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The
Innovative Teachers are back from Vietnam and ready to broaden
their horizons
The ‘Fourth Regional Innovative Teachers Conference’
held at the Sheraton Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam from the 8th-10th
of April, 2008, recognized the creative and innovative work
of more than 150 teachers and 100 senior Government and education
officials, from at least 22 countries around the world. This
time too, three of our very own teachers Mr. T. Nimalan, Mr.
S.D. Tennakoon and Ms. Vajirani Samarakoon who won three different
categories at the National Competition held in February this
year, got the opportunity to attend and share in this experience
of a lifetime.
All the teachers in attendance at the conference were winners
at their respective national competitions, where selections
were based on their work and efforts in the pursuit of raising
the bar on education standards through the use of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT).
Organised by Microsoft in partnership with UNESCO, this global
conference acknowledges the often challenging work conducted
by teachers who strive towards taking education to a higher
level, via the use of ICT, and to inspire other educators
to follow suit. The conference, in keeping with this year’s
theme, ‘ICT for ESD (Education for Sustainable Development):
Seeing farther, thinking deeper’, created a platform
for the advancement of best practices and adoption of innovation.
The ‘Innovative Teachers Program’ has two primary
offerings for educators – the ‘Innovative Teachers
Forums’ and the ‘Innovative Teachers Network.’
The Forums are Annual events that recognize and reward innovative
teachers who practice the elements of 21st century learning
in their classrooms and then incorporate these skills into
the student learning environment. Whereas, the Network is
a worldwide network of portals, local in their implementation,
but global in their reach and scope that allow educators to
share successful methodology and protocols from their own
learning and practice.
Each teacher had to prepare a poster presentation showcasing
their winning projects and present them to a panel of judges
essentially comprising Senior Government Officials from across
the globe. Mr. Anura Dissanayake, Project Director, Secondary
Education Modernization Project II (SEMP II) of the Ministry
of Education in Sri Lanka, was also on the panel of judges.
A country winner too was adjudged through this process and
Mr. T. Nimalan, from the Nilaweli Maha Vidyalaya, Trincomalee
was presented with the Sri Lanka Country Prize for the ‘Most
Innovative Teacher’ at the event.
All the teachers in attendance were also expected to participate
in a cross group, multi-country collaboration project, which
involved a few specific site visits followed by project work
based on this years’ assigned theme. Throughout the conference
the teachers were exposed to teaching methods and material
from other countries and had ample opportunity to interact
with their peers. In addition there was a one day field trip,
poster sessions where the teachers shared their innovative
teaching practices whilst competing for recognition as the
“Innovative Teacher of the Year” award. There was
also special collaboration projects where teachers from different
countries joined together to develop specific teaching/learning
material based on their field trips. The event came to a close
on a high note, with a gala dinner and the awards ceremony.
Ms. Vajirani Samarakoon, from the Wattegama Central College,
Wattegama, who was the winner of the National Competition
this year said, “This conference encouraged me to further develop
and fine tune my innovative skills, as it gave me the opportunity
to engage in a range of varied teaching related activities
and I was able to interact with teachers from different countries and
share their experiences. This programme was truly an eye opener
as it made me realize just how effectively we could utilize
‘E-Learning’ in our teaching. I would like
to offer my sincere gratitude to Microsoft Sri Lanka
and the Secondary Education Modernization Project (SEMP) of
the Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka, for giving me this opportunity,
which will better equip me to benefit my poor students.”
Mr. T. Nimalan from the Nilaweli Maha Vidyalaya Central College,
Trincomalee said “Having won second place at the national
competition and the Country Prize for the ‘Most Innovative
Teacher’ at the Regional Conference held in Vietnam last
month,
I
was able to share my experiences with more than 150 teachers
from across 22 countries. Furthermore, I was able to gain
much knowledge on more diverse and innovative teaching techniques
using ICT tools and build a network with other teachers from
the region, so that we can continue to share our knowledge
and experiences in future as well. For all this, I am most
grateful to Microsoft and the Ministry of Education.”
“Being adjudged Second runner-up at the national competition,
I gained both a wealth of knowledge and experience via this
programme, for instance, exposure to different teaching methods,
how best to create attractive and effective lesson plans,
numerous teaching aids, and knowledge sharing. I would like
to show appreciation to Microsoft and the Ministry of Education
in Sri Lanka, for creating such an opportunity for teachers
like us,” was what Mr. S.D. Tennakoon from Siri Mihindu
MV, Radawadunna had to say.
“The Innovative Teachers competition has been a magnificent
success in Sri Lanka – it has enabled us to discover
how truly talented and creative the teachers here can be –
and has provided an opportunity for us to recognize teachers,
especially from the outstations who have gone that extra mile
to make their student’s learning experience more fascinating.
Participation at an event such as the Microsoft Innovative
Teachers Summit is a boost for the teaching community and
an encouragement for more teachers to come forward and display
their creativity in the classroom.” said Public Lead
- Microsoft Sri Lanka, Mr. Premil De Silva. “IT literacy
is of utmost importance in modern education and we recognize
that the challenge before teachers - to prepare students to
succeed in an unknown future - is a daunting one. We see ICT
as a vital tool in the sustainable development of education
in countries such as Sri Lanka – by bringing IT into
the classroom, teachers can ensure greater quality and efficiency
of teaching while also making huge gains in bridging the digital
divide. We are indeed happy to be able to provide these opportunities
to the teachers of the country as part of our efforts to promote
ICT in Sri Lanka. The Innovative Teachers competition has
shown us that Sri Lanka’s teachers are ready for that
challenge – all they need is opportunities such as events
like this to learn and share success stories with their peers
worldwide. It is through programmes such as these that teachers
can challenge themselves to take their use of technology to
the next level.”
Mr. Anura Dissanayake, Project Director, Secondary Education
Modernization Project II (SEMP II) of the Ministry of Education
in Sri Lanka stated that “Education provides teachers
and students with frameworks and methods that help them integrate
new information, new skills and new approaches to navigate
complex relationships within information. As technology and
software use evolves into a capability for expressions rather
than a set of skills, educators can devote more time to cultivating
the aptitudes young people will need in a more globally interconnected
and information intensive world. I truly believe that Innovative
Teachers Competition is actively help building those skills
which Sri Lankan teachers require in achieving above.”
The Innovative Teachers Competition is designed to encourage
teachers to optimize the software and ICT facilities given
to their schools by utilizing ICT in the classroom as a tool
of teaching. The objective of the competition is to jumpstart
the use of ICT in schools, so that children become aware of
the potential of IT from a very young age. The long term goals
of projects such as these is to put in place the infrastructure
and mindset required to propel countries like Sri Lanka into
the digital age, by creating an ICT-ready population. The
project would effectively contribute towards the Education
Ministry’s goal to improve the present Sri Lankan information
communication literacy rate of 10% to 50% within the next
two years, but also enables Microsoft to touch more lives
in a positive and proactive manner, thus striving towards
their goal to touch 1 million lives by the year 2010.
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