Microsoft Dreamspark

[EduTech]

How many of you out there have your school/college/uni signed up to this?

 

https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx

 

and if you have never heard of it... you do now

 

its great if you can become apart of the scheme, it helped me out when i needed the software

 

James.

[ninjabeaver]

Wow, good ol' microsoft. Will wonders never cease.

[john]

Looks good, and i've just signed my place up may as well have a go for it

[Gatt]

Just signed up so will see what happens

[Sylv3r]

I signed up at the start of the week.

 

I now have a confirmation e-mail to fax my details to them on letter headed paper - i'll let you know how I get on.

[muppet]

Thanks EduTech, like the other posters I've just signed up...I'll have to see how it goes.

[actech]

Sounds good especially for those students doing senior computing that can't afford to buy the same versions we are using at school!

[srochford]

Wow, good ol' microsoft. Will wonders never cease.

 

They've been doing it for a while; this thread is the 5th on Edugeek in the past year to refer to it.

 

If you don't already get them then sign up to the MS newsletters - there are a variety available - and you'll get notified when new programmes start or packages like this are made available.

[EduTech]

They've been doing it for a while; this thread is the 5th on Edugeek in the past year to refer to it.

 

If you don't already get them then sign up to the MS newsletters - there are a variety available - and you'll get notified when new programmes start or packages like this are made available.

 

Sorry, didn't realise it had already been posted on edugeek.

 

i assumed allot of people knew about it, which is why i started the thread of like i did.

 

I will be adding this to the wiki also.

 

James.

[irsprint84]

I sent off my fax, awaiting confirmation because I m teaching asp.net with the kids.

[AngryTechnician]

I looked at doing this but the process for setting us up as an IDP didn't seem very straightforward. How easy is it in real terms?

[contink]

Hmm... not much point for Primaries sadly but useful to know about though.

[apoth0r]

Will have more teaching responsibilities (again) as of April so I've signed up, see if I can get the co-ordinator on board for some fun :-)

[dhicks]

This software is the complete and professional grade versions of the tools, but you must use them in pursuit of increasing your education, skills, and knowledge in either science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or design.

 

This sounds rather like the Macromedia license for the educational version of Flash - full version, but you weren't allowed to sell anything you made. They're only development tools, anyway - if you wanted a C compiler couldn't you just go and download one?

 

--

David Hicks

[ahuxham]

I signed up to this scheme last year, its been around for a while, initially offering XNA, Server 2003 Standard, C# and Visual Studio.

 

I was interested in using Microsoft's XNA game studio for a framework build for a project, and couldn't justify the cost, till I found the dreamspark resource.

 

Alot of students have found Expression Studio a valuable resource, and the other applications a valuable resource as well.

[ahuxham]

I looked at doing this but the process for setting us up as an IDP didn't seem very straightforward. How easy is it in real terms?

 

Not very, you have to open your information up, the setup is a nightmare as well, but well worth it, if you've got a few hours to spare, its not that hard.

[CyberNerd]

Not very, you have to open your information up, the setup is a nightmare as well, but well worth it, if you've got a few hours to spare, its not that hard.

 

there is more information on joining Shibboleth from these links at Becta:

]Becta Schools - Leadership and Management - Introduction - Federated access management

 

anyway - if you wanted a C compiler couldn't you just go and download one?

 

yes, but then we'd end up with a generation of OSS programmers who would share their labours with the community - how would that help MS?

[srochford]

They're only development tools, anyway - if you wanted a C compiler couldn't you just go and download one?

 

It's a bit more than just a compiler but if that's all you need then you can certainly save yourself a shed load of disc space!

[BaccyNet]

We signed up a few weeks ago but havnt been asked to fax our details anywhere yet, hopefully it'll come through soon.

 

We dont currently teach anything that involves most of the software on offer but I thought it would be a good idea to offer it to the kids anyway.

[AngryTechnician]

Just a follow-up on this: I signed our school up using the new Microsoft DreamSpark High School beta system. About a week or so later I got an email through asking to fax or email a scan of some confirmation details on school headed paper, and 2 days later we got 200 unique codes to distribute to individual students to allow them to sign up. Works a treat.

[bizzel]

As a computer science student I use it mainly for Visual Studio which is fantastic. I know it's a hook to get you using Microsoft products but when you already do, what's the harm?

[DrPerceptron]

None of the kids here are bothered that they're using Microsoft software...

 

Oddly enough, even the three kids who never STFU about "when are you going to linux", I just ask how the Microsoft software is going for them now

 

 

 

Can I nick 31 licenses out of my current 200 batch and install them on college PC's?

[garethEds]

None of the kids here are bothered that they're using Microsoft software...

 

Oddly enough, even the three kids who never STFU about "when are you going to linux", I just ask how the Microsoft software is going for them now

 

 

 

Can I nick 31 licenses out of my current 200 batch and install them on college PC's?

 

Before DreamSpark became available to High Schools through the Beta we got Microsoft to give us an Academic Alliance licence. This means we can install software in lab environments. Well my classroom is a lab environment so we now have VS2008 on our machines. We asked if we could do this and they said we could.

 

I don't think DreamSpark allows this.

 

GJE

Edited February 27, 2009 by garethedmondson
typos

[Jamo]

I just signed up for this looks good to me, downloaded a couple of progs, mainly the VS2008 is the one that interests me. Time to make some rubbish software I think the licences are single install single activation, I emailed re this and they confirmed that it could only be installed on one PC at a time.

[Trapper]

Signed up for this last night, but after reading posts I'm expecing to have to fax some details across.

 

We've gone for the full 200 keys (why not?!) but I assume only a couple of six formers will be interested. The software they offer though is fantastic.

 

When my wife was doing her masters at UCE a few years we had access to MSDN Academic Alliance - I still have the keys - they offered pretty much the same, but with Windows Vista. I managed to get Vista Business on corporate release day.

 

People do bang Microsoft, but schemes like this are particularly generous - it's just a shame they force schools to pay so much for licensing costs. IMHO we are using the software to teach and train, not to make a profit, ergo it should be free.

 

Will let you know how it progresses.

 

BTW - I know Birmingham Grid for Learning are listed but you need to sign into myvle, which we do not use? Has anyone managed to confirm their account through the central system? I did email Service Birmingham about this, but they blew so much hot air I gave up!