The End of the Week!
A weekly reflection on what’s been happening!
Well, for starters, I was very excited to hear about the great deal from Microsoft. If you haven’t heard yet, for 64 dollars, you can download the Ultimate edition of Microsoft Office 2007. The whole sh-bang!!! As with anything like this, there is a catch! You have to be a University student. Thankfully I am still working on my Masters this year.
What would have really been great though, is if this had been extended to High School students. For once, I wish that schools and students would be given a break and provided with the tools they need at a reasonable cost that we can all afford. For schools to shell out 899 dollars for a 
copy of Office Ultimate is too much to ask. Some of you would say though that not only can you get smaller editions of Office for a lower cost, you can also get site licenses for a discount. While this may be true, it is still a huge expense for a school division. After that huge purchase, there isn’t a whole lot left in the technology account for other tols that also maybe beneficial.
Yes, there is Openoffice and other free tools. I have used them and they are good. However, when Office is the standard and is well supported both with templates, clip-art, etc, isn’t that what we should be using with students? Openoffice is just not as slick and supported. There is no support other than user groups. It appeals to the more savvy computer users out there, including me, who does not want to pay the exorbitant costs that Microsoft charges. Appealing to the common teacher is different. Few teachers are going to want to try Openoffice when they are used to using Microsoft and like the ability to integrate the extras without fussing around.
I know that whole school divisions couldn’t use this deal practically even if they could. However, I think it is a good first step and I will enjoy using my new Office. Giving in to Microsoft? Maybe, but I am a teacher. I will use any tool I think will help and if I can get a deal, I’m going to take it!
