Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert Meet

The Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert Meet was held from 2nd to 4th November 2015 at the Microsoft office in Gurgaon. The three-day workshop was a part of the Microsoft Innovative Educator Programme showcasing the exceptional initiatives of Microsoft for the augmentation of effective teaching-learning processes. It gave an insight into contemporary tools available, to handle the educational scenario today. The participants were experts selected from approximately forty cities around India. Our School was chosen as a showcase school due to its immense involvement, effective application and innovative ideas while incorporating technology into the teaching-learning process. [gallery link="file"] The workshop commenced with a warm welcome by Dr. Winnie Jauhari, Director, Education Advocacy, Microsoft India. She introduced us to the Microsoft team to facilitate a conducive environment for those participating in the event. Next, Microsoft experts along with their partners from the field of education familiarised us with user-friendly apps like Office 365, Sway, OfficeMix, One Note, Skype etc. Apart from serious business, we also indulged in some fun time learning of the art of making games! We were taught to construct games that worked on improving problem-solving skills, analytical reasoning and geographical aptitude. Another interesting tool was Mystery Skype. It is a critical thinking challenge that takes place between two groups of school children in different countries via Skype. The students goal is to guess the other schools location from clues based on geographical features. There is a language-converter to enable the exchange of ideas which makes it all the more exciting. The event concluded at The Oberoi Hotel where we had an opportunity to meet Mr. Anthony Salcito, Vice-President, Education for Microsoft Corporations Worldwide Public Sector. His role is to oversee the worldwide execution of Microsofts vision for education. He shared a few insightful experiences and spoke about his journey through this innovative programme. The workshop was not only enlightening but pragmatic too as it helped us simplify the complexities we faced with technology. The updated tools are absolutely apt for todays scenario. We plan to incorporate these in our system soon so students can benefit from a more enriching learning experience.