Learning Possibilities and Microsoft agree LP+ cloud plans

Dec. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- November 2010 saw the launch of LP+ cloud, a set of products and services that will transform teaching, learning and planning activities in schools. A new agreement between Learning Possibilities and Microsoft means that Microsoft SkyDrive, Outlook Live and Office Web Applications are available for integration into the LP+ learning platform through the Microsoft Live@edu service. LP+ can now deliver a whole new suite of online tools to improve productivity and collaboration, where students and teachers are able to create, upload, edit and share Office documents online from any device with internet access - even if schools do not have Microsoft Office installed on their computers.

Mehool Sanghrajka, CEO, Learning Possibilities Group said “LP+ has always been in the cloud and we have always recognised the collaboration, cost and efficiency benefits that a hosted and managed service brings. I am delighted that we are now able to offer Microsoft office, mail and infrastructure solutions fully integrated into LP+. Schools will be the real winners here.”  

Steve Beswick, Senior Director of Education, Microsoft Ltd said “Over the past decade ICT in education has evolved and now the average student has incredible access to technology at their fingertips, whether they’re in the classroom, at home, in their bedroom or even in the playground. LP+, using Microsoft technologies, now delivers a service which is there for every school, college, university – and every teacher and student and opens up the possibility of a richer environment for less cost. Cloud is developing rapidly and education institutions should continue to raise their expectations of what they can achieve using them. I am delighted that the long standing partnership we have with Learning Possibilities will now extend to the cloud.”

Norton College, an early adopter, have integrated Outlook Live with their LP+ platform. The integration process was managed by LP+ to ensure a smooth transition to the new email system.  Steve Layton, ICT Resources Manager at the school commended the team “The constant communication of information before, during and after the migration was of great help.  Having my own account migrated a couple of days prior to the rest of the staff allowed me to identify the process involved and enabled me to support my staff much more efficiently once they were also migrated… I am very happy and would happily recommend both LP+ in general and your implementation of Outlook Live to other establishments.” As with all LP+ SafeMail solutions, users are able to access emails through their LP+ portal, an Outlook client and mobile devices.

About Learning Possibilities
Learning Possibilities focuses entirely on providing centrally hosted and managed, robust and scalable learning platforms to both individual educational establishments and federations. Our services include designing, delivering, implementing, managing and driving adoption of simple and intuitive learning platforms to raise attainment and to empower learners by providing the opportunity for personalised learning pathways.
Our technical expertise is supplemented by high quality design, training and implementation services as well as consultancy on how to develop best practice use of the learning platform to achieve high levels of collaboration. We have developed a learning platform adoption framework, LP+ ADOPT that has been widely credited as providing the adoption structure that has been missing from learning platform delivery. Becta recently chose our framework to form the basis of the National English Learning Platform Maturity Model.

On the back of this we have won a number of industry awards, including the Bett 2010 award for ICT Education Partnership. The award was won for our effective partnership with Wolverhampton City Council where judges commented that “Learning Possibilities demonstrated evidence of an effective partnership based on shared values and an ethos of transforming education. The partnership has enabled the local authority to provide bespoke support and entry points to the learning platform rather than a one size fits all approach”. This year we have been shortlisted for the Bett 2010 ICT Education Partnership and ICT Company of the Year award categories.

Contact:
Bindiya Raichura
+44 208 236 1041
bindiya.raichura@lpplus.com

What is skydrive?
SkyDrive storage can be used to back up your files online or to share large files with others. You can assign permissions and set folders to public or private, to help you share individual files with only people that the user selects.

What is Outlook Live?
Microsoft Outlook Live is based on the Microsoft Exchange Online, the market-leader in business email, calendaring, and voicemail. With Outlook Live, teachers and students get the familiar, intuitive Outlook user experience, whether on a PC with the Outlook desktop client or through a browser with Outlook Web Access, or on mobile phones.

What are Office Web Applications?
Microsoft Office Web Applications are new web-based tools that extend the Microsoft Office 2010 experience to a supported browser. They are online companions to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that enable users to view, do light editing, and share Office documents from virtually anywhere.

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LP+ focuses entirely on providing centrally hosted and managed, robust and scalable virtual learning platforms to both individual educational establishments and federations. Our services include designing, delivering, implementing, managing and driving adoption of simple and intuitive learning platforms to raise attainment and to empower learners by providing the opportunity for personalised learning pathways.