ISTE and Microsoft collaborate to provide new school planning and professional learning resources
Multi-project initiative to include first of its kind blueprint for school transformation, leadership courses, school development tools.

DENVER -June 26, 2016 -At today’s ISTE 2016 opening general session, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) and Microsoft Corp. announced they plan to combine and expand a host of their world-class initiatives to ensure educators and school leaders around the world have access to school planning and professional development resources. This collaboration stems from a shared belief that technology has the power to transform learning, and can do so most effectively when it’s embedded in how a school or educator thinks about and drives new learning opportunities.

"This new collaboration between ISTE and Microsoft springs from our shared, genuine commitment to have a real impact on learners around the globe,” said ISTE CEO Brian Lewis. “It will leverage our respective strengths and allow our substantive work on student empowerment, digital citizenship, education leadership and professional learning to be multiplied."

As part of this new multi-project initiative, ISTE and Microsoft will bring together resources from the education and technology fields to inspire educators to design and develop schools where technology is woven into the culture and environment. Three of these resources will include:

• ISTE and Microsoft Blueprint for School Transformation: To support leaders as they pioneer innovation and digital transformation, Microsoft and ISTE will align respective professional development pathways supporting leadership, policy and 21st century pedagogy. Mapping of the ISTE Essential Conditions and Microsoft Transformation Framework has already begun and will provide common language and direction for future shared work.

• Leadership courses designed in accordance with this blueprint: Microsoft has also partnered with edX, the nonprofit online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT, and top global university innovation and education experts to develop a series of new courses in the areas of change leadership, design thinking, gameful learning, deep learning, and ambitious teaching and learning. They will be developed with the support and guidance of ISTE and Microsoft and will contain renowned curriculum created by leading edX university partners. The first course will be available for enrollment on edx.org starting in September 2016 and is scheduled to begin in December 2016. Additional courses will begin by March 2017. Stay updated about this offering at http://aka.ms/edx/schools.

• Tools to help streamline the development of 21st century schools: Microsoft and ISTE plan to partner with schools around the world to further develop new Microsoft Showcase Schools, a global community of more than 600 schools engaged in digital transformation to improve learning and teaching. This community of schools plans to have additional support to further incorporate the ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age and use the organization’s resources such as the ISTE Lead & Transform Diagnostic Tool and Microsoft’s Self Reflection Tool. Find out more about the Microsoft Showcase School program.

“Microsoft’s focus on supporting education transformation has great synergy with the work of ISTE,” said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Worldwide Education, Microsoft. “We are proud of the collaboration announced today and the opportunity we have together to empower students, educators and school leaders globally to achieve more.”

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

About ISTE

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier nonprofit membership organization serving educators and education leaders committed to empowering connected learners in a connected world. ISTE serves more than 100,000 education stakeholders throughout the world.

Innovative offerings include the widely adopted ISTE Standards for learning, teaching and leading in the digital age- as well as the ISTE Conference & Expo - “the world’s most comprehensive ed tech event. The organization’s robust suite of professional learning resources feature online courses, consulting services for schools and districts, books, and peer-reviewed journals and publications. For more information, visit iste.org. Connect with ISTE via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

For more information, media only:
Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe Communications, 773-278-2800, lwolfe@lwolfe.com
Microsoft Media Relations, 425-638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com