Microsoft Live@edu

What is Live@edu?

For K-12, Live@edu provides students and educators with e-mail and other applications they can use to collaborate and communicate online.  Microsoft regularly updates and adds to Live@edu services, so your school can continually expand the set of services you offer students.  Students will be using Microsoft products similar to those used in many workplaces, helping to prepare them for their next step after graduation.
 

 Solving real-world challenges

Live@edu can help reduce some of these common problems you have supporting your school IT infrastructure, including:

·         High maintenance costs.

·         Too much time spent maintaining e-mail systems for students rather than working on more strategic initiatives.

·         Lack of common tools for students to communicate and collaborate with others on campus.

·         Keeping students safer online and helping to keep their data private.

 
Key benefits

With Live@edu you can:

• Save time and money. Live@edu is a free service for K–12 institutions. As it’s a hosted service, you don’t have to worry about ongoing maintenance costs or updating systems.
  Give students an e-mail address with the school domain. E-mail accounts include an email inbox provided through Outlook Live with 10GB inbox—along with spam filtering, calendaring, and other features.
  Build on what you have. Live@edu works with the investments you and your students have already made. It’s compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux computers and can integrate with your existing student directories.
  Give students the applications they want, and help them work together with faculty.
   Live@edu includes applications that can help collaboration, including:
  -Office Live Workspace
  -Windows Live SkyDrive
  Help keep your students safe online. Live@edu includes features and policies to protect the privacy of your students’ communications. For example, the e-mail services include anti-phishing technologies and SSL-encrypted authentication, and Live@edu policies prohibit third-party banner ads in e-mail and the sharing of information with third parties unless the student opts in.

What is WSIPC’s role in assisting WA schools with Live@edu?

There are several areas where WSIPC can assist schools with Live@edu, enrollment and deployment support.  In all scenarios, a school also has the option of going straight to Microsoft for help as well.

Enrollment:

Schools that wish to sign up for Live@edu have to enroll an external DNS domain with Microsoft; an example domain might be something like my.cheney.wa.k12.us.  As WSIPC manages external DNS for many schools in WA, we can help run you through the Live@edu enrollment process and make the necessary DNS changes, so that you can get your domain activated, mail-flow running, and so on.

Service setup and configuration:

In partnership with Microsoft, WSIPC has developed a K-12 deployment checklist for Live@edu .  This guide outlines the services that K-12 institutions typically configure in Live@edu, covering everything from branding the service with logos to restricting student users from emailing the outside world.  If schools have questions about how to proceed, a WSIPC consultant can help IT administrators understand the concepts and rationale behind the guide, providing advice and pointers where needed.  Microsoft also provides extensive help and assistance on all aspects of the service, if this is required.
 

Please contact
WSIPC Infrastructure Operations
425-349-6510
wsysnet@wsipc.org