Back to School with Windows 8 and Microsoft

Anne-Marie Nichols is a Windows Champion Blogger and may receive equipment and other perks to assist her in evaluating Microsoft products and services. All experiences and opinions are her own.

When it comes to back to school, parents normally think about new clothes, backpacks, and lunchboxes. However, back to school now means you may also need to invest in technology like tablets, smart phones, upgrading to new operating systems like Windows 8 to have access to the latest educational apps.

This year at my children’s elementary and middle schools, it’s been BYOT – Bring Your Own Technology – to school. Teachers realize that many students have access to more advanced devices such as tablets, laptops, and smart phones than are available in the classroom. Or they have devices at home that have the most up-to-date versions of Windows or Office, while PCs at school are still running Windows XP.

The Latest from Microsoft and Windows 8

Microsoft and Windows 8 offer great options for kids from elementary school to college , from educational apps to robust software tools to start off the school year right.

Grade school. A variety of portable and durable tablets such as the Surface RT provide a great experience for younger children. Plus, the Windows Store is full of fun and engaging educational apps like BrainPop and Number Tap to keep their brains active outside of school and during fall and winter breaks. My daughter, Lucie has been enjoying Fresh Paint, wordBrush and gaming apps I loaded on my HP Envy Touchsmart for her while she’s been sick in bed, too.

Middle and high school. As your child enters middle and high school, it’s important for them to have an easy-to-use set of tools to manage their homework and extracurricular activities schedule. Convertible PCs and tablets like the Surface RT are perfect for then, since they’re affordable, versatile and loaded with great educational and organizational apps like OneNote, Khan Academy, Algebra Touch and Periodic Table.

College. PCs like the Surface Pro and Acer Aspire S7 are great options for the on-the-go college student, providing a ton of power that’s easy for toting around campus or pulling an all nighter in the library. In addition, you should look into purchasing a four-year subscription to Office 365 University. A bargain at only $79.99, Office 365 University includes Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, Access and an extra 20 GB of free SkyDrive cloud storage so your college student will always be prepared for the task at hand. Students can organize class notes, web clips and photos with the OneNote student planner, use PowerPoint for their next presentation, and even work better together by collaborating on group projects via SkyDrive and Office Web Apps. It can be installed on up to two PCs or Macs.

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