JEDDAH – Microsoft Gulf has unveiled Tuesday at the opening of the three-day annual GESS at Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE, the latest technology innovation to empower the next generation of learning and teaching in the Gulf region. Microsoft is showcasing the latest Cloud and devices for enhancing learning experiences and enabling innovation in the classroom through digital literacy. As part of its GESS announcements, Microsoft Gulf revealed the ‘Student Advantage Offer' a new benefit to qualifying institutions that brings Microsoft Office to more students. The offer entails that any institution that licenses Office 365 ProPlus or Office Professional Plus for all staff can provide access to Office 365 ProPlus for students (on their personally-owned or institution-owned devices) at no additional cost. When a school combines Student Advantage with Microsoft's other cloud services, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online, all available free through Office 365 Education, students have access to the same set of gold-standard productivity tools and services used by businesses and 110 million students and staff all over the world. Currently nearly 98 percent of students worldwide using productivity software currently use Office. Student Advantage enables students to access the familiar experience of Office in an always-up-to-date cloud service across their compatible PCs, tablets and phones. During GESS, Microsoft is hosting a keynote session on March 6, at 10.30 a.m. entitled “Anywhere, Anytime Learning” by Kati Tuurala, Education Transformation Specialist at Microsoft Corporation. The keynote will highlight trends in today's education space and how technology today is enabling educational transformation. Commenting on Microsoft Gulf's participation at GESS, Ahmed Ameen Ashour Microsoft's newly appointed Education Lead in the region, said “Microsoft Gulf is committed to supporting the UAE's aspiration of educational transformation and our participation in GESS this year provides attendees with a view as to how technology innovation can drive this transformation. Through Cloud solutions like Office 365 and the latest mobile learning devices, Microsoft offers educators and students with the tools they need to enhance the teaching and learning experience. GESS and GEF have for the last six years been instrumental in highlighting education trends and opportunities, and have provided a unique platform for connecting key decision makers with world-class providers of educational supplies and solutions.” Microsoft showcase of these technologies are geared towards assisting educational development and to enhance educational entities' integration of Cloud services and mobile learning technologies into their curriculum. These dynamic initiatives are complementary to the forward-thinking initiative of the UAE's leadership to strengthen the country's human capital foundations by supporting a ‘technology smart' workforce in the government, public and private sectors. — SG
