Microsoft Malta, through its Microsoft Innovation Centre last week launched its 21st Century Classroom project. This project, an investment by Microsoft of around €50,000, will kick off in the next scholastic year and will visit 1,500 students in 10 state, church and independent schools, giving the students the opportunity to experience Microsoft's latest technologies namely the use of virtual reality in the class.
Following the project in schools, the 21st Century classroom will be permanently set up at the Microsoft Innovation Centre where more schools and students will have the opportunity to experience the use of technology in today's education processes.
Microsoft's 21st Century classroom project was launched at St Benedict's College in Kirkop where it has been piloted for the past weeks.
"We have been testing this project at St Benedict's College with the constant guidance and assistance from our Microsoft Education Transformation Framework and the collaborative effort between the ST Benedict's College, the Education Ministry and Microsoft," explains Kevin Schembri, senior Account executive at Microsoft.
"For the aims of this project, we have been working to weave Microsoft's solutions and technologies into the teaching process so to understand better how our resources can boost and make the teaching and learning experiences more effective," Schembri added.
Mary Downing, Business Development manager of the Microsoft Innovation Centre, who is overseeing the whole project added "watching this very important education collaboration coming to fruition is not only rewarding for us at Microsoft but confirms the very important role that the Malta MIC is having in shaping and supporting Malta's education sector. One of the aims of Microsoft's Innovation Centres is to position itself as a catalyst for ecosystem development when it comes to education."
Downing added "it is more important than ever before to give teachers, educators and students the technology that can help them self-direct their learning experience a little bit more. A case in point is our suite of Microsoft Learning Tools which today have around ten million users around the world which have been proven to improve reading levels by up to 10%. More importantly, technology is helping teachers create an all-inclusive learning environment for all students. In fact, it is Microsoft's commitment to help teachers create a Universal Design for Learning environment".
Universal Design for Learning is a set of scientifically proven principles that guide the development of flexible learning environments that accommodate individual learning differences and give all students equal opportunities to learn.
To date, the Microsoft Innovation Centre in Malta has hosted around 900 workshops and training courses for over 12,000 students, teachers and professionals. Microsoft's investment in the MIC over the past four years has been of over €3m. In 2016, the Malta MIC was handpicked by Microsoft's MIC Programme to benefit from an interactive Innovation Pilot Workshop for 200 students in partnership with Microsoft's Learning Experience Team. This initiative sought to empower young people to help them build a bridge to the future they want to create.