Microsoft’s release of Office 2007 and the Vista operating system represents two of the more significant product releases in the past decade. A pressing question for many computer educators is “When should we begin teaching Office 2007 and Vista?"

Our philosophy of computer education has always been,

 “It is the responsibility of those in computer education to lead their community when new technology is introduced.”

Accordingly, we strongly recommend that schools begin teaching Office 2007 and Vista in the Fall semester of 2007, or even sooner, for several important reasons:

1. The new features and interface of both Vista and Office 2007 will require the retraining of hundreds of thousands of individuals employed in small and large businesses, as well as people who purchase new computers or the new software. If appropriate courses are available, many of those needing retraining will turn to local schools. Institutions that are ready to teach this new software will experience an influx of students that perhaps will be unprecedented.

2. In the next year, it is predicted that millions of individuals, including students, will purchase personal computers with Vista and usually some version of Office 2007 installed. These students will be enrolling in colleges and universities in August, 2007. Can you expect them to take course work in computer application software that is not equivalent to that which they purchased for personal use before entering college? We think not.

We realize that new software raises the issues of cost and new hardware. We will address those issues in future posts to this blog. But we think the release of Vista and Office 2007 presents a unique opportunity for computer educators and their programs. Are you ready?

With the release of new software, our challenge is to create course materials that will prove both effective and useful to you and your students. A software release as important as Office 2007 mandates that we refine our approach to teaching software, always with the goal of engaging the student, increasing student retention, and preparing the student for success in using the software.

We have made some significant advances in our teaching materials for Office 2007. In future posts, we will share with you our thinking and reasons for these innovations, and, of course, the new changes as well. Who knows, you might even get some inside information. Stay tuned!

 
Gary & Tom

We’ve got a lot of exciting stories about the development of our Office 2007 products to share with you on this blog over the next few months. But if you want to know the inside scoop on the new features of Office 2007 and how they were developed, consider adding some other blogs to your reading list. Several Microsoft software developers kept blogs throughout the development of Office 2007, where they posted interesting anecdotes and information about the development of the new software in real time.

Course Technology’s favorite Microsoft blogger, Jensen Harris, works on developing the UI (user interface) framework for the new release of Office.  His blog entries provide expert information and explanations of the new software features and include numerous screen shots so you can get a sneak preview of changes to the software as they are made in development!

Harris has a talent for describing even minute changes in the user interface in a way that is completely riveting. Check out his blog (linked below) to see the user interface features for each of the applications, close-up shots of the Ribbon, the contextual tabs, the Office button, and more!  Read the comments section after each entry to see feedback and questions from others who are eagerly awaiting the release of Office 2007. 

Even now that the software has been finalized and released to manufacturing, the Microsoft developers continue to update their blogs with additional information about the software. You can also read through the archives of past posts to get a more holistic view of the software, which will help you start thinking about how you’ll teach the new features like the Ribbon to students.

Our favorite Microsoft Developer blogs:

Jensen Harris on the new User Interface:  http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/03/09/547281.aspx

Dave Gainer on Excel 2007:
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/

Will Kennedy on Outlook 2007:
http://blogs.msdn.com/willkennedy/

Erik Rucker on Access 2007:
http://blogs.msdn.com/access/

Joe Friend on Word 2007:
http://blogs.msdn.com/joe_friend/

PowerPoint and OfficeArt Team blog:
http://blogs.msdn.com/powerpoint/

Brain Jones on XML file formats:
http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones/

Have you ever wondered about how we develop courseware for new Office releases? Work on the Illustrated Series books for Microsoft Office 2007 started long before we even had our first glimpse of the software!

We began by sending surveys to all of the instructors using our Microsoft Office 2003 books. The surveys asked questions about almost every aspect of our Office 2003 books, including overall content, individual applications, and End-of-Unit exercises.  We followed up on those survey comments by talking to many instructors individually.  

In addition to the surveys, we formed an Advisory Board of seven enthusiastic instructors using the Illustrated Series, who committed to providing us with great feedback through out the entirety of the intensive development process.

These Advisory Board members met through a series of phone conversations facilitated by Christina Kling-Garrett, Senior Product Manager, and Marjorie Hunt, Senior Acquisitions Editor. The Board provided their input, insight, and thoughts on a variety of topics such as the table of contents, cover design, and interior design, as well as carefully reviewing actual manuscripts.

From the valuable feedback we gained from the Advisory Board and surveys, we were able to implement some great design and content changes in these new books. We look forward to sharing these changes with you in future blog posts.

We are extremely grateful to both the Advisory Board and the participants in our surveys who took the time to help make our books easily useable and highly-effective in teaching students.

We can truly say that instructors like you helped to shape these products!

Everyone knows you can’t wholly judge a book by its cover, but often the cover does say something about the content inside. The New Perspectives Series is all about preparing students to become sophisticated software users, which is why our cover art has traditionally had a cosmopolitan air. For Office XP, our covers feature photographs of beautiful architecture from around the world. We’ve updated this look with Office 2003 by showing photographs of art installations that can be viewed from multiple angles.

Our vision for our Microsoft Office 2007 covers started with the basic idea of a kaleidoscope, and how this simple tool offers a unique way of viewing everyday objects. Similarly, the New Perspectives Series teaches students not only basic software skills, but also gives them the context to understand the methodology behind them.

From this idea, we searched for an artist who could help translate our vision into art.  The images found on the cover of our new books are photographs taken of objects found in nature.

The artist then manipulated the photographs through a series of graphic design techniques, creating awe-inspiring kaleidoscopic images like this one:

Finally, our art director placed these images in a new book cover design that reflects the clear organization and refined approach of the tutorials inside our new Microsoft Office 2007 books.

What do you think of our new cover design? Share your thoughts with us!     

You may have heard about the new features of Microsoft Office 2007, perhaps you even downloaded the beta. Now, Microsoft is offering a couple of ways for you to take the final software for a test drive.

You can download free, 60-day trials of the new Office 2007 suites or applications of your choice from this Microsoft Web page: http://us20.trymicrosoftoffice.com/default.aspx?culture=en-US
After the 60-day trial expires, you’ll be asked to convert to the full product by purchasing a product key.

You can also experience Office 2007 right in your Web browser, without downloading and installing a trial. The online test drive includes tutorials of the new features to get you up to speed. Look here for more information:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101687261033.aspx

Office 2007 will release to the public on January 30, 2007. The software is already available to businesses that purchase it through volume licensing agreements.

Have you taken Office 2007 for a whirl? What are your impressions? Share them with us!

It’s an exciting time to teach Office applications!

The impending release of Microsoft Office 2007 is the most substantial revision the software has undergone since Office 97 when command bars were introduced. The biggest change in Office 2007 is its new user interface, which has been completely overhauled to help us take advantage of more of the software's features. Or, as Microsoft puts it, “work better, faster.”

What does this mean for Office courses? At Course Technology, we’ve been gearing up for the release of Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Vista for well over a year. Our authors and consultants have studied the software to analyze how it will impact the way students learn skills. Our editors have solicited your feedback on what could be improved in the courseware you are currently using. As a result, we’ve made some changes in our Office products that we’re looking forward to sharing with you.

Office 2007’s first impact will be on you, the instructor. The purpose of this blog is to help you make the transition to Office 2007 by giving you all of the information that you need to know to prepare to teach the software. It’s your one-stop shop for the latest software news and information. It’s also a way that you can connect with our authors and development teams and get the inside scoop on details about our new books and SAM.

We’ll be updating this blog two to three times each week, so check back often. You can ask us questions or make comments using the “comments” link below. We’d love to hear from you!

Check back later this week to learn how you can take Office 2007 for a test drive!