E2 Global Educator Exchange at Budapest, Hungary

Ms. Sukhmeen Kaur Cheema, senior Psychology teacher, was selected by Microsoft India from among 10 educators in India for the E2 - Educator Exchange in Budapest from 8th to 10th March 2016. E2 saw the participation of 300 educators from across the globe and gave them the opportunity to interact with leaders from the field of education, connect and network with other educators who are using innovations in their classrooms, and receive professional development inputs from experts. Day One started with a presentation by the local Hungarian dance troupe, Varidance who took the stage with aplomb and their vibrant energy soon captivated the audience. Now they seemed set for a full day ahead!

Don Grantham, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Central and Eastern Europe, along with others, kicked off the day with a warm welcome to participants, stressing the critical importance of educators today. This was followed by breakout session and a group challenge wherein different educators were asked to create a hack following one of five assigned personas Gamify, Personalize, Minimize, Simplify, and Strategize. As the teachers interacted with each other for the first time, there was anticipation and excitement to meet peers to solve a complex problem while bridging cultural and language barriers. Our Ms. Cheema had Brendan from Ireland, Azizul from Malaysia, Moses from South Africa and Zhanar Kazakhstan in her group. It was huge learning interacting with each other and getting to know about each others environments. Microsoft in Education WW Vice President, Anthony Salcito kicked off our Day 2 keynote, widely regarded by many as the highlight of the entire event. From Skyping an Arctic Explorer to bringing up three educators from around the world for live demos of their class hacks, the message was clear- technology empowers learning in unprecedented ways and teachers are making this innovation happen every day in their classrooms. Mike Tholfsen from the OneNote team spoke on new updates to the Class Notebook that makes it easier for teachers to use the tool. After the breakout session the group met again for their group challenge and successfully completed the presentation on Improving student learning by changing assessment techniques.The link to the presentation is: https://mix.office.com/watch/1njcz9n55kmlr On Day Three at the Learning Marketplace, the activity presented by Ms. Cheema was 'Distress to De-Stress'. She is collaborating with students on activities like psychology exhibitions, biofeedback etc. to develop an emotionally stable space using Microsoft tools. Her activity was described by Mr. Anthony Salcito ,Vice President of Worldwide Education at Microsoft as ' breakthrough work'! Mike Tholfsen, Product Manager of Microsoft OneNote tweeted ' a great project on mindfulness'. The event event with a gala dinner at the National Museum. After an enriching experience Ms. Cheema now aims to spread awareness among other educators at our School and enable them for further innovative teaching and learning. Reported by Ms. Sukhmeen Kaur Cheema.