In an effort to promote technology education and community outreach efforts among students, Microsoft and Acer together with the help of Selangor Education Department have recently launched a program called “I’m Inspired”. The three months program will be taking place at SMK Taman Klang Utama and will see students from the school going through various activities that are aimed to allow them to engage with the community and spark their creativity through technology.
“At Microsoft, we believe that education is the chief vehicle to drive human capital development in the country. We have made it our passion, through our programmes and engagements within the classrooms of primary-level educations, all the way until students graduate from colleges and universities, to realise the collective goal of building a knowledge-based economy in Malaysia,” - Vijay Bala, Chief Financial Officer, Microsoft Malaysia.
“Through this program with Microsoft, we hope to be able to translate Acer’s corporate spirit of innovation and care into action for students and the underprivileged in Malaysia as we seek to bridge the gap and break the barriers between people and technology,” – Ricky Tan, General Manager, Acer Sales & Services Sdn. Bhd.
The I’m Inspired program itself is divided into three stages. In the first stage which is called Microsoft Charity Day, Acer will refurbish computers from their trade-in promotion - on-going right now - with operating system and productivity software donated by Microsoft. These computers will then be donated to the St. Nicholas Home in Penang, the Grace Community Home in Klang and the Fugee School in Gombak. In addition to that, selected students from SMK Taman Klang Utama will be trained to help setup computer labs at these institutions.
Moving on, Microsoft and Acer will also be visiting SMK Taman Klang Utama in the second stage of the program which is called the Microsoft Technology Workshop. Over there, both companies will be showcasing their latest technologies and interact with student through workshops and also competitions. In conjunction with that, Acer will also be donating 20 new netbooks for the school usage.
To wrap everything up, Microsoft and Acer’s employees and partners, together with SMK Taman Klang Utama’s student ambassadors will be hiking all the way to the top of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah for the final phase of the I’m Inspired program which is called Microsoft Extreme Challenge. Throughout this stage, the convoy will be using Windows Movie Maker to document their journey while staying connected through Windows Phone and Windows Live to share their updates online.
As an extension to the first ever I’m Inspired program, Microsoft has also launched an nationwide essay writing contest that is open to all students in between the age of 13 to 18 years old. Eighteen Acer Aspire One netbooks are up for grabs in this contest which will end on 7th April 2011. To participate, visit either Office 2010 Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/eD5z5U) or Windows 7 Facebook page (http://on.fb.me/h2ryC9) for further information.
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