Microsoft partners with 65 schools and 300 innovative educators in digital era projects
View(s):Microsoft, to help local schools transform in Sri Lanka, has partnered with the Western Provincial Department of Education, Headstart, Commercial Bank, and Dialog to launch Project Smart School and so far helped 65 schools.
In one of the class rooms
Its mission? Transforming the learning environment of a traditional secondary school into one that is smart and enabled by the latest technology, the company said in a media release.
Since the programme’s launch in 2016, a total of 65 public schools from the Western province have found ways to create a digital learning system. “The progress in technology adoption and change in instructional approach has been amazing,” noted Yashinka Alles, Education Lead for Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives.
For example, at one public school―Gothami Balika Vidyalaya Colombo-87 courses were created using the Learning Management System (LMS) provided by guru.lk, a software application integrated with Microsoft Office 365 that delivers educational courses and training programmes. As a result, the school now has approximately 55 courses that are taught using technology-daily. At Bandaranayake College Gampaha, teachers in artistic subjects, such as drama and dancing, have also begun developing their own digital content and incorporating it into their curriculum.
Since the launch of Project Smart School, more than 1,000 teachers have been trained by the programme on the effective use of technology in teaching and learning.
Of this group, those who went on to complete Microsoft’s Trainer Academy were further recognised as official Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Trainers.
In Sri Lanka alone, Microsoft has recognised 300 teachers and 10 schools through the Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts (MIEE) and Microsoft Showcase Schools competitions, which were conducted alongside the Smart School Project. The recognised educators and schools will participate in the upcoming Bett Asia Leadership Summit on 15-16 November 2017, as well as at the Global Educator Exchange held by Microsoft in March 2018, where they will have the opportunity to engage with other innovative educators and learn about projects that have successfully integrated technology in the classrooms across the globe.
The winning schools for the Microsoft Showcase Schools competitions 2017 are Bandaranayake Central College, Veyangoda; Bandaranayake College, Gampaha; Dhammananda Maha Vidayalaya, Moronthuduwa; Gothami Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo; Mahinda Rajapaksa College, Homagama and Taxila Central College, Horana.
The most innovative teachers for the Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts (MIEE) 2017 are – Roshan Kumar from Bandaranayake Central College, Veyangoda; Anuradha Buddhika from Bandaranayake Central College, Veyangoda and Surani Maithripala from Gateway College