Tech tips for #BacktoSchool

With Back to School Season it is always wonderful to know some useful tech tips. These tips from journalist Marc Saltzman will help students make the most out of their school year.

Take advantage of free apps to stay organized

There are many useful and productive tools every students need such as Microsoft Office: Word, PowerPoint and Excel for writing papers and creating presentations. Microsoft OneNote makes it easy to take notes and organize research and Outlook helps students stay on top of deadlines, appointments and more. Office is available for FREE to students across Canada if the student is enrolled in a district school board or individual school that has purchased Microsoft Office for use by its faculty and staff, they are eligible to access Office through the Office for Students program. Visit Microsoft.ca/FreeOffice to check your child’s eligibility and download today.

Upgrade your world

For home users running Windows 7 or newer, Windows 10 upgrade is free. It is the Windows you know and love, only better. It brings back familiar features like the Start menu, adds new features like Microsoft Edge, which has the ability to type on webpages or annotate using your fingertip or stylus pen. Multitaskers will rejoice with the ability to snap up to four apps in place and Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant, is coming to Canada soon to help keep track of things that interest you, make helpful suggestions, remind you of appointments and help you stay closer to the people who matter most.

Store everything in the cloud

Students can access their work from anywhere using the free cloud services like OneDrive, which lets students store their school work and personal files, including research notes, calendar dates, contacts, photos and videos, music and audiobooks, and more. Students can access their files from multiple devices, anywhere in the world, as well as easily share large files with fellow students or collaborate in real-time on projects. Along with the OneDrive webpage, you can also download the OneDrive app for free for use with smartphones and tablets.

Video chat for free over Wi-Fi

Instead of paying for long distance calls use Skype lets to keep in touch with family and friends for free. Skype lets you message others, share files and call landlines and mobile phones on the cheap.

Get a versatile device 

Surface 3 is a powerful, productive and portable device that allows students do all the things they love, like playing mobile games or connecting with friends, while also working as a fully-functioning laptop where they can take notes, write essays and create presentations.

During my recent BestBuy Back to School event, I enjoyed checking out the cool Surface 3. The starting price is $639. In today’s tech-driven classrooms, a laptop or tablet has gone from a nice-to-have, to an absolute necessity. We can add the pen and keyboard to the Surface 3 and turn into a fully functional laptop. Highlight digital textbooks and makes notes in the margins, develop essays and presentations, take notes in class or even record lectures and seamlessly save them to OneDrive. 

Specs for Surface 3:

• Atom x7 processor and Windows 8.1 perfect for multitasking
• 10 hours of video-playback and can run downloadable programs just like a PC
• Multiple ports to easily plug in a USB, mouse or printer
• 1TB of free OneDrive storage to access files from anywhere

Another cool device is the Universal Foldable Keyboard, which is sold for $100 is perfect for a student on-the-go. The Universal Foldable Keyboard is designed to work with iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows tablets, and Windows Phone. It can be combined with two compatible devices and quickly switched between them with one touch. This ultra-thin, lightweight, compact design lets students easily take it wherever they go so they can get more done on their tablet or smartphone no matter where they are.

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