I’m really privileged in being able to work with so many talented and passionate people. I listen to the way they talk about what they do and I wish that I could condense that passion and sincerity down into a 2 minute conversation that I could have with people I meet.

One of the more popular topics for feedback is Windows 8. Luckily, I’ve found this fantastic video from UX Week 2012 where Jensen Harris talks about the story of Windows 8. It’s not a short video, but I’d encourage you to watch it all as it gives a rare insight into just how and why the Windows 8 Modern UI looks like does.

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Whenever I need reminding why I stay involved in education, albeit much further away from the front line than I used to be, I watch this video.

I’d love to think that one day I’ll be blessed with such profundity. For now I’ll stick to listening to people who know much more than me about everything.

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I came up with four key things to consider in order to make BYOD in the classroom successful:

1. Easy

2. Support

3. Windows to go

4. Cloud

Easy

The first step towards successful BYOD is by making it easy! It’s as simple as that. What I mean is make it easy to connect external devices to your network. This could meaning opening up a new hotspot to connect using WiFi, or by providing more hardwired network ports for users to connect their devices to. Often, network managers and IT staff are reluctant to open up the network to devices that aren’t under the control of the school (for many excellent reasons), but in order to make BYOD happen you have to make it easy.

Support

Next up, support. As a former network manager for a large secondary school I know what it is like to be presented with a wide range of devices and to be expected to fix and support all of them. Usually it’s the teacher’s personal computer that has broken, and they want it fixed in exchange for a crate of beer. If a student brought me their device more often than not they wouldn’t get any support. For BYOD this has to change. I’m not talking about fixing their home PC when it breaks, but instead helping them get online where necessary.

If your school is providing services via the browser, your users will thank you for helping them get access to them through their own device. Students are far more productive when they use devices they feel comfortable with; not those super-fast and up to date desktop PCs ancient bits of tin on the desk.

Windows to go

One of the more popular sections of my BETT presentation was on the new feature in Windows 8 called Windows to go. In short, this is a way to provide your managed school desktop environment on a memory stick which can be plugged into practically any PC hardware in order to provide your desktop on their device. There are a few really useful scenarios I can see Windows to go helping:

· BYOD – obviously! Your apps, services, customisations and security settings on an external device, either inside or outside the classroom.

· Programming and ICT in general. It’s still not really that easy to provide a sandbox environment to allow students to build, compile and test their own applications without the IT staff getting nervous that the students are about to create SkyNet. Windows to go can help provide that safe, secure and flexible workspace loaded up with your programming applications in a manner than doesn’t jeopardise the security of the workstation underneath. Simply unplug the memory stick and reboot, and you’re back to your normal desktop.

· ICT administrators. OK, this one is more tenuous, but imagine being able to take your exact desktop with you everywhere. Not roaming profiles, or having to cart your heavy laptop about the place; just take your Windows to go memory stick to any PC in the school and fire up your desktop customised the way you like it, with your administration applications, etc. wherever you go. If I were back in schools today I’d be buying a memory stick right now!

There are probably lots of other scenarios Windows to go can help address, but you at least get the idea of how powerful this innovation is.

Cloud

This is the bit I do every day, so naturally it’s very easy to say why cloud can help with BYOD. Let somebody else do all the hard work so you don’t have to. It’s like Mr Muscle for IT.

Microsoft provides a whole range of cloud services, many free to education, that are always up to date, always online, accessible anywhere and work on so many devices it isn’t worth counting. It’s a no-brainer to use Office 365 for education if you want to services on everything from a BlackBerry smartphone, through to your beloved iPad, right up to the latest Windows 8 devices.

It’s not hard to get started!

The great thing about pretty much all of the aforementioned topics is that it isn’t hard to get started if you want to try out BYOD in school. If you have Windows 8 enterprise, you have access to creating a Windows to go memory stick, and if you’re a qualifying academic institution you can sign up for Office 365 for education for free right now. You don’t have to make huge changes, or capital investments, in order to make BYOD a reality. In fact, I’d recommend trialling it with a few users to find out what works and what doesn’t.

I’d love to hear from people who’ve implemented a successful BYOD strategy – how did you do it, and what would you recommend to others? Equally, if it didn’t work, what went wrong?

Below is an online version of the slides I delivered during the BETT show.

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On my travels around The ExCeL center I thought I’d take a video of what it’s like to wander around BETT, and a brief tour of our stand.

If you’re coming to BETT this year pop by and say hello!

I recorded this video in 1080p on my Nokia Lumia 920 held in my hand as I walked around; there’s no post-processing, this video is exactly as it comes off the phone – the image stabilization is impressive.

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1. Lync

I work at Microsoft, and I conduct all of my real-time communication using Microsoft Lync. Voice calls, instant messaging, sharing content, running webcasts, it’s all done through Lync. When I’m not at my PC my mobile phone will happily keep me connected using the Lync client for Windows Phone, but the modern app that is available in the Microsoft Store means I can be connected on my Surface, too! I can take full advantage of the snap feature to keep a Lync conversation or call open while taking notes and I can use the front and rear-facing cameras if I need to use video in my meetings.

1. Netflix

I’ve been a Netflix subscriber for almost a year now and I LOVE using it on my Xbox 360, laptop and Windows Phone so I was really excited to see what the app for Windows RT was going to be like and I wasn’t disappointed. I can sign in with my Netflix account and pick up watching programs where I’d left them on other devices. The experience is smooth and is really easy to pick up. The speakers on the Surface RT are ok for most things, but I hook up to my Jambox if I want it a bit louder! (I guess I could also use headphones…)

1. Wordament

   
   

   I’m a really casual gamer. I can’t remember the last time I sat and played a game from end to end. Instead I like to dip in and out of things depending on the mood I’m in. On my Xbox 360 this usually means that I have about 10 games on the go but on the phone I like playing Wordament. On Windows RT it has the same look and feel and is, in my opinion, even better on the bigger and brighter screen. I’m still never going to be number 1 but at least I can see how badly I did in 16:9!

2. OneNote

In the same category as Lync, I use OneNote to make notes on my customers, projects and even my Christmas list! I use SkyDrive for my personal notes, and SkyDrive Pro for my work ones and both can be synchronised with both the included OneNote 2013 desktop app, and the OneNote modern app. Now it doesn’t matter whether I am on my phone, Surface or laptop – I can access my notes from anywhere. It also frees me up from dragging my laptop around to meetings – I can just grab my Surface and go. I can’t wait to get my Touch Cover for Christmas as I think note-taking will be taken to the next level by the physical keyboard.

1. Skype

I almost didn’t include this in my Top 5 as it is similar to Lync, but for keeping in touch with my friends and family. The app is fantastic. Really quick and responsive as well as pretty and easy to use. Video conversations using either the front or rear facing cameras are easy to set up and, like Lync, I can snap a conversation to the side of the screen whilst working. I’ve been using Skype for years but have never really thought of it as being central to keeping in touch with people, instead favouring MSN Messenger
Windows Live Messenger Messenger, Facebook and email but that is quickly changing.

So there you have it, my top 5 apps so far. A special mention should go to the Office 2013 client that is bundled with Windows as the Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint apps are really useful but if you buy a Surface you’ll have them already!

Which apps have you found useful?

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What I Bought

I went for the bottom-of-the-range 32GB Surface RT without the touch cover. This costs £399 from the Microsoft Store and initially I chose not to get the one with the keyboard because none of my other tablets had external hardware keyboards and foolishly I thought I could live without it; more on that later.

You can order the 32GB with a touch cover for £479 or if you’re feeling like you need some extra storage you can go for the 64GB with touch cover for £559. If you don’t think 64GB is enough for you, remember that you can expand the storage in the Surface with a MicroSD card up to an additional 64GB!

First Experiences

I have been running Windows 8 for some time now through work, so the new UI was not completely new for me. I have never really used Windows 8 with a touch enabled device though, so experiencing it on the Surface RT was something I’d been looking forward to since it was announced earlier in the year. It just works. That’s about the best thing I can say.

I have lots of friends and family who know where I work, and expect me to be nothing but the good evangelist about Microsoft; however, I can honestly say that the new UI is really, really easy to get to grips with. The proof? My girlfriend.

We’d gone to visit a friend of mine last week and while he and I went to walk his dog we left her at home (it was very cold and very wet). She’s a die-hard Apple customer with an iPhone and iPad in tow but I’d brought my Surface along because it is pretty much glued to my hand. After we left she had real trouble getting her iPad to connect to his WiFi but she knew that I’d created her an account on my Surface, so having never used Windows 8 before she managed to log on using her picture password, connect it to the WiFi, install a bunch of apps from the store, and arrange her tiles how she likes them. She even ordered us pizza!

Setting up multiple accounts was easy and each user can log in with their Microsoft account to sync their settings across devices. Picture passwords making unlocking the device simple, but you can opt for a traditional password or PIN if you prefer.

The Desktop

I spend 99% of my time in the desktop environment on my work laptop. I run any older apps I need, and use my laptop just like any other. When I’m on my Surface I spend almost 99% of my time in the modern apps – I could forget the desktop even existed. Microsoft Office comes installed with the OS so I jump back to the desktop if I need to do some word processing (like writing this blog post) and I can save those files straight to SkyDrive or to a memory stick or just onto the device.

Snapping apps to the side of the screen is incredible. I can have an app like Skype or Xbox Music open on one side of the screen, and be doing something else on the other:

The Cloud

I’m a big SkyDrive user, and the ability to access all my documents and photos with practically no configuration was a really smooth experience as I sign into my Surface with my Microsoft Account; you just run the apps and your data is there. I’m also a big Office 365 user both personally and professionally and I can easily access my data in SharePoint Online on the device, too. There is even a Lync app in the store which works really well with the built in cameras. I’ve started leaving my laptop at my desk (and it’s a portable laptop – Lenovo X220, it usually comes with me everywhere) in favour of taking the Surface to meetings and making use of the OneNote, Lync and Mail apps to keep connected to my work when away from my desk.

A few of my colleagues have the Samsung 9 series laptops with the external dongle for connecting to VGA and I noticed that the port looks pretty similar to the one on my Surface so I decided to see if it was compatible – it is! Running a PowerPoint slide show from my Surface is really easy, and with the addition of the Wireless Presenter Mouse I can control my deck while being able to walk around the room at the same time.

Foolish James

I said earlier that I didn’t go for the touch cover. To be clear, you don’t need the cover in order to be able to type on the device; far from it. There is a fantastic on-screen keyboard that is great for tweeting and other short bursts of typing. For longer stretches I can connect my wireless keyboard but I don’t always have that with me. I quickly became envious of those who had the cover and almost overnight decided that it was #1 on my Christmas list. It’s just nice to have a cover for the device, and a physical keyboard on the go.

In Conclusion…

There’s a lot I could say about the Surface. There’s lots I want to say but at this point in time it’s likely to come out as a ramble so I’ll finish up with a summary of the things I love and things I love less. If you can get your hands on a Surface give it a go and be prepared to order one pretty soon afterwards because I’m sure you’ll like it just as much as I do.

Things I Love

• The kick-stand
  
• Windows 8
  
• The screen
  
• Battery life
  
• Compatibility with hardware (so far it works with my Arc Keyboard, Wireless Presenter Mouse, Lync headset, USB memory sticks, etc.)
  
• Multi-tasking
  
• The feel (It feels like it is built to last, probably longer than me)
  
• Xbox Music
  
• The USB port and ability to output to HDMI and VGA (with appropriate dongle, of course)
  

Things I Love Less

• Not having the touch cover (it’s on my Christmas list)

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I want to back my photos up online… Which service should I use?

— James Marshall (@jamesbmarshall) April 13, 2012

My requirements were simple:

• Backup over 50GB of data including photos, music, documents and videos online.
• Access the data easily from anywhere, ideally on any device either natively through the OS, an installed app, or web site.
• Selectively share some of the data with one or many people easily, and be able to revoke sharing too.
• Low cost, reliable and simple to use.

I have a home server, with a bunch of storage made up of a combination of internal HDDs and external ones. Unfortunately most of the online services didn’t support backing up from a server OS (in this case Windows Server 2008) without paying a lot of money, nor did they support backing up a mapped drive so I couldn’t cheat and backup from my desktop either. Even when I did think I was making progress the services seemed to specialise in backing data up, but not accessing or sharing it easily. That is until Microsoft announced the latest changes to SkyDrive…

I’d eyed SkyDrive as a solution before but immediately discounted it due to needing more than 25GB of space, but when Microsoft announced the paid storage options I took another look. I found that I could install the SkyDrive desktop app to my home server, sync my data to SkyDrive (I have paid for an extra 50GB of space) and for extra safety I also copy the data internally to some network attached storage (NAS). It looks a little like this:

My home PC, and laptop, both use mapped drives to the synced folder on the home server to access the data locally, and when I’m out and about I can access my data directly from SkyDrive. This works really well from my Windows Phone and my iPad as well as via the browser.

If my home server dies, I have a copy in SkyDrive and on the NAS. If the NAS dies, I have a copy on the home server and in SkyDrive and if all fails internally, for whatever reason, I have my copy on SkyDrive to fall back to. I think that covers all bases! What’s more – it’s really easy for me to share individual files and folders in SkyDrive; sharing that family holiday album with my parents, or the Christmas list OneNote with my girlfriend, takes just a couple of clicks and means I don’t have to have several copies of my data in different places.

So that is my solution, it seems to be working pretty well and I am happy that it ticks pretty much every box of my requirements. I’m really keen to hear how other people have approached this; is there a better way? I’d love to hear it!

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1. BBC News

   www.bbc.co.uk/news: This is usually my first stop for the latest on what’s going on in the UK and worldwide, there are often some really interesting stories in the magazine section and even though the BBC has its fair share of criticism I still find it to be one of the best news sources I have ever found.

2. Neowin

   www.neowin.net: I’ve been visiting Neowin for so long I almost can’t remember a time without it (except a brief couple of months where I defected to The Verge). With a lean towards Microsoft and associated tech, Neowin has always been my go-to website for tech news.

3. Twitter

   www.twitter.com: Since joining Twitter a few years ago it has proven to be more than just a social network for sharing what you had for breakfast. Twitter has been responsible for introducing me to people who’ve given me a place to live, a job, and even a relationship or two! News doesn’t spread faster than it does in the “Twittersphere”.

4. The Daily Telegraph

   www.telegraph.co.uk: I’d love to be able to read this paper in print, but it’s just too big and cumbersome – at least they have a great website that provides an alternative view to the BBC.

5. Facebook

   www.facebook.com: Last, but not least, the perennial favourite, Facebook. Usually I’ve checked this the night before, so checking in the morning just satisfies my sad curiosity to see what shenanigans my friends have been up to overnight – more often that not I’m disappointed and left to read about how people can’t sleep or how, by copying this status update, I guarantee salvation and a ticket to heaven.

Which websites do you visit every day?

Which sites do you absolutely have to visit? Do you get bored checking the same few places all the time, and how do you get your inspiration? Let me know!

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I blog professionally, but that’s in a different place.

I figured that as I spend all day helping customers deploy one of Microsoft’s other cloud services, Office 365 for education, I should probably have a look at what the Windows Azure service has to offer.

As it turns out, the VM role is exactly what I need. This website is now being hosted on an extra-small instance running Windows Server 2012 and I used the fantastic Web Platform Installer to get WordPress up and running in no time. The most lengthy part of the whole process was importing my old posts, picking a new theme and configuring all of my plugins – the ones I wanted to keep at least!

I’m really excited to see how Windows Azure can help reduce costs for my education customers looking to provide or extend services like federation through AD FS 2.0. Hopefully this will re-kindle my creative side and I’ll start to blog a little more often!

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