High Level View of MS Academic Programs

  • Article

Dreamspark is a student only program and provides a select group of our developer and designer software free to all tertiary students. You can find out more here: www.dreamspark.co.nz, the program is now available in most tertiary students. If you are not sure if your students have access to this program please email us at nzedu@microsoft.com . You can also join the Dreamspark NZ community and post up qustions on the any aspect of the program - https://www.dreamspark.co.nz/community

MSDNAA is an IT/Design department subscription only, by paying a nominal fee each year the department will get access to all our Microsoft software except Microsoft Office. There is no limitation on number of copies, it is based on the size of the department. Both students and academics can use the software and you can also take a personal copy for home use. You can find out more here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-nz/academic/default(en-us).aspx

Faculty Connection is an academic portal that provide resources to academics, such as lecture material, assignment, exams, software, forums to connect with academics around the world. Please feel free to browse the site: www.microsoft.com/faculty , if you would like an invitation code to get activated on the site instantly please email me at nzedu@microsoft.com

Microsoft run a student global technology competition, known as the Imagine Cup, the competition has a software category but also has a number of designer focussed categories, i.e. Photography, Short Film, Interface Design. All categories except the software category are competed globally for two rounds and then in round 3, teams are sent to the world wide finals to compete. We have been running the local competition for the past three years with it picking up alot of momentum. In 2009 we had over 50 teams sign up for the Software Design Challenge, with the biggest value being working with a voluntary industry mentor for the duration of the competition. Check out the local site to find out more: https://www.imaginecup.co.nz