Newsletter: Innovative Educator Competition at the KCI
by Krause Center for Innovation The KCI partnered with Silicon Valley Education Foundation to host the regional ShiftED 2012 Innovative Educator Competition in April, which was open to all educators in Silicon Valley. Sponsored by the Microsoft Partners in Learning Program, the competition is designed to highlight innovative educators and schools implementing 21st-century skills to improve teaching and learning. It showcases creative and inspiring examples of technology used in imaginative and groundbreaking projects. The regional competition was held to select three projects to represent Silicon Valley at the Partners in Learning 2012 U.S. Forum, which will be held in Redmond, Wash., this summer.
ShiftED Innovative Educator Competition finalists, from left, Jennifer Hogan, Gregg Witkin, Gail Desler and Natalie Bernasconi.
Eleven teachers presented their projects at a poster session at the KCI, where they were judged by a panel of five, three of whom represented Silicon Valley at last year’s U.S. Forum. Seventy educators
attended to view the projects, and Milton Chen, author of Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools, gave the keynote address. All attendees were also invited to participate
in hands-on training of the latest Web 2.0 Microsoft educational tools provided by Microsoft staff.
The Innovative Educator Competition winners are:
- Jennifer Hogan, Transitioning Still Images to Moving Pictures/Creating Movies with Meaning;
- Gail Desler & Natalie Bernasconi, Digital ID: Citizenship in the 21st Century; and
- Gregg Witkin, Finding Your Voice.
Please join us in wishing them luck at the U.S. Forum in July. Winners of the U.S. Forum advance to the Partners in Learning Global Forum, which will take place in Athens, Greece, in November.