I really have been “up to my eyes” since the beginning of the New Year-so that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. There’s been a huge amount of activity from both sides of my job remit (Business and Programmes). I thought I would start to lay out what’s been happening and what’s ahead. There has also been numerous meetings with the Universities and FE Colleges.

With Northgate Managed Services being awarded the preferred bidder for the new Education Network NI (ENNI) for Classroom 2000 (C2k), that has been keeping me very busy to make sure this happens in a timely and effective manner from a customer (C2k), partner (Northgate) and Microsoft perspective. This will surely be a game-changer for schools, teachers and students in the coming months and years. There will be a lot more information coming out in the weeks and months ahead, so make sure you keep me bookmarked.

For the 5th year running Microsoft Ireland participated in the Safer Internet Day (SID) 2012 on February 6th and 7th. Over 100 Microsoft volunteers visited 162 Primary schools (N+S) and delivered internet safety training to almost 17,000 students and 1000 teachers. Once again in the North, we partnered with the Police Service of NI (PSNI) and visited 42 Primary schools and met with over 3000 students.

There are 2 immediate events taking place from the Partners in Learning  programme side of things. First and foremost we’ll be heading off to Lisbon in March (18th-23rd) for this year’s Partners in Learning Forum for Innovative Educators. Representing Northern Ireland will be David Young from Limavady HS and Ireland will be represented by  Paul Rooney from Scoil Chonglais in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. They will be competing against 90 teachers from 40+ countries to be named one of the top 18 innovative teachers in Western and Central Eastern Europe. Should they win any of those places they will automatically invited to the Worldwide PiL Global Forum in November which is currently planned for Athens (we’ll have to see how that pans out )

The Lisbon Forum will take place at FIL Exhibition Centre a modern Meeting Centre, in Parque das Nações (Park of Nations). It is located in Eastern Lisbon that used to be an old industrial area until it was chosen as the site to host the last world fair of the 20th century, Expo 98.

Next week I will announcing the launch for submissions for this year’s Innovative Pathfinder School applications. The submission process will run from March 1st through the end of May. There will be a few NI specific requirements you need to be aware of before the launch in order to prepare. Any school wishing to apply will need to:

• At least 50% of your Teachers will need to be registered on the Partners in Learning Network with their profile completed before application submission.
• You will be required to complete the Partners in Learning School Research (PILSR) survey. This is a staff wide survey not for just the Senior Management Team.
• You should be aware of and possibly considering becoming a Microsoft IT Academy (not mandatory but preference will be given in case of a close decision)

I will be working with Barry Corrigan and other teachers in sponsoring the 1st ever TeachMeet in Northern Ireland. Make sure you plan joining us (in person or virtually) on March 2nd at Stranmillis University College.

Also in the coming months:

• PILSR launch in partnership with the RTU and the NI Education Library Boards to 50+NI schools
• Possible cross-border event with world renowned Education change leaders (more to follow)
• Lots, lots more so stay tuned

And I always think it’s a good idea to add a video, so here you go. I hope it gives you some idea of the scale and impact Partners in Learning is having around the world.

Withe regards to Microsoft PiLs, I had the opportunity to attend BETT last week in London. To say that Microsoft knows how to keep your days busy would be a major understatement. Right from the start on Monday there was an amazing array of events on. Microsoft Corp with it’s partners hosted the Education World Forum. The forum’s global remit offers unparalleled opportunity for ministerial teams from all participating countries to address economic and educational challenges, share experiences and establish a cooperative, future-proof approach to education.

I attended an all-day Michael Fullan workshop for the Microsoft Innovative Schools with over 100 Principals and Head Teachers in attendance. That was followed-up on Tuesday with a journey down to Cornwallis Academy in Kent to see their take on the School of the Future. Over 300 educators joined us for that!! On Wednesday we hosted the Education Leaders Briefing at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair. This was a gathering of Senior  Educators from Government and Educational bodies from over 70 countries.

The major announcement on Wednesday, was the launch of the NEW AND IMPROVED Partners in Learning Network. This will be a totally new experience for those Teachers who joined the previous version and should offer a much greater experience in both Resources, sharing, collaboration certifications and so on. You will need to re-join (register) on the new site even if you are already registered on the old site.

This an exciting new direction for the Partners in Learning Network that should bring real value to Teachers across the world. If you had joined the previous network (on my urgings ) please take a few minutes to re-register and start using this new amazing resource. Why not “Like” PiLs on Facebook and follow PiLs on Twitter when you have the time?

On Thursday there was a terrific Schools Solution workshop for school ICT leads on our Educational architecture stack led by Mike Lloyd and others. Friday the WE team offered a session on “Playful Learning” for teachers to familiarise themselves with our software for Education and how to use it in the classroom to deliver 21st Century Skills.

On the business side of things, I’m happy to say that Classroom 2000 (C2k) has named their preferred vendor for the managed service for the next 5 years. After a long an well fought battle Northgate Managed Services won out over their competitors Fujitsu and HP. This service deliver the complete ICT package (desktop, infrastructure, data centre, and connectivity) to all 1230 schools (Primary and Post Primary) in Northern Ireland. There will be more updates in the coming weeks and months to give more details on what role Microsoft will be playing in that winning bid but be assured we are there!!

There is also a whole lot more going on in both the PiLs/Programmes space and the Business space, but I don’t want to bore you all with the details See you soon and bookmark/RSS this site for future updates

Once again, we have seen the standard and quality of submissions take another leap forward. It has become increasingly difficult to choose 1 entry amongst so many fantastic projects. Now in its 6^thyear the NI Innovative Teachers competition is gaining real momentum and is showcasing more and more examples of exciting and innovative work being done in our classrooms.

I am very happy to announce this year’s winner and the Teacher going to Lisbon, Portugal in Marchto compete against teachers from 42 countries at the Microsoft European Education Forum 2012 is:

David Young

“Equipping and empowering students for

further education and the real world”

Limavady High School, Northern Ireland

The judges’ comments were:

Dr. Victor McNair- University of Ulster and 9 time Innovative Teacher Judge:

“The project shows lots of evidence of “Real World” situations through the structures. There are clear links between the work in classroom and people from industry, the community and elsewhere. This is a particularly strong feature of the submission.”

Tom Jackson- Microsoft Programme Manager Northern Ireland:

“I want to congratulate David on this stellar piece of work but more importantly I want to congratulate his students. They have shown that given the opportunity to be innovative and shape their learning individually, amazing things can be done while still meeting the curriculum requirements of the course. I look forward to working with David in the comings weeks to prepare for the European competition and hopefully bring another winner back to Northern Ireland”

I want to congratulate and thank all of the Teachers who entered this year. It gets harder and harder to choose a winner with each passing competition. The level of innovation, commitment and work these teachers are bringing into their classrooms, to their students and wider communities is both inspirational and exciting.

You can see David’s entry along with all of the Finalists entries on my SkyDrive .

This is a tremendous example of how Education can work when the Business Sector engages with Education vendors to deliver real Web 2.0 tools to meet the needs of delivering 21st Century Skills. I thank Bill White from EduIncentive for inviting me to take part. I congratulate both the Ulster Bank and the team at Wholeschool for this innovative and extremely important initiative.

From the Ulster Bank site “About MoneySense”:

MoneySense™ is the largest financial education resource for secondary schools in Ireland. Launched in 2007, hundreds of teachers have embraced the programme. They are now actively using it to prepare their students for the financial challenges of living as independent adults, teaching them about money management, budgeting, saving, borrowing and how to manage a bank account.
Aimed at students aged 12 to 18 and developed in partnership with teachers, the online, interactive resources are completely free to schools and have strong links to the Irish curriculum.

Given the complexities and uncertainties of today’s global economy, it is now more important than ever for young people to learn how to manage their own finances.
The MoneySense for Schools programme is designed to teach students what money is all about, how banks and other financial providers work and how to manage their personal finances, both now and in the future.

MoneySense is an impartial programme which does not reference or promote products or services.

This is a totally free service and I don’t envision any issues around any student, school or parent using it

The winner will be announced on January 6th

Good luck to all of this year’s entries

Microsoft will be running a large number of individual Partners in Learning events during the week of January 8th thru the 12th. One that should be of special interest to NI and Irish Teachers would be the Playful Learning session taking place on Friday the 12th of January in the Microsoft Victoria offices. This in an invite only series of workshops using our Educational software tools, so if you are interested you need to contact me by Wednesday the 14th of December in order to get registered!!

From the official invite:

Using Microsoft software in education

Often we are asked how technology can be used innovatively in the classroom to engage students more and enhance the teaching and learning experience.

Join this workshop and find out! Together with other teachers from over 25 countries you will experience creative ways of ICTs use in education.

Designed to help teachers use ICTs more effectively and creatively the workshop will cover Microsoft Office, Skype, OneNote, Xbox and many other programs during short expert presentations and demos.

This is an interactive workshop, so please bring your PC, and if possible download the software listed on the agenda below. Most of the featured software can be downloaded for free for teachers registered on the Partners in Learning Network.

The Partners in Learning Network is a global platform connecting millions of teachers and school leaders around the world in a community of professional development. Visit www.PartnersinLearningNetwork.com.

This is an overview of the Agenda for the day:

If you’re not familiar with BETT it is (from their site):

About

Dedicated to showcasing the best in UK and international educational technology products, resources and best practice, BETT has enabled thousands of practitioners to enhance their knowledge of learning through technology.
Taking place each January at Olympia in London, BETT attracts more than 600 educational suppliers and around 30,000 visitors. It brings together the global teaching and learning community for four days of innovations and inspirations.
BETT is the world’s leading event for educational technology where education professionals can evaluate and purchase a comprehensive range of ICT products and services. From early years to universities, BETT is an indispensable part of the annual knowledge-gathering process, coming at a time when establishments are planning and budgeting for the new school year.
BETT 2012 takes place on 11-14 January 2012, at Olympia in London.
Entry to BETT is free. Register here.

So if you’re planning on attending BETT this year and would like to join Microsoft for this exciting workshop, let me know ASAP!!!

Remember- the winner goes to Lisbon in March to compete against Teachers from 40+ countries. Oh and did I mention it is ALL EXPENSES PAID!!!

GOOD LUCK!!

The simple answer is NO.

This is a worldwide challenge for governments and politicians to recognise the importance and value Teachers bring to all of our countries, cities and local communities but most importantly TO OUR CHILDREN!! Developing engaged, creative, skilled and contributing citizens is how society grows and prospers and no one does that more on a day to day basis than our Teachers. Most students spend more time at school than they do at home. Even in a nurturing home environment, Teachers help shape our collective future and we all know not every home provides that “nurturing environment”.  I only hope they will release it globally so we can get the conversation going locally.

I should also mention that Christine Murphy-Gardener’s project was received really well and was judged by the Russian delegation as the best project of the entire event!! I wanted to personally congratulate Christine on her outstanding work and had hoped she could have been recognised at the awards. Still, a trip to Moscow and Washington DC is not a bad consolation

Having participated in 5 Worldwide events now, I can confidently state the standard of the work, the learning outcomes for students and the presentation skills of the participating Educators has reached new heights. It is an exciting and inspirational time of dramatic change in Education across the world and we are being given the privilege of watching it happen first-hand. There are many people who have opinions about Microsoft (both good and not so good), but I don’t see any other companies so committed to working directly with Teachers and Educators across the globe to help bring about the change that is demanded by students and teachers. It is a blessing to be given the opportunity to work with Microsoft and lead the Partners in Learning Programme in my “adopted” country of Northern Ireland.

Here are some videos to give you a feel for what has happened over those 4 amazing days in Washington DC.

You can see all of the Global Forum and Partners in Learning videos HERE

Now we get ready for submissions to this year’s Northern Ireland Innovative Educators competition.

Make sure you get your VCTs in to me by

December 9th!!

Any winners in Lisbon, Portugal in March will automatically be invited to next year’s Global Forum 2012 in

Athens Greece !!

Ireland does it again!!

Doreen McHale from St Philomena’s Primary School won 1st Runner-up in the category:

Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom

Plenty more news to come when I get back to Belfast.

CONGRATULATIONS DOREEN

Here is the videos of all of last night’s winners

See you soon. I’m off to New Jersey to see MY MOMMY!!!!