BWI: Recipients of 2011 Global Forum Educator Awards Announced

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Microsoft
Friday, November 11, 2011 05:35 PM IST (12:05 PM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Business services, Education & training, Information technology, Media & entertainment; Technology
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Recipients of 2011 Global Forum Educator Awards Announced
Microsoft Partners in Learning recognizes 18 educators around the world for their innovative uses of technology in the classroom; India teacher from Delhi Kendriya Vidyalaya wins honors

Washington, United States, Friday, November 11, 2011 -- (Business Wire India) -- During an award ceremony at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Microsoft Corp. announced the winners of the 2011 Global Forum Educator Awards. Sangeeta Shukramani, a primary school teacher from Kendriya Vidyalaya (Delhi Cantonment), India, won the second runner up award in the Innovation in Challenging Contexts category.

Her project, "One Earth . Our Earth - Together We Can Make A Difference" is aimed at creating awareness and sensitizing students toward the 21st century's most critical issue - environment conservation. Her students used wikispace, blogs, websites and other forum for collaboration. Her website www.greenwarriors.info allows students to discuss, share and collaborate with students and teachers from across the globe.

This year's winners were selected from more than 115 projects, narrowed from more than 200,000 applicants, who competed at national and regional events over the course of the year to qualify for the worldwide competition at the 2011 Partners in Learning Global Forum.

"Education is critical to the social and economic development of every nation and to the ability of individuals everywhere to reach their full potential," said 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."

A total of 18 awards were presented to educators and their projects in six categories. The top three finalists in each category were recognized and received an Intel-powered classmate PC for their classroom. Intel Corporation has a strong commitment to education and donated all the computers. Participants were judged by an international panel of 50 education experts on a number of criteria. Through virtual classroom tours and onsite interviews by judges, these teachers demonstrated innovative teaching practice, giving their students critical 21st-century skills, such as collaboration, critical thinking and social responsibility, by leveraging effective and engaging technology resources.

More than 200 school leaders from the Partners in Learning for Schools program also attended the Global Forum.

The award ceremony was attended by more than 700 teachers, school leaders and education leaders, as well as government officials from more than 70 countries.

The 2012 Partners in Learning Global Forum to be held in Athens, Greece will focus on water conservation and caretaking Interested teachers should contact their local Microsoft office for more information or look online at http://www.microsoft.com/education/pil/partnersInLearning.aspx.

About Partners in Learning

Partners in Learning is a 10-year, nearly $500 million commitment by Microsoft to help education systems around the world. Since its inception in 2003, the Partners in Learning program has reached more than 196 million teachers and students in 114 countries. Supporting the program is the online Partners in Learning Network, one of the world's largest global professional networks for educators, connecting millions of teachers and school leaders around the world in a community of professional development.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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Sangeeta Shukramani - One Earth Our Earth Together We Can Make A Difference - India
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CONTACT DETAILS
Nehashri Bhargava, IPAN Hill & Knowlton, +91 9818803434, nbhargava@ipanhillandknolwton.com
Sabah Hamid, Manager - Corporate PR, Manager - Corporate PR, +91 (124) 4158000, sabah@microsoft.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, BUSINESS SERVICES, EDUCATION, IT, MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY

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