January 31, 2013 at 09:34Microsoft SkillPipe e-books for students and trainers
I want to say right away that this post is addressed, first of all, to those who study, study or will study at official Microsoft courses, as well as to Microsoft trainers.
Last year, Microsoft courses began with e-learning tools, although printed materials can be used. It is about electronic textbooks that I would like to tell in more detail - what opportunities they open up for students and trainers.
Using the tutorial begins by registering at skillpipe.courseware-marketplace.com. Registration on the site is free and anyone can register. The registration process is quite standard and comes down to two steps: the first is to enter the mailing address, name, password; the second is the confirmation of the email address.
After authorization on the site, you need to add tutorials. To do this, you need to enter a unique code issued by the training center on the course. After entering the code, you can immediately start reading books directly on the site.
Key features of the book:
It is a standard set for any e-book. However, I would like to separately note the possibility of comments. Students of the group have the opportunity to see the comments of each other and the coach. Of course, the listener himself decides which comment should be made publicly available.
If using a browser is not very convenient for you, you can download and install the SkillPipe application. The link to the program is available on the authorization page. After installation, you also need to log in, but already in the program. It is possible to register the device. Registration allows you to use the SkillPipe program offline. You can register up to three devices at the same time and cancel the registration from the device at any time. In the application, books can be read right away without downloading them, but can be downloaded for offline viewing.
For trainers, Microsoft gives you the opportunity to get one copy of the book in SkillPipe format for free. For this, each trainer is given access to the website shop.courseware-marketplace.com. If it is not, you can contact the regional center of Microsoft.
By logging in to the site, the trainer can “buy” electronic versions of books for SkillPipe at a price of 0 rubles. After the “purchase”, an electronic code of the book arrives in the mail, which can be used to activate it on the site skillpipe.courseware-marketplace.com. For authorization, it is better to use the same username and password as for shop.courseware-marketplace.com.
To ensure that student textbooks are always available during the course, even with Internet problems, you must ask students to use the SkillPipe application and register the device. Of course, at the end of the course, invite students to unregister the device.
Each student can download the textbook to the application on their own, or you can use the opportunity to import books. At management.courseware-marketplace.com, the trainer can download the textbook file in .bdb format. Only books ordered on shop.courseware-marketplace.com will be available .
Further, students in the application need to click the ImportBook button and select the file downloaded by the trainer. However, if the code for this tutorial has not been entered, the book will not be displayed. You can import the file first and then enter the code for the textbook, or you can in the reverse order.
The training center, ordering books for a new group, combines them into classes. Thus, the comments of the listeners are visible to each other. In order for students to be able to see the trainer's comments, the training center employee needs to specify the trainer on management.courseware-marketplace.com . This happens by specifying the e-mail address that the trainer uses to access the site.
The ability to see comments is conveniently used to correct errors in the textbook. The trainer once notes inaccuracy in his SkillPipe, for example, an error in the laboratory steps, and then all groups of students see these corrections.
SkillPipe is far from an ideal electronic reader. There is no support for mobile platforms, a very complex system for registering books, sometimes an inaccessible site. However, this is still better than thick paper books, which were difficult for the training center to deliver, and for students to drag and search for information in them. Let's see what happens with SkillPipe next.
Last year, Microsoft courses began with e-learning tools, although printed materials can be used. It is about electronic textbooks that I would like to tell in more detail - what opportunities they open up for students and trainers.
SkillPipe for listeners
Using the tutorial begins by registering at skillpipe.courseware-marketplace.com. Registration on the site is free and anyone can register. The registration process is quite standard and comes down to two steps: the first is to enter the mailing address, name, password; the second is the confirmation of the email address.
After authorization on the site, you need to add tutorials. To do this, you need to enter a unique code issued by the training center on the course. After entering the code, you can immediately start reading books directly on the site.
Key features of the book:
- Search
- Go to content
- Change display options
- Print option
- Insert comments and notes
It is a standard set for any e-book. However, I would like to separately note the possibility of comments. Students of the group have the opportunity to see the comments of each other and the coach. Of course, the listener himself decides which comment should be made publicly available.
If using a browser is not very convenient for you, you can download and install the SkillPipe application. The link to the program is available on the authorization page. After installation, you also need to log in, but already in the program. It is possible to register the device. Registration allows you to use the SkillPipe program offline. You can register up to three devices at the same time and cancel the registration from the device at any time. In the application, books can be read right away without downloading them, but can be downloaded for offline viewing.
SkillPipe for Trainers
For trainers, Microsoft gives you the opportunity to get one copy of the book in SkillPipe format for free. For this, each trainer is given access to the website shop.courseware-marketplace.com. If it is not, you can contact the regional center of Microsoft.
By logging in to the site, the trainer can “buy” electronic versions of books for SkillPipe at a price of 0 rubles. After the “purchase”, an electronic code of the book arrives in the mail, which can be used to activate it on the site skillpipe.courseware-marketplace.com. For authorization, it is better to use the same username and password as for shop.courseware-marketplace.com.
To ensure that student textbooks are always available during the course, even with Internet problems, you must ask students to use the SkillPipe application and register the device. Of course, at the end of the course, invite students to unregister the device.
Each student can download the textbook to the application on their own, or you can use the opportunity to import books. At management.courseware-marketplace.com, the trainer can download the textbook file in .bdb format. Only books ordered on shop.courseware-marketplace.com will be available .
Further, students in the application need to click the ImportBook button and select the file downloaded by the trainer. However, if the code for this tutorial has not been entered, the book will not be displayed. You can import the file first and then enter the code for the textbook, or you can in the reverse order.
The training center, ordering books for a new group, combines them into classes. Thus, the comments of the listeners are visible to each other. In order for students to be able to see the trainer's comments, the training center employee needs to specify the trainer on management.courseware-marketplace.com . This happens by specifying the e-mail address that the trainer uses to access the site.
The ability to see comments is conveniently used to correct errors in the textbook. The trainer once notes inaccuracy in his SkillPipe, for example, an error in the laboratory steps, and then all groups of students see these corrections.
Instead of a conclusion
SkillPipe is far from an ideal electronic reader. There is no support for mobile platforms, a very complex system for registering books, sometimes an inaccessible site. However, this is still better than thick paper books, which were difficult for the training center to deliver, and for students to drag and search for information in them. Let's see what happens with SkillPipe next.