REDMOND, Wash. Aug. 25, 2003 Microsoft Corp. today is announcing special academic pricing for Microsoft® Office OneNote™
2003, which will allow students and educators to obtain the Academic Edition Full-Packaged Product (FPP) at campus bookstores for $49 (U.S.) when it is released this October. Microsoft also announced it is making the software widely available to teachers, schools and students worldwide through volume licensing incentives at the campus and school level. Educational institutions that have active Campus and School Agreements with Microsoft between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, 2003, will have the opportunity to try out the new OneNote software at no charge until their contracts expire.
Beginning this week through the end of 2003, students at more than 1,600 colleges nationwide will have the chance to see new cutting-edge learning tools as Microsoft launches its latest outreach effort to the education community to showcase new and emerging applications designed to appeal to a student audience, including OneNote 2003, the new note-taking program in the Microsoft Office System. A half- million OneNote beta trial CDs will be distributed to students and educators interested in starting the school year with a digital solution for note-taking. In addition, Microsoft also is conducting a Microsoft Office OneNote
“Take Note & Win”
sweepstakes, giving college students and teachers an opportunity to win a Tablet PC, and installing Tablet PC kiosks running Microsoft Office System applications including OneNote at approximately 300 campus bookstores.
“Students have always been at the forefront when it comes to utilizing new technologies to be more productive, and we want to continue to make it as easy as possible for them to access these tools,”
said John Vail, director of product management for OneNote at Microsoft.
“We see OneNote as being an incredible application for helping students improve their learning experience. Reaching out to universities to introduce this new product to students and offering special pricing and incentives to educational institutions are just a few examples of how Microsoft is meeting the needs of the academic community.”
Schools Eager to Begin Using OneNote
The ability to be used on a desktop, laptop computer or Tablet PC, as well as innovative features such as a flexible workspace for customized note-taking, audio note recording, and the ability to search through a semesters worth of notes with a click of a mouse make OneNote 2003 ideally suited to a classroom setting.
The beta version of OneNote already has triggered a groundswell of enthusiasm in the education arena, and as the software nears public availability, students and teachers are increasingly eager to start using it. Northeastern University in Boston and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of eight colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y., are just two examples of schools where interest in the note-taking application runs high. Educators at both schools are excited about the value that OneNote offers in terms of saved time and enhanced learning, not just for students but also for teachers and school administrators.
Beginning with the 20032004 academic year, Northeastern University recommends that all incoming business school freshmen install and use OneNote for note-taking in their classes. NTID, meanwhile, is providing OneNote to all students; note-takers at NTID capture 43,000 hours of notes per year for more than 500 deaf and hard-of-hearing students pursuing baccalaureate and graduate degrees. The application will be used most heavily in mainstream classes in which students who are deaf receive note-taking services in their classes. A trained student note-taker will be assigned to take notes using the software, and then share those notes immediately by uploading them to a Web site. Students will be able to download the notes and access them through their own OneNote notebook or via the server or Web site, which will provide central storage for class notes for the academic year.
“NTID is committed to innovation and to using cutting-edge technologies to meet the unique needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and to help them learn in the best way possible,”
said Dr. Peter Lalley, director of the Center for Baccalaureate and Graduate Studies at NTID.
“We are indeed very excited about using OneNote. It is an application that will enhance the effectiveness and quality of the notes as well as enable students to access and use information in a timely manner. We are grateful to be in on the ground floor of this new project, and are pleased that this relationship with Microsoft allows us the opportunity to apply OneNote as a high-tech solution to our students note-taking needs.”
Pricing and Availability
Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 is scheduled to be available in October 2003. To learn more about OneNote pricing and product information, and to enter the Microsoft Office OneNote
“Take Note & Win”
sweepstakes, visit http://www.microsoft.com/office/onenote/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft and OneNote are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information about the Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 Virtual Pressroom:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/2003/onenote/material.asp
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