María Comín
Tech Executive
Directora Educación Preuniversitaria
Microsoft Iberica
Europe | Spain
Technology and education expert with 25 years of experience.
I am passionate about education and technology, and I am committed to educational transformation and supporting teachers and students. I have worked leading teams with managers under my responsibility and I have developed different mentoring and coaching projects. Member of the Women Leaders in Education association.
Founder and leader of the Disability Employee Resource Group within Microsoft, I contribute to raising visibility and awareness about disability within companies and empowering people with disabilities to access the labor market. My training and first part of my career is mainly oriented to the economic-financial area. I started working at one of the Big5 audit firms and, after several years working in different financial roles, I ended up in the technology sector as Director of Finance and Operations at EMC. In 2015 I made the leap to Microsoft, a company where I have been for almost 10 years and where I have been able to combine my two great passions: education and technology.
Within Microsoft I have been fortunate to cover financial positions and move to the educational field. Initially I held the position of Learning Solution Specialist, where I was able to connect with the Microsoft educational community. During this time, I led the Microsoft Innovator Educator Expert teams, as well as the Microsoft and Showcase School certification programs. During the COVID year I held the position of Solution Specialist at Modern Workplace, participating in large Office 365 deployments for education departments in Autonomous Communities such as Madrid and Castilla la Mancha. In addition, I participated in more than 200 free trainings and webinars, providing teachers with the necessary tools to be able to keep up with the pace of classes in confinement. Since 2021, I have held the position of Director of Pre-College Education at Microsoft, where I help educational institutions accelerate educational transformation, providing support to teachers and students to reach their full potential.
Impact on the deployment of Office 365 solutions, evangelization of inclusive tools that promote UDL, educational application of AI solutions integrated into Microsoft, dissemination of certification programs and preparation of students for their professional future.
I am passionate about education and technology, and I am committed to educational transformation and supporting teachers and students. I have worked leading teams with managers under my responsibility and I have developed different mentoring and coaching projects. Member of the Women Leaders in Education association.
Founder and leader of the Disability Employee Resource Group within Microsoft, I contribute to raising visibility and awareness about disability within companies and empowering people with disabilities to access the labor market. My training and first part of my career is mainly oriented to the economic-financial area. I started working at one of the Big5 audit firms and, after several years working in different financial roles, I ended up in the technology sector as Director of Finance and Operations at EMC. In 2015 I made the leap to Microsoft, a company where I have been for almost 10 years and where I have been able to combine my two great passions: education and technology.
Within Microsoft I have been fortunate to cover financial positions and move to the educational field. Initially I held the position of Learning Solution Specialist, where I was able to connect with the Microsoft educational community. During this time, I led the Microsoft Innovator Educator Expert teams, as well as the Microsoft and Showcase School certification programs. During the COVID year I held the position of Solution Specialist at Modern Workplace, participating in large Office 365 deployments for education departments in Autonomous Communities such as Madrid and Castilla la Mancha. In addition, I participated in more than 200 free trainings and webinars, providing teachers with the necessary tools to be able to keep up with the pace of classes in confinement. Since 2021, I have held the position of Director of Pre-College Education at Microsoft, where I help educational institutions accelerate educational transformation, providing support to teachers and students to reach their full potential.
Impact on the deployment of Office 365 solutions, evangelization of inclusive tools that promote UDL, educational application of AI solutions integrated into Microsoft, dissemination of certification programs and preparation of students for their professional future.
About innovation and new technologies
Working from the Education area at Microsoft, the use of AI tools has become very common, both in my daily work and in the demos made to educational institutions with Microsoft tools.
Some of the tools used and that I show to the centers are the following:
- Microsoft Copilot with data protection.
Microsoft Copilot is a tool based on artificial intelligence that allows you to generate code from natural language descriptions or from comments and suggestions. This tool respects the privacy of business data as it does not store or share the generated code with anyone other than the user. Microsoft Copilot can be very useful in the educational field, as it can help teachers create new materials, adapt them to the needs of each student or personalize them according to their levels and motivations, as well as reduce class preparation times.
- Copilot for Microsoft 365
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an extension of Microsoft Copilot that allows you to generate code in different languages and applications of the productivity suite. This extension can facilitate the collaborative and creative work of teachers and students, as they can create documents, presentations, spreadsheets or forms with personalized code adapted to their needs.
- AI-based accessibility tools:
AI-based accessibility tools can improve the learning experience for students with reading, writing, hearing or vision issues by offering text-to-speech, speech-to-text, contrast enhancement, subtitles or translation options. Some examples are the following:
o Immersive Reader Digital Learning Tools, Immersive Reader | Microsoft Education
o Windows 11 Narrator Windows 11 Accessibility Features | Microsoft
o Subtitles in PowerPoint and Online Powerpoint Presentations - Present automatic captions or real-time subtitles in PowerPoint - Microsoft Support
- Learning accelerators within Microsoft Teams for Education:
Learning Accelerators: tools for students | Microsoft Education
o Coach and Reading Progress
o Trainer and Search Progress
o Speaking Coach and Progress
o Math progress
o Conclusions
See detail in attached link.
Some of the tools used and that I show to the centers are the following:
- Microsoft Copilot with data protection.
Microsoft Copilot is a tool based on artificial intelligence that allows you to generate code from natural language descriptions or from comments and suggestions. This tool respects the privacy of business data as it does not store or share the generated code with anyone other than the user. Microsoft Copilot can be very useful in the educational field, as it can help teachers create new materials, adapt them to the needs of each student or personalize them according to their levels and motivations, as well as reduce class preparation times.
- Copilot for Microsoft 365
Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an extension of Microsoft Copilot that allows you to generate code in different languages and applications of the productivity suite. This extension can facilitate the collaborative and creative work of teachers and students, as they can create documents, presentations, spreadsheets or forms with personalized code adapted to their needs.
- AI-based accessibility tools:
AI-based accessibility tools can improve the learning experience for students with reading, writing, hearing or vision issues by offering text-to-speech, speech-to-text, contrast enhancement, subtitles or translation options. Some examples are the following:
o Immersive Reader Digital Learning Tools, Immersive Reader | Microsoft Education
o Windows 11 Narrator Windows 11 Accessibility Features | Microsoft
o Subtitles in PowerPoint and Online Powerpoint Presentations - Present automatic captions or real-time subtitles in PowerPoint - Microsoft Support
- Learning accelerators within Microsoft Teams for Education:
Learning Accelerators: tools for students | Microsoft Education
o Coach and Reading Progress
o Trainer and Search Progress
o Speaking Coach and Progress
o Math progress
o Conclusions
See detail in attached link.
About diversity and inclusion promotion
Founder and leader of the Disability Employee Resource Group within Microsoft, I contribute to raising visibility and awareness about disability within companies and empowering people with disabilities to access the labor market.
The mission of this group is the following:
- Improve our understanding, awareness and empathy towards the community of people with disabilities
- Help employees with disabilities feel valued, respected and included
- Help our organization attract and retain diverse employees by hiring people with disabilities
And some of the key initiatives of this ERG are:
- Help disabled employees obtain their disability certificate
- Raise awareness among employees with disabilities of the existing adaptations they can choose from in the work environment
- Make the office more accessible for people with disabilities
- Organize activities to help the community empathize and understand the experiences of people with disabilities
Some of the actions developed have been participation in diversity forums with other companies, developing mentoring programs for students with disabilities, organizing outings to inclusive spaces or making visible people without disabilities who have developed projects related to them.
I am a person who defends inclusion and diversity internally and externally, participating in different round tables and presentations aimed at the educational community:
- Diversity at Globant | Diversity and disability in first person: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/violeta-gibaja-gomez-crespo-%F0%9F%8C%88-36a27939_diversityatglobant-weareglobant-thepowerofglobers-activity-7105598120561926144-Ib8M?utm_source= share&utm_medium=member_desktop
- Murcia Region Inclusive Digital Education Congress (Feb 2023)
María Comín: «We have to prepare students so that they are capable of developing the jobs of 2030» | La Verdad
See articles and presentations related to the impact of technology on education, how to empower students and promote their digital competence and employability in the attached link.
The mission of this group is the following:
- Improve our understanding, awareness and empathy towards the community of people with disabilities
- Help employees with disabilities feel valued, respected and included
- Help our organization attract and retain diverse employees by hiring people with disabilities
And some of the key initiatives of this ERG are:
- Help disabled employees obtain their disability certificate
- Raise awareness among employees with disabilities of the existing adaptations they can choose from in the work environment
- Make the office more accessible for people with disabilities
- Organize activities to help the community empathize and understand the experiences of people with disabilities
Some of the actions developed have been participation in diversity forums with other companies, developing mentoring programs for students with disabilities, organizing outings to inclusive spaces or making visible people without disabilities who have developed projects related to them.
I am a person who defends inclusion and diversity internally and externally, participating in different round tables and presentations aimed at the educational community:
- Diversity at Globant | Diversity and disability in first person: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/violeta-gibaja-gomez-crespo-%F0%9F%8C%88-36a27939_diversityatglobant-weareglobant-thepowerofglobers-activity-7105598120561926144-Ib8M?utm_source= share&utm_medium=member_desktop
- Murcia Region Inclusive Digital Education Congress (Feb 2023)
María Comín: «We have to prepare students so that they are capable of developing the jobs of 2030» | La Verdad
See articles and presentations related to the impact of technology on education, how to empower students and promote their digital competence and employability in the attached link.