By Emeka Aginam
SOftware giant, Microsoft  at the weekend launched its signature no-cost enterprise-class technologies and cloud-based services for Lekki British School in Lagos.

However, the school is the second private secondary school and eighth school in Nigeria to adopt the service.

The technology   is  currently deployed in more than 100 countries around the world in thousands of educational institutions.

The product provides teachers and students with an Outlook Live email service built on Exchange 2010, providing Outlook Web Access co-branded with the school’s name and logo.

It also includes other collaboration and communication tools, such as calendars, document sharing, instant messaging, video chat, mobile email and more.

With this initiative, schools teachers will also now be able to join other teachers in Microsoft’s Partners in Learning network in exploring innovative ways of using technology in the classroom.

Aside from 10 GB of email storage, Live@edu gives students an additional 25 GB of additional file storage, and is accessible through poplar Web browsers for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

With the technology, students can participate in online tutorials, collaborate on assignments, discuss ideas with faculty, and build lifelong relationships with their schools through ‘anytime, anywhere’ access to productivity and collaboration tools.

Meanwhile, the Citizenship & PiL Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Ugochukwu Nwosu while speaking to students and teachers during the launch of the product last Friday in Lagos said that, “We are passionate about improving the quality of education on the continent, and we firmly believe that one of the most effective ways to do this is to give schools access to the latest tools and technologies.

“Just as technology is defining the pace of life and work; it is also defining education. If we want Nigerian students to compete on the world stage, we need to give them the tools to empower themselves to do so.

Partnering with Microsoft as one of the world’s largest and foremost providers of technology made the decision to expose our students to the Live@edu programme an easy decision.  David Conway, Headmaster of Lekki British School”  told the gathering with excitement