Microsoft to launch Innovate, Teach, Inspire project in Bahrain
Microsoft today announced the launch of the Innovate, Teach, Inspire project in collaboration with the King Hamad School of the Future Project. The initial phase of the project included delivering a 'Train the Trainers' workshop to 60 master teachers in Bahrain between November 28th and December 1st, 2010.
Through the Train the Trainer methodology, those teachers who are now certified as master trainers will be delivering the program to their peers in 180 other schools in Bahrain. The Innovate, Teach, Inspire project is part of the Microsoft Partners in Learning agreement that was signed between Microsoft and the Kingdom of Bahrain Ministry of Education in 2008 and is in line with the Ministry's ambitious Education Reform plans that aim at transferring education through integration of ICT.
Microsoft Gulf Education Director, Mrs. Azza Al Shinnawy, expressed the company's commitment to the Ministry's reform agenda, "Microsoft has made a long-term commitment to working with governments, educators, students and industry partners to expand the world of learning through technology in order to implement better ways to transform education for the benefit of students and teachers. The Innovate, Teach, Inspire project is the perfect platform to demonstrate our commitment to the education sector by enriching classroom instruction and enhancing learning outcomes for students. We are very excited to be working with a forward thinking organization like King Hamad School of the Future Project and look forward to a successful roll out of the project within the schools of the Kingdom"
The participants have received training on several Microsoft tools, including Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Blogging and SkyDrive. The 60 master teachers were selected by the King Hamad School of the Future.
After attending the two-day Training of Trainers, the master teachers will get the chance to share their newly acquired skills to their peers by organizing similar sessions within their schools. All those trained are invited to participate in a competition in which teachers have to design a Virtual Classroom Tour (VCT) project by using the newly learnt practices and tools. The competition is open to all Bahraini teachers starting this December 2nd. The winners will be announced during the closing event on February 23rd, 2011.
Mr. Ahmed Hassan, Director of King Hamad School of the Future Project said, "We are happy to host the Microsoft Innovate, Teach, Inspire program in Bahrain as it falls directly in line with our continuous efforts to expose our teachers to the latest technological advances and provide them with the tools that facilitate innovative delivery of their lessons to our students. This is an ongoing learning process that enables our teachers to go back to their respective schools and transfer the knowledge they have learned to their fellow colleagues."
Under the Partners in Learning Agreement, Microsoft has worked closely with the King Hamad School of the Future Project to deliver several programs all aimed at integrating ICT in the teaching and learning process. Among those projects in the past two years were the Enhancing Child Security and Online Safety workshops for teachers, the DigiGirlz event that Introduces High School Girls to their education and career opportunities within Information Technology and a series of Train the Trainers workshops for Master Teachers to bring the latest teaching and learning technologies to a wider population of Bahraini Teachers.