Microsoft Office 365 for Education Launches, Gets High Marks From Schools

Malaysian students and educators benefit from cloud-based desktop suite and collaboration tools.

KUALA LUMPUR, 16 October 2012 –  Microsoft Malaysia has announced the availability of Microsoft Office 365 for Education, providing the world’s best productivity, communications and collaboration experiences to schools at no cost. Office 365 for Education is a cloud-based suite that includes the familiar Microsoft Office desktop applications, as well as Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online and Microsoft Lync Online. It provides educators with powerful tools to create anytime, anywhere* learning opportunities across multiple devices in addition to email, calendars, Microsoft Office Web Apps, video and online meetings plus advanced document creation features for curriculum planning and student projects.

”The cloud and online learning are key trends transforming education today. Office 365 for education delivers a holistic collaboration platform that will change the game,” said Khatijah Samah, Education Segment Director, Microsoft Malaysia. “As schools face increasing needs to maximize resources and the pressure to innovate, we are offering enterprise-quality technology for free that will modernize teaching practices and help prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow.”

Initial response and momentum for Office 365 for Education has been positive. One such education institution that has started adopting Office 365 for Education is the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (“APU”), an award-winning premier Malaysian private university focused on technology, innovation and creativity.

“We realized the enormous collaborative benefits that Office 365 for Education would bring. Utilizing cloud computing through Office 365 has tapped into an enormous amount of teacher potential that extends so far beyond the traditional classroom boundaries. The services offered as part of Office 365 for education are reliable, robust, and secure. Also, despite the cost being free, there is no advertising, unlike some other market alternatives available,” said Rasodin Ramuddin Hamzah, Technology and Infrastructure Manager for APU.

Classrooms Without Boundaries

Office 365 allows schools to teach from virtually anywhere,* reach more students, teach software skills employers are looking for and provide enterprise-class tools that reduce IT costs.
• Students can engage in ad-hoc instant messaging or video chats to collaborate on class projects in real time, regardless of where they are working or on what device. They can create documents with Office Web Apps that provide the same features as the desktop version of Microsoft Office, share class notes by synchronizing OneNote notebooks, and create digital portfolios.
• Teachers can create curriculum, record lectures and publish them on online class sites in the cloud where students are able to view, open, produce, edit and share their homework. Office 365 provides new ways to extend classroom teaching time and distance learning, tutor students online, and whiteboard ideas.
• Educational institutions and parents will get peace of mind knowing students’ content and personal data are protected and won’t be scanned for advertising purposes, thanks to a rich set of privacy, security and protection capabilities that adhere to federal laws.
• School IT departments can save money and free up more critical time by counting on Microsoft to manage routine tasks such as applying server updates and software upgrades. With the influx of digital content, data center demands and lessened and with 25GB mailboxes, people won’t be forced to purge files.

Education institutions currently using the Microsoft Live@edu platform will be upgraded to Office 365 beginning this summer. Customers can sign up for a 30-day trial now. More about Office 365 for education is available at http://www.microsoft.com/education/office365.