I am fresh from a trip to Europe where I had a chance to see teachers from 40 different countries compete and collaborate at the Microsoft European Innovative Education Forum (IEF) in Berlin. At this regional Partners in Learning event, 80 schools applied for the competition and we awarded twelve winners from ten countries for their groundbreaking school projects that demonstrate the use of technology in compelling new ways.

I found the opening keynote by Professor Sugata Mitra from Newcastle University in the UK very interesting.  He highlighted his Hole in the Wall project…an idea that first came to life back in 1999 when Mitra went to very remote parts of the world and he literally just placed a computer in a kiosk in a local village with no explanation or instructions for how to use…and students figured out how to use the computer. What he basically proved is that students are very adaptable to change, and they'll figure out how to use technology. As he says on his website, it’s “a solution that uses the power of collaboration and the natural curiosity of children to catalyze learning.” Learn more in this TED Talk video here.

What I took away from his speech is that a teacher may say they can't use technology or embrace ICT, but there are always issues and obstacles…but if you give students an English language computer in a remote village where the students don't speak English and you tell them, “Here's a computer,” they'll figure out not only how to learn English, but how to use the computer in order to take advantage of the resources.  I think his point is students are very resourceful and they have the ability to learn, and certainly their willingness to embrace technology is a huge differentiator.

I love IEF events because teachers are so excited to be a part of this. I think it takes a lot of bravery for teachers to think differently and try new models. In many cases, they're trying to innovate in conditions that are not really ripe for innovation, and they're dealing with challenging environments, budget crunches, etc., but they're still trying to drive change and excellence, and pushing innovation to help their students learn. It's amazing to see how enthusiastic teachers get among their peers sharing their ideas and how much winning recognition means to these teachers.
 
Beyond that, there are lots of lessons to be learned and sharing of ideas at our Innovative Education Forums. Because in all these countries you have different language barriers, different geographical challenges, different economic conditions, etc., but there's lots of commonality to the things educators are trying to solve. Teacher projects from the Berlin event included new ways to collaborate with Live@edu, virtual classrooms connecting pupils with others around the world, infusing ICT into new curriculum for climate change, using Worldwide Telescope to learn about astronomy, a buddy system pairing insecure ICT teachers with tech savvy students, and math coaching via Windows Live Messenger. Many of the teachers blogged about their experiences…you can read more in Jan Webb’s blog, David Rogers blog, a Netherlands teacher blog, the Ireland team’s blog, and others here and here.

The winners from this event represent Poland, UK, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Romania, Serbia, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium and Russia. They will be invited to our worldwide forum happening in Cape Town, South Africa in late October that will be the culmination of the regional events taking place throughout the world right now. The picture below is of the winners of the Educators’ Choice award.

I walked away from the Berlin event wanting to double our efforts in this year, recognizing that we have to close the gaps and continue to push for, cultivate and nurture this type of innovation from our teachers and school leaders to make an impact for our children.

We would love to hear more stories about how teachers are innovating in your classrooms. I hope you will share your stories.