Attention College and High School Students! The words “Microsoft” and “Free” don’t often go in the same sentence together, so this is pretty amazing. Hands down, Microsoft has created a great program for students. It’s called Dreamspark and it’s intended to inspire creativity and technical knowledge to high-school and college students. Growing up while learning IT, I always had some limitation – getting expensive software to mess around with! Now Microsoft offers a solution and you’d be a fool to pass it up.
If its possible, you should have your school sign up for this program so your students can reap the benefits. Read on for more information.
About DreamSpark
The DreamSpark offers registered schools and institutions the ability to give their students key Microsoft software packages for free. The packages currently offered are:
In a previous article on IT Career Basics for Students, I outlined some career goals and models. Guess What Students – You can use this software to get a head-start!
A brief explanation on the software packages offered and what possible career paths they can take you:
| SOFTWARE OFFERED | WHAT IT DOES | CAREER PATH |
 |
Programming Package | Computer Programmer or Computer Science Major |
 |
Programming Package | Computer Programmer or Computer Science Major |
 |
Creativity and Development Software | Graphic Artist and Computer Programmer |
 |
Programming Package, previous Edition | Computer Programmer or Computer Science Major |
 |
Database Development Package | Database Administrator or Database Designer |
 |
Robotics and Automation Programming Package | Robotics Development or Robotic Engineer |
 |
Server Software Package, previous Edition | Systems Engineer or Systems Administrator |
 |
Database Server software, works with Windows Server | Systems Engineer or Systems Administrator or Database Administrator or Database Designer |
 |
Game Programming Package | Game Programmer or Game Designer |
 |
Server Software Package | Systems Engineer or Systems Administrator |
 |
Programming Package, previous Edition | Computer Programmer or Computer Science Major |
 |
Virtualization Software | Virtualization Specialist or Systems Engineer or Systems Administrator |
Attention School Administrators, IT Professors, and IT Teachers:
If your school is NOT part of this program then you need to get on the ball and work with Microsoft to get your school verified! To do so, go to this site for more information on the process. This is free money basically from Microsoft so sign-up.
https://www.dreamspark.com/FAQ/AdministratorOverview.aspx
Attention Students and our Future Technological Elite
Go to the website and login with your Live ID. See if your school is listed and verify yourself. Then it should be a cakewalk. If your school is NOT part of this program or verified, then contact the IT Department or your School Administration as soon as possible. Show them the website (or this website too!) and explain the significance of this program. More Info on Student FAQ below.
https://www.dreamspark.com/FAQ/StudentOverview.aspx
More Information on DreamSpark:
How to Access Microsoft DreamSpark…
Bill Gates speaks on Dreamspark Program…
The Website for DreamSpark is: https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx
If you signed up or have experience with this program – Let us know here how it worked out!
Related posts:
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23 May 2009 at 1:46 PM
A much needed article! Students need to be made aware of what resources and opportunities are available to them. I especially like how you categorized the software based it what it does and how it caters to various career paths within the IT field. Great article for any student, hopefully they take advantage of these fantastic resources. It would be great if DreamSpark became available to international schools as well. Thank you!
28 August 2009 at 10:09 AM
Great article. Thanks for sharing this. I’ve always been impressed with Adobe’s education discounts–Photoshop goes from $700 to a couple hundred–but had not idea MS even cared.
15 November 2009 at 10:47 AM
Well, I think they do care about community and future endorsement of their products. Does your schools use this program?