Also of note, the PC features a spill-proof keyboard (whew) and an LED light that indicates when the PC is networked, so the teacher can see it from a distance with ease. The PC also includes a Wi-Fi certified WLAN modem and a dial-up one for students in a remote areas where there isn’t Wi-Fi available.

The device weighs 3.19 lbs, has a 10.1” screen and is cased in a plastic shell that has a built-in handle for portability. Inside, there’s  a 1.66GHz single-core Atom N455 processor, 1GB of RAM and the choice of either a 160GB hard disk or 16GB solid-state drive (SSD).

Moodle is also known for its extendible architecture which supports third-party plugins. That’s where the new Live Services plugin fits in. With the plugin, Live@Edu services like Outlook Live, Calendar, Bing, Live Alerts, and Windows Live Messenger can all be integrated right into the Moodle framework.

After working with educators to determine their needs, the Live@Edu team realized the administration of the various services needed to be easy enough for anyone to use even if they weren’t technically savvy. They also realized that their work should be made as easily available as possible so they released the plugin under the GPLv2 license.

Once installed, teachers and students can log into Moodle sites with their Windows Live IDs, so basically it’s a single sign-on solution. It also allows teachers to send alerts to their students via email, mobile phones, or both. The teachers especially liked the mobile alerts option since so many of today’s students are heavy users of their mobile phones, reports the Education Labs blog.

In conjunction with the plugin, the Live@Edu team also launched www.educationlabs.com, a community-oriented website as a home for their projects.

Any school can use the Live@Edu service, which provides students with secure 10 GB email account hosted in Exchange and accessed via Outlook Live, online file management in Office Live, Windows Live Messenger, 25 GB of cloud storage in SkyDrive, and more. For more info on Live@edu, visit my.liveatedu.com.

To see a live demo of the new Moodle plugin, check out this video on Channel 9.

The Eduify service also addresses the need for students to have tools that more accurately reflect their modern, online lifestyles. In Eduify, for example, students can pull in online research from around the web and then prepare their paper in a web-based workspace that’s accessible from a computer or mobile phone.  There are some great features in Eduify, too,  like its ability to automatically create a bibliography. Later on, the company will add a paid document editing/proofreading service as well. Even further down the road, there are plans to integrate Windows Live Messenger and Live Mesh technologies in the service.

At the moment, Eduify is in beta, which makes sense as Windows Azure itself is still a CTP (Community Technical Preview). The company gained access to the Azure Platform after joining the Microsoft BizSpark program, a program which aims to help startups get off the ground by providing them with free tools and services for a set period of time. This allows them the breathing room they need to build a scalable and sustainable business without having to worry about those traditional startup costs.

Anyone interested in participating in the beta can sign up for an invite here from the Eduify homepage.

The first application he demonstrates is one that lets you play with letters on the screen of the Surface computer. The individual letter tiles can be moved around to form words. A variation of the app includes numbers, which could be used to create equations.

A second application designed for older students involves building an electric circuit by dragging pieces around on the screen. Using tools which can be dragged out from the toolbox provided, you have to build a circuit that lights up a lightbulb. I remember having to do this in science class ages ago, but it looks a lot more fun on the Microsoft Surface!

A third activity for chemistry students lets you build a molecule on the screen by combining elements and/or changing the number of subatomic particles they have associated with them.

Why middle school? According to Ken Perlin, an NYU professor of computer science, in middle school many students “become discouraged or uninterested and pour their time at home into gaming. We think gaming is our starting point to draw them into math, science, and technology-based programs.”

The research study will be called the “Games for Learning Institute.” The budget is $3 million. Microsoft will be paying half with the universities chipping in for the other portion. The study hopes to discover what makes games compelling and playable and what elements make them effective for learning…that is, even they are effective for learning. The games used in testing will be deployed along with curricula to 19 NYC area schools where results in the classroom will be tracked. (via Wired Campus)