14 DAY TRIAL // Just 18 projects were celebrated as the winners of the 2011 Global Forum Educator Awards this week, selected from no less than 115 entries, according to Microsoft.
In fact, in excess of 200,000 applicants competed at the various stages of the educator challenge in order to qualify for the 2011 Partners in Learning Global Forum.
18 accolades were handed out to winners of the competition at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Microsoft on November 10, 2011.
“Education is critical to the social and economic development of every nation and to the ability of individuals everywhere to reach their full potential,” noted Anthony Salcito, vice president, Worldwide Education for Microsoft.
“We are honored to recognize these amazing professionals for the work they do every day to enrich the educational experiences of children around the world.”
Chris Clay, from New Zealand, with the “Linking Educational Accomplishments to Real-World Needs” took home the first prize in the Extending Learning Beyond the Classroom category.
He was followed by Ireland’s Doreen McHale with “Birds of Bray” and Tessa Van Zadelhoff from the Netherlands with “A Travel Agency in our Classroom”.
“When Fish Fly,” put together by Doug Bergman, Johnny Kissko, Louis Zulli, Donna Thomas and Margaret Noble (United States), was the winner of the Collaboration category, with Rui Silva (Portugal): “Eco-Partnerships” in second place and Zhao Yi (China): “Jack Magic Vegetables Company” in the third position.
The first prize in the Knowledge Building and Critical Thinking was awarded to Margaret Noble and David Stahnke (United States) for the prject “Illuminated Mathematics”. The two additional winners were Athena Hain-Saunders (Australia): “Real Science Beyond the Classroom” and Kara Barker and Roger Lister (Sweden): “Forensic Science”.
The Innovation in Challenging Contexts first position was occupied by Sandra Caldas Saragoca (Brazil): “Education Beyond Walls,” with Gareth Ritter (United Kingdom): “Interactive Resources Made by Pupils for Pupils” as the furst runner-up and Sangeet Shukramani (India): “One Earth … Our Earth — Together We Can Make A Difference” as the second.
Louis Zulli Jr, (United States): “Center for Advanced Technologies News and Information Portal (CATNIP)” was the winner in the Cutting-Edge Use of Microsoft Technology for Learning category, followed by Steven Ronsijn (Belgium): “genY” and Zainuddin Zakaria (Malaysia).
Carlos Antonio Carlo (El Salvador): “I Want to Make Movies” was the top Educators’ Choice, with Marina Vasileva (Macedonia): “Grandma’s Games” in second place and Wen-Ching Yang and I-Fa Su (Taiwan) taking home the bronze.