Teachers follow Microsoft Partners in Learning programme |22 February 2012

Teachers following one of the sessions

A one-hour session was conducted in most primary and secondary schools over a period of three days before the start of the school term where teachers learned about the aims and benefits of the Partners in Learning programme.

An initiative of Microsoft, the PiL programme was set up to help schools gain better access to technology and to foster innovative approaches to education and professional teacher development. 

As the programme allows teachers to establish online communities to exchange information, they can have access to and download best practice learning projects for use in classrooms.

The Microsoft Partners in Learning programme also provides teachers with support in obtaining skills certification and with an online mentor for the continuing professional development of teachers, and to address their needs and help them throughout their careers.

As part of the innovative teachers programme, the PiL Seychelles forum is held annually to reward teachers who make innovative use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning, show exceptional innovation, and practice the elements of 21st century learning.

The one-hour session provided teachers with information about the activities planned for the 2012 PiL Seychelles forum which will be held on April 13-14, and how to register on the Partners in Learning network site: www.partnersinlearningnetwork.com.

Teachers who wish to take up the challenge and prepare a project for the PiL 2012 Seychelles forum have to fill in and return the application form that was distributed during the session at their schools and they have until March 30 to submit their projects for judging.
 
Compared to only one category for the projects in the previous years, teachers can choose to take part in three categories for the 2012 PiL Seychelles forum – individual, group or school.  This is because during the judging of the past projects, those who took part pointed out that they either worked with another teacher or as a group to design the project, but as there were no categories for groups, the prizes were awarded to only one person.
Each school was also given a copy of the templates on which to present the individual and the group projects.