Teacher Resources

Link to the previous Microsoft™ free eLearning article…

In fact, the Microsoft™ site states that there are 150,000 items available for download!

Link to the Microsoft™ Clip Art and Media Download page…

The resource library contains…

• Clip Art


• Pictures


• Sounds


• Animations

The download process is better, faster, cheaper than just finding images through a search engine, then trying to determine if you can legally use the images. If you have a copy of Microsoft™ Office, you can use these resources.

Even better, you can search page after page of images and other resources, simply click a "check box" to add the images to a "shopping cart," and download a huge selection or these files, all at once.

Tips on Using Clip Art

Microsoft™ also provides online help on how to make the best use of this media resource.

Link to the "Tips on Using Clip Art" page…

The one problem with downloading a lot of images at one time is that the images will have names such as, "j0402101.jpg" or "jo4ii781.jpg". But, this is how they download from digital cameras, too.

You have to rename the images to make them usable. Just remember to keep the correct "three letter extension" when renaming the resource files.

What's the Catch?

This is Microsoft™, and Microsoft™ wants to promote their products.

This means that free comes with a catch. What is the catch?

In order to download the pictures in a time-saving, easy to use manner, you have to use Microsoft™'s "Clips Manager."

This "Clips Manager" is found only with licensed copies of Microsoft™ Office

The good news is that…

• You probably have the "Clips Manager" installed on a computer at home or at school


• You can just select a large number of images, sounds, anything else…place these in a shopping cart…and download the entire collection


• The collection will then be found in the "My Documents/My Pictures/ Microsoft Clips Organizer" folder (directory)


• Once you have the picture in the Clips Organizer Directory, you can search on a topic and all the pictures that are located on your computer will be available.


• (Note: This is the reason for keeping the files with their "strange names" in this folder (directory), and simply moving a copy to another location and naming it with a meaningful name.)


• (Note #2: If you use the images on your Web pages, and you want to add extra relevance in Search Engine analysis of your page, you will name your images to coincide with your page content.)

Sidebar

If you have an older version of Microsoft™ installed on your computer(s), you may find that the folder names are slightly different.

Also, for multiple computers, it would be quite a chore to keep all computers updated with the same clip art and media. There are a lot of possibilities for using these resources, i.e., burning a collection to a CD, storing a collection on a USB drive, saving the collection to a shared volume on the network, having students save the images that they use to their home directories or portfolios, etc.

Delving into all of these possibilities is beyond the scope of this article. Consult with your school district's IT Department for the strategy that best suits your situation.

The bad news is…

• If you use an Open Source browser, such as Firefox™, the Microsoft™ site starts to get suspicious, and starts asking you questions to make sure that you can legally use the Clip Art.

Microsoft™ and Open Source

Microsoft™ is recognizing the value of the Open Source Movement by developing business alliances with Open Source vendors.

But, while these images, sounds and other resources are free (for MS Office™ users), they are not Open Source.

In fact, Classroom Toolkit received criticism for our article last month because we identified a free, Microsoft™ professional development resource.

The criticism want something like this, "How can you claim to be an Open Source Movement, and share information about Microsoft™?"

Of course the answer is easy…

• Classroom Toolkit is a movement for providing "Instructional Materials for Teachers"


• We promote free and low-cost options for teachers, and are unbiased about where teachers find resources


• Our focus is on saving time for teachers, reducing stress, and helping teachers understand that they are not the cause of the mess that modern education finds itself mired in


• Teachers want resources that they can use, today, without complexity. Teachers do not care to enter a debate on Open Source "purity," nor, do teachers want to tinker with the technology. Teachers just don't have the time to experiment to get another computer platform configured and running


• The fact is that most Open Source software provides a Windows™ version, and promoting Windows ™ makes the most sense


• Our focus is on empowering teachers, and eliminating the negative side effects when outsiders (whether politicians, judges, or Linux server IT specialists) try to dictate what is "best for education"
• (Note: It doesn't matter if these outsiders are "well meaning" or not. [Although in the case of politicians meddling with education, the odds are that their "murky" agendas are automatically suspect.]

So, check out all the free resources that Microsoft™ provides.

These resources are easy to use, and that is the message that Open Source advocates need to learn. (It's the old Apple™ Computer mantra.

Teachers focus on instruction, and any layer of difficulty in applying technology distracts from that focus. The reason that some Open Source products just won't be used is that those products are too much trouble to use. Products that are not "one-click" easy just are not ready for prime time, real-world, teaching.