network while students have basic access to video, word processing, and the Internet. 

To read the entire article, go to the home page of this newsletter, click the Archives button, select the March issue, and then go to the Connected Learning Community.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
6. Classroom Corner
Leveling the Playing Field with Accessible Technology

By Liza White

Monica suffers from brittle bone syndrome, which means that the slightest knock or stress to her bones could cause a serious fracture. She has to use a wheelchair to support her body because her bones would snap under her full weight. When Monica discovered the Internet, she found a home page for brittle bone syndrome and connected with others who share her concerns. 

Computers have been a great asset to people with disabilities. In addition to sparking cyber relationships, as in Monica’s case, they have helped children with mobility impairments to write, those with visual and hearing impairments to read, those with learning disabilities to process information, and those who are isolated to enjoy community. However, the rapid shift from the character-based user interface of the MS-DOS operating system to the graphical user interface of the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows® operating systems has created some unintended barriers. For example, those who have visual impairments may have trouble distinguishing graphical elements like icons if they are not accompanied by text. Or, if sound or color are the only cues for an action, those who are hearing-impaired or color-blind will miss them.

As students with disabilities continue to be mainstreamed, teachers will need software that can accommodate the needs of all their students and be set up with ease. To meet this challenge, today’s educators, parents, software developers, and hardware manufacturers are joining forces. 

Creating Accessible Technology
Outside Luanne Lalonde’s Microsoft office, thermal printed photos line the walls. These prints, with their raised edges, allow visually impaired people to feel the dimensions of program windows on a computer screen and gain a conceptual understanding of the graphical user interface.

Lalonde, an accessibility product manager, explains that Microsoft’s strategy represents a change in the industry. As a leader in adaptive technology, Apple created relationships with third-party vendors who would supply accessibility software or devices to work with the Macintosh system. 

Microsoft’s strategy is a little different, says Lalonde. “We’re trying, as much as possible, to integrate accessibility options within the software itself.” Lalonde points out that there are a lot more settings in Windows 95 that can help people who have disabilities than the obvious ones displayed in Accessibility Options in the Control Panel. For example, if you select Display from the Control Panel and choose the Appearance tab, you can change the color scheme to high contrast and increase the font size for the windows and scrollbars. Windows 97 will include several additional accessibility features  such as the “big cursor”—an oversized mouse pointer that is easier to see and an on-screen magnifier that magnifies the area under the mouse pointer. 

“The goal is to provide accessibility settings that teachers can set up easily,” says Lalonde. “If teachers don’t have to spend a lot of time setting up a computer for each student’s needs, they have more time to teach.” With that goal in mind, the Windows development team is working on a wizard that will enable a teacher to quickly select and save accessibility settings for individual users. 

Currently, Microsoft Dinosaurs is available with closed captioning, and Microsoft is working to make several other children’s educational products closed-captioned, including Scholastic’s Magic School Bus titles. “It’s sort of like what happened with curbside accessibility ramps,” says Lalonde. “At first it was the needs of the disabled community that drove that change, but now everyone has better access: strollers, bikes, carts, and wheelchairs.” Lalonde believes that closed captioning is really a benefit to all children because it can help them learn to read by associating words with the actions they see or hear.

Active Accessibility
Microsoft Active Accessibility™ is a Windows-based technology that builds a high level of support for access technologies into the operating system itself, making it easier for software developers to create specialized utilities that serve people with a wide range of disabilities. These utilities, called accessibility aids, can “read” the contents of a computer screen to the blind using a voice synthesizer, recognize and execute spoken commands, take spoken dictation, provide input through means other than the traditional keyboard and mouse (such as onscreen keyboards or Morse code); and interpret multimedia sounds with closed captions for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

In the same way, the recently released Microsoft Active Accessibility for Java™ specification will help Java developers make their applications usable by disabled people, most importantly, perhaps, on the Internet.

Hardware That Can Help
Toward the end of last year, Don Johnston Incorporated, an international developer of hardware and software for persons with disabilities, joined with IBM to create a new line of products—the Discover Series—that would make Windows 95 and IBM personal computers more accessible.

“Discover products are designed for teachers and caregivers who need fast and easy access for their students to today’s widely-used software programs,” says Paula Kwit, product manager for Don Johnston. 

The series includes the Discover:Switch, a large buttonlike device that allows students to make selections using an on-screen keyboard and mouse; Discover:Board, a large talking keyboard for those who may need to use fists or feet to make selections; Discover:Screen, an on-screen talking keyboard for anyone who can use a mouse, trackball, or touch screen; and Discover:Ke:nx (pronounced “connects”), an input product that allows students with a wide variety of disabilities to access the computer through multiple devices.
The Children Shall Lead Us
Glen Orr teaches a class for severely disabled students at Tehachapi High School in Northern California. One of his students with cerebral palsy didn’t like a lot of the technology developed for mobility impaired students. The pointer that uses an infrared beam and is worn on the head made him feel different from other students, says Orr. But using the Microsoft Easy Ball, originally designed as a pointing device for young children, he is able to move around in the software just fine.

For many of the students in Orr’s class, the computer is what allows them to write their own name for the first time. “What we’re talking about here is not a mental deficiency but a difficulty with the fine motor skills needed to write—the keyboard alleviates this barrier.” Monica, the student with brittle bone syndrome, learned the computer skills that got her a part-time job at a feed store doing payroll and inventory.  Now a veteran Web surfer, she’s learned enough to help other students design Web pages. 

“Monica learned how to get around in Windows very quickly and found information about HTML on the Web,” says Orr.

Sharing What We’ve Learned
Angela Patterson heads the new I-Tech center of Parents Helping Parents, an online organization located in northern California that serves as a resource and support center for families with special needs children. 

“The ‘I’ stands for ‘information’; we’re striving to be a one-stop information shop about technology for accessibility and adaptability.” Patterson sees the I-Tech center providing three main services for parents and professionals: an information hub, a mentoring resource, and a hands-on lab where people can experiment with new forms of technology.

I-Tech is applying to be a chapter organization for the Alliance for Technology, a national umbrella organization that hosts 41 community-assistance programs around the country. The I-Tech center is also one of the four California Assistive Technology systems (CATS) information and referral hubs with an  800 number information line. As a hub, I-Tech would be able to answer questions such as “How can I get funding for an adaptive computer system?” or “How can I write software into my child’s individual education plan?” Patterson emphasizes that the Individual Education Plan or IEP is a legally binding document that can mean the difference between getting students what they need or going without. “I-Tech could advise an IEP team on the appropriate way to specify goals to get the technology a student needs.”

Patterson knows the value of having appropriate technology. Her own son has severe cerebral palsy but is able to operate a switch with his head to communicate. “Many children don’t have the means to communicate, but technology levels the playing field in so many cases. It allows them to reach their full potential, whatever that may be.”

I-Tech’s “mentor parenting” program uses a database of 11,000 families in the South Bay Area of California to match people who have used a particular type of technology before or who share the same concerns.  If someone wants to know what software programs work well for kids with autism, for example, he can search the database. Previous users often wind up becoming experts on a particular technology.

Today’s accessibility technology lags behind development, but the future looks promising: Whether by law (the Americans with Disabilities Act) or by policy (the U.S. Department of Education’s recent implementation of strict accessibility requirements for all software license purchases), hardware and software vendors will need to create technology that is accessible to all. 

Resources for accessible technology mentioned in this article:

•	California Assistive Technology System at http://www.catsca.com/
•	Alliance for Technology Access at http://www.ataccess.org/ 
•	Don Johnston, Incorporated at http://www.donjohnston.com/
•	Microsoft’s Accessibility home page at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/
•	Microsoft Active Accessibility  at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/msaaintro.htm
•	Parents Helping Parents at http://www.php.com/

Angela Patterson can be reached at (408) 727-5775, extension 106.

About the author: Liza White, a former computer-education instructor, is a freelance writer and editor.

AATP at Jackson Hole High School

By becoming a Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program (AATP) institution and incorporating Microsoft Official Curriculum courseware and Microsoft software into its classrooms, Jackson Hole High School found a way to reach students in a way it never could before. The school is providing its students with educational opportunities that are instantly applicable to the community’s technical needs—as well as the needs of the job market—and that serve as a springboard to a college education.

Jackson Hole High School serves a rural community competing with urban job opportunities. Wyoming has the lowest population density of any state in the United States (there are more cows than people), and it loses many of its brightest minds to the alluring advantages of urban centers in other states. Bev Aoki, a training development expert in the private sector, addressed this problem by posing the question, “What can we do in our local Wyoming school district to allow kids to excel, yet still live in their own rural community?” One possible answer was to help students prepare for careers in computer technology, training them with the help of the Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program. 

Aware of the importance of technology training for a highly skilled workforce, Aoki presented her idea to federal and state government representatives, suggesting that, rather than develop training programs from scratch, they leverage what had already been done by the computing industry to develop job training and workforce development programs.  

Aoki spent nearly fours years trying to form partnerships between the technology industry and public education. However, she was missing one ingredient: funding through private-sector support. Says Aoki, “The private sector needs to get more involved with public education. With all the budget cuts and lack of funding, our future workforce is in jeopardy.” 

Microsoft AATP
Jackson Hole High School had a mix of Macintosh and PC-based computers. However, getting the right software into the classrooms to support a network technology program required upgrading computer equipment. Working with school district administrators and teachers, Aoki wrote a proposal to Microsoft requesting support to develop a Microsoft Certified Professional program pilot project for the high school. This step was the first in the path to become a Microsoft AATP institution. 

It’s one thing to say you want to bring technology into the schools, and it’s another to make it happen. Microsoft, working with Aoki, helped Jackson Hole High School understand the type of job training required by businesses today. Microsoft also gave advice in developing a technology vision that mapped to these real-world business needs, assuring that students would learn skills that will be useful to them in the future. Final approval for the program came from the school board, administration, and faculty.

Having a technology-savvy superintendent was particularly important to establish this far-reaching technology vision for the school. “School districts must support programs that meet the demands of the workplace,” says Teton County superintendent Dr. Sarah Smith. “This means that we must move quickly when opportunities with businesses arise—while still maintaining our focus on educational goals.”

Jackson Hole High School’s Pathways program serves as a model for other schools, showing how Microsoft AATP can work efficiently with public education. As a result, the school plans to create and distribute a Tracking Technology to Real Jobs Program Guide for other districts to use when implementing or upgrading technology instruction in their schools. 

The Computer Is On…Now What? 
The Jackson Hole High School teachers were a crucial element in this bold step forward; it was up to them to actually implement the program. Therefore, teachers were involved in a strategic planning session to discuss the technology changes and to help them understand their importance to the program.

Implementing new technology means change. There was a fear that many of the students would initially know more about the software than the instructors did, which puts the teachers in an uneasy position. The faculty found itself enticed by the idea of putting technology into the delivery of classes, while also feeling a bit intimidated by the actual technology. To put them at ease, teachers were given instruction and practice time on the computers—working together to learn and teach each other. Microsoft also provided technical support for teachers and for the network and computer teacher, Jim Meacham, in networking the systems. 

Microsoft Courseware in Action 
Using Microsoft Press Step-by-Step books, Jackson Hole High School expanded its curriculum to include introductory classes on Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint presentation graphics program. Students were encouraged to use the school’s new software in other classes—for example, using Microsoft Excel for lab assignments in physics classes and using Word in the marketing and aerodynamics classes.

A new networking class, which covers fundamentals of networks and the Microsoft Windows NT operating system, was the foundation for the pilot project. More than 60 students applied for nine available seats in this class (the first of its kind in the United States). The many applicants were a surprising range of students—freshmen through seniors, males and females, high achievers and “at risk” students (who struggle to stay in school or do well in other types of academic or vocational course work). The students selected were a good representation of the range of applicants.

Reaching Students in New Ways

Some of these kids aren’t in the elite of their class. But with this program, we’re reaching them in a way we never could before—and they are performing. Jim Meacham, Jackson Hole High School teacher of the Windows NT and networking class 

The most remarkable benefit of the school’s Pathways program is the ability to reach kids who have otherwise been unreachable. The nine that made the cut are a diverse group consisting of two seniors, two juniors, three sophomores, and two freshmen (two girls, seven boys). Meacham, who also serves as the district’s director of technology, is optimistic about the course. “Seven of the nine students took their first Microsoft Certified Professional exam in June and passed, and we have plans to work through the summer to learn more about supporting Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation. The kids really worked hard this semester.” That’s fairly amazing for the high school level. Half of the students plan to continue on with college, possibly going for a computer science degree. Their study will be made easier through an articulation agreement being negotiated between Jackson Hole High School and the local college, Central Wyoming College. The agreement would allow the students to earn college credits for taking the Microsoft Official Curriculum courses offered at the high school. 

“The success of the pilot program is directly attributable to the technology expertise and dedication of teachers like Jim Meacham,” says Jackson Hole High School principal Burr Storrs. “Jim took the Microsoft Certified Professional exam at the same time as his students—which showed his commitment to them and the program.” 

Adds Superintendent Smith, “Bev Aoki’s enduring vision has given our students more hope for staying in Wyoming after graduation—and for being employed if they choose to go anywhere in the world. The Microsoft AATP is one way schools can help their students achieve high-technology skills that track to real jobs.”

•	For information on the Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program, call (800) 688-0496.
•	For information on Microsoft Education and Certification, visit http://www.microsoft.com/train_cert/

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Read In!

Many children only dream of getting to chat with the author of their favorite book.  On May 9, this will become a reality when over 100,000 children around the world will telecommunicate in designated chat areas on America Online and through Internet relay chat channels. The Read In!, which will take place on The Read In! Web site, will unite children and other participants from around the world in a celebration of reading and literacy.

These famous children's authors will be online and ready to answer questions: Avi, Mark Kistler, Ed Emberley, Jackie French Koller, Evelyn Clarke Mott, Carol Tanzman, Kathleen Olson, David Patneaude, Connie Porter, Aaron Shepard, R. L. Stine, Peter Thomas, Rob Thomas, and David Wisniewski, along with Canadian children's authors David Boyd and Joan Irvine. 

The Read In! had 19,000 participants last year and many new schools are signed up to participate this year. According to Jane Coffey, project director, The Read In! appeals to teachers “because it fosters the love of reading and communication. It’s a happy marriage of reading, classroom activities, and online discussions.” 

May 9 is quickly approaching.  If you are interested in participating, visit The Read In! Web site at http://www.gsh.org.readin/. To receive a newsletter giving you weekly updates on The Read In!, send e-mail to AFCJane@aol.com

Microsoft is the Internet sponsor of The Read In! Web site, developed by Dave Evans of Digital Voodoo.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

7. Products and Promotions
Products Featured in This Issue

Microsoft Windows® 95 Operating System: http://www.microsoft.com/windows
Windows 95 presents a major step forward in functionality on desktop and portable PC platforms by providing a system that is even easier, faster, and more powerful to use, and which maintains compatibility with the Windows and MS-DOS® operating system-based applications and hardware peripherals.

Microsoft Windows NT® Server 4.0: http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/default.asp Powerful, easy to use, reliable, flexible, and scaleable, it all adds up to one of the world’s best network operating systems. At last, educators can expand the potential of networking in schools everywhere. 

Microsoft Communications Tools for Schools: http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/cts/default.htm A collection of communications and Internet tools designed specifically for K-12 education and free* with the purchase of Windows NT Server 4.0. *Shipping and handling charges apply. 

New Products, Betas, and Recent Releases 

Attention Educators!  We have a special promotion for schools and libraries involving Encarta 97.  This promotion allows you to receive a free copy of Encarta 97 Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition (our new, 2-CD product) for every two that you purchase at the discounted academic rate.  It’s quite a deal.  The price for each copy is $69.95 (plus shipping, handling and sales tax), but if you get two, the unit cost drops to $46.63 (plus shipping, handling, and tax) on the three copies you’ll receive. Call (800) 615-8149 to order. 

Microsoft Encarta® 97 and Microsoft Encarta 97, Deluxe Edition: http://encarta.msn.com/LanguageChoice.asp Award-winning multimedia encyclopedias that combine comprehensive text, rich multimedia and a unique interactive environment. 

Microsoft Education Product Guide: http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/edu_prod. A complete directory of curriculum and administrative solutions. 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.02 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 operating systems: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie3/ A powerful browser that supports the latest HTML features, is easy to use, customizable, and free from the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie3/. 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 for the Macintosh: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/mac/ Built for the Macintosh from the ground up, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 for the Macintosh is now available. 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01 for Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51: http://www.microsoft.com/ie/launch/win31.htm A fast, a high-performance browser designed to put you a step ahead on the Internet. 

Microsoft Office 97: http://microsoft.com/msoffice/ The world’s best-selling office suite integrates intelligent applications with the power of the Internet. For an overview of new features in Office 97, see the What’s New Checklist at http://microsoft.com/office/97tour/checklist.htm/.

Microsoft FrontPage™ 97:  http://www.microsoft.com/education/products/prod17.htm
This Web authoring and management tool delivers a complete set of advanced Web publishing tools to Web masters and novices alike. Designed for nonprogrammers, yet robust enough even for experienced Web site developers, Microsoft FrontPage is the fast, easy way to create and manage professional-quality Web sites. With easy-to-use functionality such as WYSIWYG editing and wizards to step you through the creation of your Web site, it’s never been easier to publish on the Web!

Microsoft Works: (http://www.microsoft.com/works/) Includes a word processor for writing letters and memos, a database for keeping track of lists, a spreadsheet for doing budgets and calculations, and communication tools for dialing up other computers or online services.

Publisher 97: http://www.microsoft.com/publisher/ Makes you and your students look and feel like professional publishers. Create everything from class newsletters, flyers, banners, letterhead, postcards, origami, and more in a few easy steps. 

Microsoft PowerPoint 97: http://www.microsoft.com/mspowerpoint/ Whether conducting an informal meeting, presenting to your students, or delivering your message over the Internet, Microsoft PowerPoint presentation graphics program gives you the tools you need to communicate with impact.

Microsoft Word: http://www.microsoft.com/Word/Learn.htm  The easy way to create powerful documents, communicate ideas, and share information anywhere from the desktop to the Internet.

Microsoft Excel: http://www.microsoft.com/office/office97/documents/xl97ds/default.htm. The world’s most comprehensive spreadsheet program.  

Microsoft Creative Writer 2: http://www.microsoft.com/kids/creative2.htm A brand new version of the award-winning creative writing and desktop publishing program. 

Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus™ Explores in the Age of Dinosaurs: http://www.microsoft.com/kids/msbdinos.htm Ms. Frizzle and her class take you on another interactive field trip aboard the Magic School Bus. Travel to seven different dino hot spots in three prehistoric eras. 

Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus Explores Inside the Earth: http://www.microsoft.com/kids/msbearth.htm Ms. Frizzle and her class are here to take you on an incredible adventure inside the earth. 

Picture It ™: http://www.microsoft.com/pictureit/ Create, enhance, and share your photographic memoriesfrom everyday snapshots to special occasion prints. 

Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker: Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker: http://www.microsoft.com/kids/nick3d.htm gives you the power to easily create your own original 3D animated movies. 

P.J.’s Reading Adventures: http://www.microsoft.com/education/products/prod37.htm Three timeless tales unfold into captivating storytelling adventures. 

Microsoft Encarta World Atlas 97: http://encarta.msn.com/atlas/ Delivers the highest quality maps and some of the richest cultural information of any world atlas ever created. 

Microsoft Bookshelf® 1996-97: http://www.microsoft.com/bookshelf/ Provides quick and easy access to a world of useful and interesting information. Offers one-click access to nine best-selling reference works while using any software program on the Windows or Macintosh platform. 

Special Licensing Offer

MicrosoftOpen License for Education can provide you with the pricing you need to bring the vision of the Connected Learning Community to life. And now, it can also provide you with free Office 97 and Encarta 97 licenses! 

As part of Microsoft’s long-standing commitment to education, we offer specially reduced volume prices for schools with as few as ten desktops. By providing you with licenses, as opposed to packaged products, we can offer you prices up to 70 percent less than what you would normally pay. For example, Microsoft Office 97 Professional academic edition is $199 U.S. for the full-packaged product. An open license for Office 97 Professional is just $52 U.S.*that’s a savings of more than 70 percent!

The Microsoft Open License for Education is designed to reduce the costs associated with acquiring, upgrading, maintaining, and managing software by providing simple and flexible volume-based pricing over a two-year period. You simply acquire the minimum number of units at one of two price levels, and continue to receive that discount level for reorders over the next two years. For more information on pricing, visit our Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/education/promos/molp.htm.

The Microsoft Open License for Education offers the full benefits of an innovative volume-based licensing program, including: 

•	Value. Consistent volume licensing helps you manage overall costs, facilitate consistency school-wide, and maintain control of licensed use of the Microsoft software products you need to operate your academic institution.
•	Simplicity. The Microsoft Open License volume licensing agreement is easy to understand, communicate, and administer. It features simple, clear terms for acquiring your software licenses. 
•	Custom fit. Customer input helped design this simplified licensing model, which enables you to cover the products you need and offers purchasing levels that best fit your organization. 

Enroll in Microsoft Open License, and receive Microsoft Office 97 and Encarta® Deluxe 97 licenses free.

For a limited time, when you enroll or reorder at least 20 application licenses from Microsoft Open License, you will receive Office 97 and Encarta 97 licenses free. Order 20 application licenses from popular titles like Microsoft Office, Microsoft FrontPage Web authoring tool, Microsoft Works, Encarta World Atlas, Microsoft Visual J++, Scholastic’s Magic School Bus, and more and receive one free Office and one free Encarta license. Order at least 40 application licenses, and you’ll receive two licenses for Office 97 and two for Encarta 97FREE! Order 60 and receive three each, and so on. 

For more information on Microsoft Open License, or the Open License Promotion for Education, contact your Authorized Education Reseller or Microsoft Solution Provider. Call (800) 426-9400 in the United States or (800) 563-9048 in Canada for the name of a reseller or Solution Provider in your area. Or, visit our World Wide Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/education/pricing/howtobuy.htm. Customers who are deaf or hard of hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TT/TDD) services at 800 892-5234 in the United States or  905-568-9641 in Canada.

*Promotion good from March 3 to July 31, 1997, in U.S. and Canada. Offer available to qualifying educational institutions only (call your Microsoft Authorized Education Reseller to see if you qualify). Free Office 97 and Encarta 97 licenses are for Windows 95 versions of the product only. Your institution must have one legally obtained copy of Office 97 and Encarta 97 for Windows 95 to use the licenses. The free licenses will not count toward a higher Open License purchasing level. Price for Microsoft Office 97 Professional Open License example is quoted at the academic price for the “B” level and is estimated retail value only. Prices may vary.

Education Solutions Briefings
If you’d like to make smarter technology decisions, take a seat!

The Microsoft Education Solutions Briefing is a FREE three-hour seminar that introduces K-12 technology decision makers to Microsoft’s Connected Learning Community Vision and showcases complete technology solutions for school districts of all sizes.

By highlighting actual schools, this seminar shows how your school can also realize the benefits of an enriched learning environment made possible by Microsoft’s networking products, productivity applications, new and exciting Internet applications, and electronic mail.  A combination of presentations, demonstrations, and video testimonial makes this seminar a very informative and useful briefing that will help you start planning immediately. 

By attending this seminar you will walk away with free Internet software and an opportunity to receive a special free product by Microsoft called Communications Tools for Schools, a collection of communications and Internet tools. This product is the only communications solution to incorporate the K-12 Web template, education-specific wizards, e-mail, video-conferencing software, and Internet publishing. In addition, Communications Tools for Schools includes new Macintosh-installable File System drivers, thus extending the cross-platform capabilities of the Windows NT network operating system by providing full network access to native Macintosh CD-ROMs.

This seminar offers suggestions on how your school can get the most out of technology dollars by utilizing Microsoft’s volume licensing alternatives.  In addition, the seminar offers schools the opportunity for a free, no risk, comprehensive evaluation of all Microsoft products.

You won’t want to miss this exciting opportunity to see how Microsoft products can work in your school. To register for one of these events online go to http://www.microsoft.com/events/ and search on Education Solutions Briefings.  You will see a listing of where and when an Education Solutions Briefing is in your town.  You can also call (800) 550-4300 or e-mail edusem@microsoft.com.

Visit Encarta Schoolhouse—Where the Doors to Learning Are Always Open!

Encarta® Schoolhouse at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/default.asp is a free online extension to Encarta Encyclopedia. It provides learners of all ages with opportunities to explore information, ask questions, and participate in challenging activities. Geared primarily to secondary school teachers and students, Schoolhouse is an excellent resource for student reports and an asset for teachers seeking new lesson plan ideas. 

Compelling Content Complements School Curricula
Encarta Schoolhouse highlights a variety of topics relevant to subjects taught in American schools. Each month the site features a timely curricular topic, such as the February 1997 Harlem Renaissance (http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/harlem/harlem.asp) in celebration of Black History Month, or the March 1997 Women in Science topic: http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/womensci/womensci.asp) in recognition of Women’s History Month. Previous archived topics include:

•	Native Americans at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/nativeam/nativeam.asp
•	Life in the Ocean at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/oceans/oceans.asp
•	The Olympic Games at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/olympics/olympics.asp
•	The American Civil War, at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/civilwar/civilwar.asp
•	The Environment at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/environ/environ.asp 
•	Earthquakes at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/equake/shearth.asp

With each topic package, you will find engaging articles and media, relevant Internet links, and related learning activities. In addition, you will have the unique opportunity to have your questions about the current topic answered by an expert in the field—just go to the Ask an Expert page at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/harlem/hrexpert.asp to meet the current expert. 

The Topic Archive at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/tarchive.asp is an easy way to browse the complete Schoolhouse topic packages. If you are interested in exploring certain features, such as Learning Activities, the Topic Archive has quick links to other archives, including the Learning Activity Archive at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/larchive.asp, the Expert Archive at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/xarchive.asp, and the Web Links Archive at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/warchive.asp.

The site also encourages visitors to suggest future Schoolhouse topics by submitting an e-form available on the Upcoming Topics at http://www.microsoft.com/encarta/encwire/upcoming.asp.

Features Encourage Students to Become Active Learners
Topics come alive in Encarta Schoolhouse as just the right amount of multimedia is coupled with fast download speeds for use in schools. Pictures and sounds make information fun and illustrate concepts beyond print, while InterActivities challenge students and adults to learn by doing. The Native Americans InterActivity at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/nativeam/naia.asp provides an exciting way to learn how to count in three Native American languages by listening and responding to audio recordings stored in a Shockwave file. Schoolhouse also encourages students to learn by talking with experts in the field. The Ask an Expert feature teaches students the value of asking questions and gives schools access to a renowned subject expert every time a new topic is posted. See the Expert Archive at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/xarchive.asp to browse the complete collection of questions and answers addressed by the Schoolhouse experts. 

Discover Fresh Lesson Ideas in Learning Activities
With every new topic, Encarta Schoolhouse presents an engaging learning activity that can be adapted to middle- and high-school classrooms. Each learning activity includes clear objectives, step-by-step instructions, and ready-to-use worksheets. The Learning Activity Archive at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/larchive.asp organizes all of the Schoolhouse activities across a broad range of topic areas. For example, students can track their trash in an environmental activity called Where Does All the Garbage Go? at http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/environ/envact1.asp or consider the difficult ethics involved in issues of censorship and free speech in Talk of the Times: Debating the Limits of Free Speech at http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/otractiv/shenact.asp.

Network with Colleagues in the Teacher’s Lounge
Created just for educators, the Teacher’s Lounge at http://www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/lounge/default.asp is a convenient place for teachers to link to useful educational sites, to communicate with colleagues, and to learn about Microsoft’s special offers to the educational community. Teacher bulletins at http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/lounge/tbmain.asp is a free service that allows teachers to share information, ideas, and requests with each other. It is an electronic version of a cork bulletin board you might find hanging in a faculty lounge covered with announcements, but this bulletin board reaches teachers all over the world. The Bulletins include a range of requests, such as this one from a fifth-grade teacher: “I’m interested in making teacher/class contacts with people living along the Oregon Trail. My students will be studying this later during the year, and it would add interest to talk with those who now live near these historical sites.” And a seventh-grade science teacher writes: “Looking for ideas on an integrated approach to oceanography. Incorporating lessons on: classification, evolution, comparative anatomy, weather, ecology, etc.” Like the classified ads in a Sunday newspaper, Teacher Bulletins are driven by individual contributions and offer something for everyone.

Learn About Special Offers for Educators
The Teacher’s Lounge is also the place to find out about Microsoft’s special offers for educators at http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/lounge/offers.asp. You can learn about Encarta 97 Deluxe School Edition at http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/lounge/facts.asp, connect to an online Encarta Teacher’s Activity Guide, and find out how to run Encarta over a school network. 

Encarta Encyclopedia is currently running a special “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” offer for educators at http://encarta.msn.com/ms/school/offer.asp.

For a limited time, educators can order two copies of the North American edition of Encarta 97 Encyclopedia Deluxe School Edition at $69.95 per copy (plus shipping and handling) before June 30, 1997, and get a third copy free. To learn more about this offer and to order copies online, go to the “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” page, or call (800) 615-8149.

© 1997. All rights reserved. Microsoft Corporation.

AATP Announcement

Microsoft Authorized Academic Training Program (AATP) institutions are accredited academic institutions that offer courses, including Microsoft Official Curriculum courses, over an academic term. AATP institutions are an excellent learning option for high school or college students seeking training on Microsoft development tools and server products. AATP institutions deliver Microsoft authorized courseware in an academic environment to help students prepare for Microsoft certification exams and to meet the employment demands of the technology marketplace. 

If you are interested in taking a Microsoft Official Curriculum course or sharing the opportunity with teachers and students, use the Microsoft Course search tool at http://www.microsoft.com/train_cert/  to review the course descriptions. For a referral to a local AATP, call Microsoft at (800) 508-8454 and in Canada call (800) 688-0496.

If you are interested in finding out how your institution can become an AATP institution, visit the Microsoft Channel Resources site at http://www.microsoft.com/channel_resources/chanprog/aatp.htm.

Microsoft’s academic training program will be the topic of a roundtable discussion at the National Education Computing Conference in Seattle, Washington, in July. Panelists will include representatives from high schools, colleges, and local businesses who are interested in integrating Microsoft training into school curricula. NECC attendees interested in the program should attend.  The Web site listed above will carry updated information.

NECC 

This year, the National Education Computing Conference is located in Seattle, and here at Microsoft, we’re all gearing up for a fantastic event. Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, will present the keynote address on Monday morning, June 30, the first day of the conference. Theater presentations, product demonstrations, and a Microsoft partners’ pavilion will be featured in the Microsoft booth in the exhibit hall.  Stay tuned to this newsletter for more detailed information and schedules.  For detailed conference information or visit the NECC at  http://www.wce.wwu.edu/necc97.

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Classroom Software Solutions: From Reporting Grades to Scoring Assessments

Simplify the classroom management process with powerful and easy-to-use classroom software solutions from McGraw-Hill School Systems. McGraw-Hill offers two powerful Microsoft Windows-based software products that will reduce the time and effort needed to manage class rosters, record and calculate grades, track student attendance, develop and score assessments, and maintain comprehensive records of student progress.

Introducing InteGrade Pro and Classroom Manager
InteGrade Pro is a powerful teacher grade book program designed to store student test, assignment, and objective information, as well as calculate student grades and statistics. With InteGrade Pro, teachers can assign weight to tasks, calculate and report cumulative mid-term and end-term grades, and accommodate virtually any kind of score or mark. InteGrade Pro is a Windows-based solution that uses new technologies to build on the success of InteGrade, the award-winning electronic teacher grade book from McGraw-Hill School Systems. 

Classroom Manager (CMS), developed by CTB/McGraw-Hill, is a student data management system for instruction and assessment tools. Classroom Manager facilitates developing and scoring test assessments, planning instruction, and prescribing and providing lessons. It also lets you electronically share lesson plans.

Used together, InteGrade Pro and Classroom Manager offer unparalleled student information management capability at the classroom level. These solutions simplify the classroom management process, provide teachers with detailed student and task information, and supply classroom data to school and district offices. 

McGraw-Hill Schools Systems, a Microsoft® Solution Provider, is a leading developer of student information management software for the K-12 market. With over 15,000 installed sites across North America, McGraw-Hill School Systems has introduced software solutions that connect the classroom, school building, and district office. To find out more about our classroom solutions, contact us at (800) 663-0544, or visit our Web site at http://www.mhss.com./.

Preview: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0! 

Microsoft is on the verge of releasing the Platform Preview test version of Internet Explorer version 4.0. Expanding on the innovation introduced in version 3.0, Internet Explorer 4.0 achieves Microsoft’s vision: complete integration of the Internet and the PC. The end result is an easier and more personalized way for people to get the most out of the Internet. 

Microsoft listened closely to customers while designing Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. These five issues summarize customer frustrations with using the Internet:

•	Finding useful information on the Internet is difficult.
•	Internet bandwidth limits the productivity and enjoyment of browsing the Web.
•	Web content rarely lives up to expectations. 
•	Communication capabilities are sorely lacking.
•	The tools and methods for browsing the Web and using PCs are inconsistent.

Internet Explorer 4.0 addresses these customer issues with the following exciting innovations: 

•	True Web integration: True Web integration means two things in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0: First, the Internet now becomes a seamless part of your desktop operating system, with the browser and browser-like navigation available in every view. Second, Internet Explorer 4.0 delivers tight integration across its suite of products. That means consistency—including a common toolbar—across all the applications and an easy way to switch between tools. 
•	Great browser:  Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 starts off by building user-focused improvements into the award-winning 3.0 version to deliver one of the best browsers on the market. Internet Explorer 4.0 offers one of the easiest and most personalized ways to view the information you care about.
•	Complete communication and collaboration: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 delivers a complete and integrated set of tools for every type of user—from basic services like e-mail to exciting conferencing, broadcasting, and Web authoring capabilities.
•	Personalized information delivery: Now users can have the information they care about delivered straight to their desktop when they want it, the way they want it. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 also automatically notifies users when their favorite Web sites change, and lets users read the sites offline for greater convenience and less expense.

These features are in various stages of completion in the Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 4.0. Be one of the first to try it out! 

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft Announces Zero Administration Kit For Windows NT Workstation 4.0 

Designed to simplify the management of Windows NT Workstation, the Zero Administration Kit lowers the costs of ownership for customers today. 

On March 12, 1997,  Microsoft Corp. announced that the next phase of its Zero Administration initiative for the Microsoft Windows operating system will be available to customers within 90 days. This phase will be delivered through a Zero Administration Kit for the Microsoft® Windows NT® Workstation operating system version 4.0, a set of tools to reduce the cost of ownership by limiting a key component of hidden PC costs  end user operations.

The Zero Administration Kit for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 provides centralized configuration of the desktop, prohibits users from installing applications, and allows applications and data to be accessed from the server. For an immediate online demonstration, visit the Zero Administration Kit Web site at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/zak/. 

The Zero Administration Kit for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 uses today’s Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 technologies, including system policies and user profiles, to implement a secure, policy-based management environment. The kit can be installed easily by PC manufacturers preconfiguring new computers running Windows NT Workstation 4.0. Information technology managers with existing Windows NT Workstation 4.0-based machines will need to reconfigure to install the kit. 

The Zero Administration Kit provides the following functionality: 

•	Centralized configuration. A network administrator can specify exactly what application users can run, the look of the desktop, and where user data can reside. This is all managed centrally and requires no visit to the actual personal computer. 

•	No local access to the desktop computer. Users can be prevented from installing applications on their desktop or making changes to the configuration of the system, preventing costly downtime. 

•	Application and data storage on the network server. The system can be preconfigured to load applications off the network, using the local hard drive as a cache for better performance. This provides the network administrator with centralized control and management of both applications and data, allowing for easy upgrades of applications as well as central backup and security. 

The Zero Administration Kit contains these components: 

•	An automated setup program, which creates server shares and unattended client installations 

•	Preconfigured system policies, user profiles, and setup scripts that can be used as templates to control, lock down, and manage the desktops  

•	Optional configuration modes where end users start only Microsoft Internet Explorer, or an internal line of business application, or a simplified Windows shell 

•	Step-by-step documentation 

The Zero Administration initiative for Windows is Microsoft’s mission to reduce the costs of PC ownership while continuing to innovate on the Windows platform and increase overall value for customers. 

For more details on the Zero Administration initiative for Windows and specific Zero Administration for Windows technologies being built for future versions of Windows and Windows NT, please visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com./windows/innovation/. 

 1997. Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.