Several of Canada’s most innovative educators, recipients of the Microsoft Canada Partners in Learning 2010 Innovative Teacher Awards, learned how the other half of the educational technology world lives “up close and personal” at the Microsoft Asia Pacific Partners in Learning 7th Innovative Education Forum, held in Phuket, Thailand, March 7-10.

“Five Canadian educators from three provinces joined over 250 participants from 11 Asian countries for what they all agreed was the ‘professional development opportunity of a lifetime’,” said Jacinthe Robichaud, leader of the delegation and Director, Partners in Learning, Microsoft Canada.

"In addition to the competition for best projects, teachers were also involved in presentations from world-class speakers, such as Willie Smits, founder of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and more recently, a major force in the global DeforestACTION with several international partners, including Microsoft. There were also visits to innovative schools in the region and our Canadian educators worked on cooperative projects which will be carried into the future.”

Janie Girouard, a distance education teacher for the Ministry of Education in New Brunswick, teaching in the Acadian Peninsula area, was selected as the top Canadian project for her work using multimedia animation software for elementary-aged students to create original art projects. MARVIN, an avatar-based software, available free of charge through Partners in Learning, was used for her project.

“Being a part of this conference was a very inspiring learning experience,” summarized Girouard in her post-event comments. “I feel very fortunate to have met the other Innovative Teachers from Canada and the Asia Pacific region. I saw a lot of inspiring projects and I can't wait to share them with teachers from New Brunswick.”

Janie Girouard accepts the award for Top Canadian Project at the Microsoft Asia Pacific Partners in Learning Innovative Education Forum.  

The Microsoft Asia Pacific Partners in Learning Innovative Education Forum and the Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Education Forum are two events that Microsoft Canada Partners in Learning has participated in for the last six years. The Canadian representatives from these events have come as winners of the Microsoft Canada Innovative Teacher Awards and from schools that have been selected as Mentor or Pathfinder Schools as part of the Microsoft Innovative Schools process. 

Patrick McLaughlin, a teacher from Terry Fox Elementary School in Bathurst, New Brunswick's District 15, was the runner-up in the Collaboration category, making him the seventh Canadian educator to win an award at one of the competitions and one of fourteen to be selected for the final round. Also shortlisted this year was Sandra Corbin for her work in the Content category using the Mouse Mischief add-on for PowerPoint to create interactive literacy strategies for her grade four students at École Régionale-de-Saint-André in Saint-André, New Brunswick. Danielle Cyr-Poitrasas, principal of the school, participated in the project as a second team member. École Régionale-de-Saint-André was selected as a Pathfinder School for the Innovative Schools Program.

Patrick McLaughlin (right) from Terry Fox Elementary School in Bathurst, New Brunswick accepts the award for runner-up in the Collaboration category.

The “Share Your Story” project created by Angie Lysitza, a grade three teacher from W.J. Berezowsky School in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan was popular with many of the participants because some of its content related to Canadian Aboriginal storytelling using MARVIN.

Lysitza shared her feelings about being inspired by the innovation of teachers in Asia who are sometimes working with fewer resources than Canadian educators are used to having. 

“Being a part of the SHOUT program [introduced at the conference] will be a wonderful opportunity for me and my students. Hopefully we can inspire others to take on the challenge of saving a piece of our planet. I am very proud to be a part of this group of teachers as we continue to be innovative by joining forces to work together to stop deforestation.”

Recipients of the Microsoft Canada Partners in Learning 2010 Innovative Teacher Awards at the Microsoft Asia Pacific Partners in Learning Innovative Education Forum in Phuket, Thailand: (L to R) Janie Girouard, Angie Lysitza, Sandra Corbin and Patrick McLaughlin.

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