Never mind budget, imagination is all you need!

Which lessons do you remember from your time at school? How about the one where you made a rocket out of a plastic bottle? Or the one where you used crayons and paper to reveal the patterns on tree bark? What about the one where you walked along your local river, measuring pebbles for erosion as you went?

It seems it’s the lessons that championed creativity that have stuck with us. So, who do we have to thank for these lasting memories? Teachers, of course. We all knew one who could craft inspiring lesson plans out of just a few, simple objects. And, these days, we might work with a teacher like that, or even be one ourselves.

Which is great, because today’s educators are forced to make more from less, every single day. Especially when faced with shrinking budgets. In a recent article on the funding crisis, the BBC reported that many schools are cutting posts and increasing class sizes. That means many teachers have even less to work with than in previous years. Making creativity more important than ever.

But why stop at bottles and crayons and pebbles, when you can apply the same approach to digital learning? You may not typically associate Microsoft laptops with low costs but, with our new range of affordable classroom tech, you can get more than you imagined for less than you thought.

Ed tech plays such an important part in preparing children for the workplace of tomorrow, so the question is: how can you spark students’ imaginations while they learn with digital tools?

Exploring mixed reality

After your students have turned those bottles into rockets, how about inviting them to add their creations to the solar system? Students can easily experiment with holograms with Windows Mixed Reality. It lets them anchor content to the real world or even create their own virtual spaces . Think of it as a happy medium between virtual and augmented reality. Because you don’t need to wear a headset to use it, lots of students can share the experience at the same time.

Designing in 3D

Whether your students are budding artists or want to sketch out some shapes for maths, they can create in every dimension with Paint 3D. Imagine spending a summer morning creating bark rubbings in your local park, and then heading back to the classroom to create 3D models of different types of trees. Whatever lesson you use Paint 3D for, you’ll be inspiring the next generation of designers.

Presenting in 3D

Creating presentations is an important skill that all senior school and college students must develop. That’s why we’ve recently updated PowerPoint with 3D capabilities. Your students can now add 3D objects and animations to their presentations, giving them greater scope to get creative and show off their ideas. Imagine how this could transform, say, your students’ geography coursework. That exercise on riverbed erosion could really spring to life. What’s more, these new tools will make your own classroom presentations pop too – whatever age group you’re teaching.

All these programs are available with Windows 10 in S mode across a range of affordable devices. From the lightweight HP Stream 11, to the flexible Asus VivoBook, to the versatile HP Probook 11 X360, and the durable Acer Travelmate Spin B118  – there’s something for every age group. And each one of them is easy to use and will help your students learn to work together. Find out more with our handy device guides.

Of course, we’ve got security covered too. With a recent survey of 1,325 UK ICT leaders finding that around half of teachers need training in e-safety issues, you’d be forgiven for worrying about the likes of data protection. But you needn’t fret – we’ve made sure that each one of our laptops is GDPR-ready.

Best of all, perhaps, is the fact that our laptops are highly affordable, with prices starting from just £249. Which means that you can keep motivating students in the face of minuscule budgets. And keep sparking their imaginations, for less than you may have thought.

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About the author

I work as a Microsoft Learning Consultant in the UK. With an education background, I understand the demand of integrating technology in the classroom to empower students to achieve more. Working for Microsoft Education provides me with the platform to have a high-quality impact on a global scale. I am passionate about equipping students with the best tools for an immersive learning experience and outcome.