This is a sponsored post
Now that the newness of back to school has worn off and we’re well into the routines that go with homework and busy afternoons full of after school activities, it’s more important than ever to be organized. Luckily our digital devices can be a lifesaver. Being knowledgeable about the best tools can help streamlining productivity and keep us organized at home, work, in the classroom, and even while out on the soccer field. Here’s a look at my 5 must-have tools from Microsoft that my family relies on and can also help you this fall and your kids of all ages throughout the school year.
Find out if your kids are eligible for Office 365 for Students.
What was formerly known as Student Advantage has become a self-serve model that lets students 13 years or older sign up for to check their eligibility for free Office 365. By going to Office 365 for Students and entering a valid email address provided by the school, qualified students in the US (will be worldwide later this year!) can receive:
- The latest versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher
- Installation on up to five PCs or Macs, and Office apps on other mobile devices including Windows tablets and iPad
- 1 Terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage
- Office Online
Have your college student take advantage of Office 365 University
Microsoft knows college is expensive but at just $79.99 USD for a four-year subscription that works out to $1.67 per month, college and university students can’t afford not to get Office 365 University. Office 365 University provides college students with:
- The latest Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook) for two devices, including PCs, Macs, iPads, or Windows tablets for ultimate flexibility for working whenever and wherever on whatever device they choose
- A subscription also includes 1 TB of OneDrive storage
- 60 minutes of Skype PC-to-phone world calling per month although you can encourage them to call home with their free minutes when they’re doing a semester abroad!
University and college students enrolled full time or part time, along with faculty and staff teaching at accredited institutions are eligible to use Office 365 University upon academic verification and an online redemption process.
Download OneNote
OneNote is a great free app designed to serve as your digital notebook as you jot notes on your computer, tablet, phone and even on the web. This year, make the single place for all your notes and information. The beauty of OneNote is that you can type, handwrite (hooray for the Android version now having handwriting support too!), paste and insert notes, photos, and even travel documents anywhere. Type A parents like myself will appreciate being able to organize them in notebooks and sections that are automatically saved and searchable. For students, OneNote is a perfect tool sharing documents and collaborating with classmates for team projects and group assignments.
Store it in OneDrive
Gone are the days for USB or flash drives that were just an added expense that caused excessive worrying when they happened to go missing. Here are five advantages to using OneDrive:
- 15 GB of cloud storage for free
- It’s cloud-based storage that can never be lost
- Store and share photos, videos, documents, and more
- Ability to access OneDrive on any device
1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage with an Office 365 Home or University subscription. Did you know 1 TB is the equivalent to approximately 50,000 trees made into paper and printed? It’s paper free and far more eco-friendly!
Use Office Online
Office Online offers free web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote that let you create, view, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and notes even without an Office 365 subscription meaning groups can easily work together on collaborative projects. With Office Online, students can easily collaborate on group assignments and parents can share the carpool or sports schedule without having to send bulky attachments.
Search with Bing to Earn Surface Tablets for Your School
Encourage your child’s teachers to use Bing in the Classroom, an ad-free program focused on helping kids use technology to inspire and satisfy their curiosity through ad-free search. Bing in the Classroom helps students learn about the topics they’re researching by finding relevant links so they can finish their work without the frustration of ads. Pair it with Bing Rewards to help your child’s school earn Surface tablets. And for mobile users, the Bing app for iPhone just got a new look and is now available for download from the Apple App Store making it easier to search for the things you love.
As a member of #WindowsChampions I receive products for review and am a compensated member of #OfficeChamps. All opinions are my own.
