| -link"> | | | | obtains search results from all the major search |
| The Encarta is absorbed by Microsoft student | | | | engines without launching any additional applications |
| Homework assignments are the bane of most | | | | (such as a browser). Content from both the |
| students I know (not to mention their hard-pressed and | | | | Encyclopedia and the Web is presented side by side. |
| nescient parents). This is mainly because of the tedious | | | | This augmentation explicitly adopts the Internet and |
| and mind-numbing chores of data mining and | | | | incorporates it as an important source of reference - |
| composition. Additionally, as knowledge multiplies every | | | | as 80% of students have already done. |
| 5-10 years, few parents and teachers are able to | | | | I am not sure how Microsoft solved the weighty and |
| keep up. | | | | interesting issues of intellectual property that the Web |
| Enter Microsoft Student 2008: a productivity suite | | | | Companion raises, though. Copyright-holders of Web |
| which includes English and foreign language dictionaries, | | | | content may feel that they have the right to be |
| thesaurus, quotations library, assignment templates, | | | | compensated by Microsoft for the use it makes of |
| tutorials, graphing calculator software and a Web | | | | their wares in its commercial products. |
| Companion. MS Student comes replete with the entire | | | | MS Student would do well to also integrate with |
| Encarta Premium 2008 encyclopedia and its dynamic | | | | desktop search tools from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, |
| atlas and provides online access to the feature-rich | | | | and others. Students will benefit from seamless |
| MSN Encarta Premium through October 2008. | | | | access to content from all over - their desktop, their |
| The previous versions of Encarta included a host of | | | | encyclopedias, and the Web - using a single, intuitive |
| homework tools. Two years ago, these have evolved | | | | interface. |
| into a separate product called Microsoft Student. Since | | | | Microsoft would do well to incorporate collaborative |
| then, it has been gainfully repackaged and very much | | | | and Web publishing tools in this product. MS Student |
| enhanced. This year, for the first time, MS Student can | | | | does not equip and empower the student to |
| be downloaded from the Web or purchased as a | | | | collaborate with teachers and classmates on class |
| standalone, packaged product (DVD only). | | | | projects and to seamlessly publish his or her results |
| Among the new or revamped features: free online | | | | and work on the Web. Future editions would do well to |
| access to MSN Encarta Premium, Step-by-Step Math | | | | incorporate a NetMeeting-like module, a wiki interface, |
| Solutions calculator, Step-by-Step Math Textbook | | | | and an HTML editor. |
| Solutions, Triangle Solver, Equations Library, tutorials, | | | | All in all, MS Student 2008 is a great contribution to |
| and foreign language help. | | | | learning. Inevitably, it has a few flaws and glitches. |
| To augment the performance of MS Student 2008, | | | | Start with the price. As productivity suites go, it is |
| Microsoft offers "Learning Essentials": preformatted | | | | reasonably priced had its target population been adult |
| report and presentation templates and tutorials | | | | professional users. But, at $50-100 (depending on the |
| designed for Microsoft Office XP and later. MS | | | | country), it is beyond the reach of most poor students |
| Student's templates are actually clever adaptations of | | | | and parents - its most immediate market niches. |
| the popular Office suite of products: Word, Excel, and | | | | MS Student 2008 makes use of Microsoft's .Net |
| PowerPoint. They help the student produce homework | | | | technology. As most home computers lack it, the |
| plans and schedules, science projects, book reports, | | | | installer insists on adding it to the anyhow bloated |
| presentations, research reports, charts, and analyses | | | | Windows Operating System. There is worse to come: |
| of problems in math, physics, and chemistry. Detailed | | | | the .Net version installed by MS Student 2008 is |
| step-by-step tutorials, Quick Starters, and pop-up | | | | plagued with security holes and vulnerabilities. Users |
| toolbars (menus) guide the student along the way in a | | | | have to download service packs and patches from |
| friendly, non-intrusive manner. | | | | Windows Update if they do not wish to run the risk of |
| The Ace in MS Student's deck is Microsoft Math. It is a | | | | having their computers compromised by hackers. |
| seemingly endless anthology of tools, tutorials and | | | | Fully installed on the hard disk, MS Student 2008, like its |
| instruction sheets on how to grasp mathematical | | | | predecessors, gobbles up a whopping 4 Gb. That's a |
| concepts and solve math problems, from the most | | | | lot - even in an age of ever cheaper storage. Most |
| basic (e.g., fractions) to mid-level difficulty (e.g., | | | | homesteads still sport PCs with 40-80 Gb hard disks. |
| trigonometric functions). And if this is not enough, | | | | This makes MS Student less suitable for installation on |
| there's free access to HotMath, an online collection of | | | | older PCs and on many laptops. |
| math study aides and problem solvers. | | | | Finally, there is the question of personal creativity and |
| The graphing calculator is a wonder. It has both 2-D | | | | originality. Luckily, MS Student does not spoon-feed its |
| and 3-D capabilities and makes use of the full screen. | | | | users. It does not substitute for thinking or for study. On |
| Aided by an extensive Equations Library, it does | | | | the contrary, by providing structured stimuli, it |
| everything except cook: trigonometry, calculus, math, | | | | encourages the student to express his or her ideas. It |
| charting, geometry, physics, and chemistry. And | | | | does not do the homework assignments for the |
| everything in full color! Triangles get special treatment | | | | student - it merely helps rid them of time-consuming |
| in the Triangle Solver. The most vexing trilateral | | | | and machine-like functions. And it opens up to both |
| relationships and rules are rendered simple through the | | | | student and family the wonderful twin universes of |
| use of enhanced graphics. The Equation Library, | | | | knowledge: the Encarta and the Web. |
| though, is disappointing. It holds only 100 equations and | | | | Also Read: |
| calculus is sorely neglected throughout. | | | | The Six Sins of the Wikipedia |
| MS Student provides a powerful | | | | Microsoft's Encarta and MS Student 2007 |
| English-Spanish-French-German-Italian dictionary. It | | | | The Britannica 2007 Opens to the Web |
| helps the student to translate and conjugate verbs. | | | | Old Reference Works Revived |
| The synergy between this product and the impressive | | | | The Encyclopedia Britannica 2006 |
| foreign language capabilities of MS Word creates an | | | | Revolt of the Scholars |
| effective language laboratory which allows the user to | | | | The Idea of Reference |
| study the languages up to the point of completing | | | | The Future of the Book |
| assignments using specialized foreign-language | | | | The Kidnapping of Content |
| templates. | | | | The Internet and the Library |
| For the student keen on the liberal arts and the | | | | Interview with Tom Panelas |
| humanities, Student 2008 provides detailed Book | | | | The Future of Online Reference |
| Summaries of almost 1000 classic works. Besides plot | | | | Will Content Ever be Profitable? |
| synopses, the student gets acquainted with the | | | | The Disintermediation of Content |
| author's life, themes and characters in the tomes, and | | | | The Future of Electronic Publishing |
| ideas for book reports. | | | | Battle of the Titans - Encarta vs. |
| Similar to the Encarta, MS Student's Web Companion | | | | |