REDMOND, Wash., April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bing in the
Classroom — a free program that provides ad-free, safer, more
private search in schools — exited the pilot stage on Wednesday and
is now open to all eligible K–12 schools in the U.S. The program,
formerly known as Bing for Schools, launched in pilot earlier this
year in five of the largest U.S. public school districts. It has
grown to include hundreds of districts covering over 4.5 million
kids in more than 5,000 schools, serving over 35 million ad-free
queries so far this school year. Bing is the only major search
engine to offer schools in the U.S. an ad-free search experience on
their networks.*
In addition to ad-free search, Bing in the Classroom sets strict
filters to help block adult content, prevents student searches from
being used for ad targeting and adds specialized learning features
to promote digital literacy in the classroom. Microsoft estimates
that over 15 billion search ads are being served to students every
year while in school, exposing them to marketing messages for
everything from for-profit online degree programs to fast food.
"We created Bing in the Classroom because we believe students
deserve a search environment tailored for learning. Classrooms
should be ad-free, and that should be as true online as it is
offline," said Matt Wallaert,
creator of Bing in the Classroom, Microsoft.
Educators from across the country agree the program is enhancing
the classroom environment and improving children's abilities to
learn digital literacy skills.
"I teach kindergarten through fifth-grade media classes, and as
soon as I started using Bing in the Classroom, I noticed my kids
being more attentive and focused in class. We all know
advertisements can be distracting, and with Bing in the Classroom I
don't have to worry about inappropriate content getting in the way
of the lesson plan or students' research," said Lynda Shipley, media specialist, Bremerton School District in Washington.
To enhance children's experience with technology in schools,
Bing in the Classroom includes the following elements:
- Ad-free and safer search. Upon activating Bing in the
Classroom, Bing searches from within the school network will have
three key enhancements:
- Removal of all advertisements from Bing search results
- Automatic strict filtering to help block adult content
- Disabling the use of student searches for targeted
advertising
The service is offered completely free of charge and takes only a
few minutes for an administrator to sign up. Parents can see
whether a school is covered at
http://www.bing.com/classroom/findyourschool.
- Earn Bing Rewards credits for schools. You can help the
school of your choice earn credits toward Bing Rewards just by
searching with Bing from your home or mobile device. Bing Rewards
allows you to choose a school to support and will aggregate the
credits for everyone supporting that school. When 30,000 credits
are accrued through Bing Rewards, Bing will send a Microsoft
Surface tablet with Type Cover directly to the school. The more
people search, the more credits they earn for their schools. About
60 regular Bing Rewards users can earn a Surface in a month for a
school, with no limit on the number of tablets a school can earn.
Another way you can show your support for #adfreesearch zone in
schools is to go to http://www.bing.com/classroom/showsupport, join
the social movement and share with your friends. More about Bing in
the Classroom and how to get involved can be found at
http://www.bing.com/classroom.
- Daily lesson plans based on the Bing daily homepage
image. Bing is well-known for having a big, beautiful homepage
image that changes daily and inspires visitors to explore their
world. Bing in the Classroom makes it easier to incorporate digital
literacy into schools by offering three learning activities every
school day. The activities are free and use the Bing homepage image
of the day to pose a question that cannot be solved by a simple
search, encouraging kids to use critical thinking alongside search
to grow their curiosity. In addition to being linked from the
homepage image, Bing keeps a growing archive of the lessons on the
Microsoft Educator Network.
To celebrate Wednesday's launch of Bing in the Classroom, NBC
Correspondent Jenna Bush Hager is partnering with Bing to visit
participating school PS 205 Clarion in Brooklyn, New York, for a dialogue on the
importance of digital literacy in the classroom. More information
about the initiative can be found at
http://www.bing.com/classroom.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide
leader in software, services and solutions that help people and
businesses realize their full potential.
* Program excludes Bing Apps.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.