Microsoft recognizes innovative teaching
Education Secretary Edward Moreno shares a moment with the children participating in the “Kinect in your hands” learning program at the María C. Osorio School in Toa Alta.
Some 800 educators and support staff from schools throughout Puerto Rico took part in a recent forum co-sponsored by Microsoft Puerto Rico and the Education Department to further their technology skills in the classroom and receive recognition for their willingness to innovate in their curriculums.
The daylong agenda of workshops and activities offered through the “Partners in Learning” initiative between the software giant and the public school system revolved around the use of technology in the classroom.
“The Forum is an initiative that promotes the advancement of the island’s educational technology,” Education Secretary Edward Moreno said. “We support such efforts because they foster a spirit of collaboration among teachers, the community, private enterprise, non-government organizations and the government that is needed to face the challenges of education in the 21st century.”
Partners in Learning’s mission is to provide schools access to the software, teacher training and the development of innovation-oriented models in schools, said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Education and the Public Sector for Microsoft Corp.
“The aim is to discover, share, extend and develop learning models that any school can reproduce to help students reach their potential and create a community of collaboration among teachers and education leaders through the use of Microsoft technology,” he said.
The forum provides an opportunity for educators to demonstrate their skills and the potential technology affords them, to educate through more comprehensive processes, “so that new generations can become part of a transformation of education and that educators and students reach their maximum potential through the benefits of technology,” said Cleber Voelzke, general manager of Microsoft Puerto Rico.
The event concluded with an awards ceremony through which teachers selected a dozen outstanding student projects based on the concepts of “collaboration,” “learning beyond the classroom,” and “developing critical thinking.”
