More than 70 teachers from across Europe recently convened in Estonia to share ideas, methods and tools that can help educators stay ahead in societies increasingly shaped by new technology.
Now in its third year, Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum in Europe was held in Tallinn. This event is the largest meeting of European teachers who have integrated information technology into teaching and learning processes.
Malta was represented by Joseph Vella, Godwin Zammit and Emmanuel Zammit from the Education Division and Joanna Azzopardi from the Industry, Investment and Information Technology Ministry.
“The forum was a valuable activity and a fabulous opportunity for us on a number of different levels. It was obvious that the innovative teachers have embarked on the constructivist approach to learning,” the Maltese representatives said.
Pierre Mallia, the country manager of Microsoft Malta, said that this year’s forum not only focused on enhanced e-learning and the setting of a future classroom, but also addressed the 21st century labour needs of various industries and what teachers can do to better meet them.
“We are honoured to have invited Europe’s most innovative, technology-savvy teachers to Estonia. It is our hope that these two days have led to fresh ideas that can enrich and broaden the learning experience in classrooms all over Europe,” Rain Laane, the country manager of Microsoft Estonia said.
“One usually thinks of innovation and development in terms of research institutions and other narrow segments of society,” said Mailis Reps, Estonia’s Education and Research Minister.
“But every single person can find new and better ways of doing things, if they put their mind to it. Teachers play an important role in helping achieve that. Microsoft is worthy of thanks for providing innovative teachers the experience and opportunities for this.”
The Innovative Teachers Forum featured presentations on recent education-related research in Europe and provided opportunities for networking and sharing best practices. The event concluded with the Innovative Teacher 2006 Awards given to six teachers who presented the most exceptional cases of innovation in the classroom.
The cases were evaluated by an international, independent group of experts from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, the St Patrick’s teaching college in Ireland, the Educational Portal of the Greece Ministry of Education, the Pedagogical Academy in Cracow and Wroclaw University in Poland, as well as education programme managers from Microsoft, and others.
The forum is an element of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning, a worldwide initiative aimed at supporting interdisciplinary work in secondary education and beyond. The goal of the event is to enhance student learning through teacher development and leadership.
As part of the initiative, Microsoft collaborates with local and international experts in curriculum development and teacher training, and seeks to increase access to latest computer technologies in educational institutions.
Previous Innovative Teacher Forums were held in Stockholm (2005) and London (2004). Two years combined, close to 200 teachers have attended the forum to exchange their vision and experience on how technology can benefit teaching and learning processes.