I don’t often speak highly of Microsoft, but they do occasionally manage to do some neat things. A long time ago, they produced the Microsoft Office Classroom Tools. This pathetically publicized collection of templates and resources helped students and teachers use the Office 97 and 2000 tools for student and teacher centered activities.

They’ve updated the products for Office XP and 2003 with Learning Essentials. According to the marketing-speak, "Learning Essentials includes curriculum-based templates and toolbars for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, plus academic tutorials from leading education publishers. Learning Essentials helps students get started, stay organized, and successfully complete high-quality assignments. And for educators, Learning Essentials can help them easily create effective instructional resources, complete administrative tasks, and implement new teaching strategies."