Product

Office 365 and SkyDrive Pro Helps 90,000 Students & Teachers in 300 High Schools

SummaryCountry or Region: IndonesiaIndustry: Education

Customer ProfileThe learning Portal built by the Bureau of Education, Indramayu Regency, is implemented at 300 local junior/senior high schools and vocational schools.

SituationIndramayu Regency faced the classic issue of improving quality of education. From the geographical challenge, printing textbooks and the high cost of distributing learning materials, providing experienced teachers, lack of resources & unevenly distributed quality of teaching.

SolutionMicrosoft® Office 365 Academic Plan A2SkyDrive Pro

Benefits Online Learning Portal Virtual Class (Long distance learning

system) Digital Rapport Social Media Digital Magazine storage

“Microsoft has the vision to realize a knowledge-based nation through long distance learning infrastructure and other facilities we cannot get from other vendors.”

Odang – Chairman of Education, Regency of Indramayu

During her speech to remember National Education Day, Indramayu Regency Chief (Bupati) Hj. Anna Sophanah emphasized the pillars of nation’s revival, as well as commitment to morality. To achieve this mission, Indramayu Regency through the Ministry of Education introduced the use of information technology in schools. The regency chose Microsoft Office 365 service as part of IT programs in education. In July 2013, the Government of Indramayu distributed free licenses of Office 365 to 90,000 teachers and students in 300 schools across the regency.

Since Office 365 is a cloud based service, the schools are not required to purchase any server infrastructure, or to install any application on any device. From web browsers, students and their teachers can access free e-mail, instant messaging, group video conference, voice chat and plenty of document editing features online.

SituationEducation in Indonesia is constantly keeping up with technological advances and pressure to provide better quality learning. In order to improve the quality of learning, several obstacles remain to be overcome. The teaching-learning process still limited by time, mono-directed, unbalanced ratio of teachers and students, lack of parental participation, to geographical barrier and access to technology. In fact, adequate quality of education in Indonesia remains expensive and not afforded by many.

To address these issues, a breakthrough is needed through systems and mechanism that is unrestricted by space and time, in high quality but remain efficient and cost effective.

As commonly found in Indonesia, Indramayu Regency faced the classic issue of improving quality of education. From the geographical challenge, printing textbooks and the high cost of distributing learning materials, providing experienced teachers, lack of resources & unevenly distributed quality of teaching – among other issues.

The Bureau of Education of Indramayu Regency built a learning Portal providing high quality learning materials, accessible from anywhere at any time, thanks to the adoption of distance-learning. Without it, the cost of education would have been skyrocketed due to the high of classroom logistics including blackboards, chalks, benches and desks. This does not include the need to grow the poor ratio of teachers and students.

In the 1990s, teachers still used traditional means of communications with students in the classrooms. Face-to-face interaction

between teachers and students was the only reliable way. Teacher is the sole source of information for the students, and therefore students only receive so much without the ability to obtain more detailed information. This method was proven ineffective to develop critical thinking process.

Some innovative teachers have started to adopt the novel way of communicating using e-mails. On their first session, these teachers usually use e-mail to send messages or pictures of their family and friends. Now they also use e-mail to send assignment, images, or notes.

SolutionInitially, the Bureau of Education, Indramayu Regency build the portal to accommodate a one-way communication. But with video conference feature from Microsoft Office 365, they take advantage of this for distance learning through virtual classes. The portal has been expanded to realize the concept two-way learning.

Odang – Chairman of Education, Regency of Indramayu said, there are at least three main factors they considered before choosing Microsoft technology to build the learning portal; namely cost, security, and reliability.

“Microsoft has the vision to build a knowledge society through technology infrastructure used in distance learning (virtual class) and free storage service for students, something we did not get from other vendors,” said Odang. Microsoft technology was also chosen after comparing with other cloud service providers. “We are confident that our data

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“Students can create documents using Office Web Apps that offer the similar experience and features as the desktop versions of Microsoft Office, sharing and syncing classroom notes using OneNote, or making reports and group assignments.”

Ismail, Project Manager Indramayu Digital Edu Park

is more secure with Microsoft than anywhere else,” he continued.

Portal Belajar (Learning Portal) built by the Education Bureau of Indramayu Regency was implemented at about 300 middle schools comprising junior and senior high and vocational schools.

Using Microsoft Office technologies like Outlook e-mail and SkyDrive Pro, communication among students, teachers, between them, even with parents now are improving. Students can access study materials anywhere, anytime regardless of space and time. In addition, parents can now contact and communicate with teachers anytime, and stay updated with their children’s progress and achievement through SharePoint portal. By using Lync, distance learning is no longer a difficult task.

BenefitAccording to Ismail – Project Manager of “Indramayu Digital Edu Park”, Office 365 has enhanced the effectiveness of class room learning, distance learning, online consulting, and the use of digital blackboard to explain and discuss study subjects.

“They can create documents using Office Web Apps that offer the similar experience and features as the desktop versions of Microsoft Office, sharing and syncing classroom notes using OneNote, or making reports and group assignments,” said Ismail.

With Office Web Apps, students can also open, create, view, edit, or share documents with teachers or each other.

Online Learning Portal

Students can learn anytime, anywhere, regardless of space and time. Study materials are adjusted with the curriculum, and delivered using multimedia (video tutorial, images, voice, or animation). Study materials prepared by teachers can be stored at the portal to be downloaded anytime without having to be carried around – making it more efficient and effective.

Virtual Class (Distance Learning)Even when students and teachers are separated by distance, they can still meet virtually using video conference or virtual whiteboard as if they were in the same classroom.

Digital RapportParents can keep track of their children’s progress via Digital Rapport (Excel Web App) and email. They can also access the materials available on the portal to help them give explanation to the children.

Social MediaFacebook or Twitter specifically used by teachers, students, and parents registered at those schools.

Digital Magazine StorageThe digital wall gazette can be viewed by the entire school. Students and teachers can contribute and send in their works.

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“Microsoft has the vision to build a knowledge society through technology infrastructure used in distance learning (virtual class) and free storage service for students, something we did not get from other vendors.”

Odang, Kepala Dinas Pendidikan, Kabupaten Indramayu

Microsoft Office 365Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud-based service that is designed to help meet your organization’s needs for robust security, reliability, and user productivity. The topics in this library provide detailed descriptions of the services and features that are available with Office 365.

For more information go towww.office365.com Microsoft Office 365 AcademicMicrosoft Office 365 Academic is an Office 365 service dedicated to academic circles with features to support the productivity of teaching/learning. Face-to-face using HD-quality video

conference, screen sharing, and instant messaging.

Features SharePoint as work space with security levels for each team in the education institution.

User and permission management using Single sign-on and synchronization with Active Directory.

Protection against spam and malware. Full technical support via web and phone

24/7 for emergency. Office Web Apps to create and edit

Office documents direcntly on the web browser.

For more information visit:http://office.microsoft.com/academic/

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For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

Software dan Layanan Microsoft Office 365 Academic Plan A2 − Microsoft® SkyDrive Pro