As part of our work leading on Microsoft in Education’s Trainer Provider Programme we will be bringing you a brilliant case study from leading trainers all over the world each month. It will feature their work and hopefully will inspire you to follow in their footsteps or give you the opportunity to share good practice as trainers no matter where you are all over the world.

A special thank you to our first case study Daniela Zallocco from Argentina.

Daniela is the founder of "Creative Technology". She holds a CELTA & CELTYL degree from Cambridge University. She has completed a postgraduate course in Policies of Education from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella focusing on the implementation of "One Laptop per Child" in Argentina; and is currently preparing her MA. She currently works at Ministerio de Educación de la Nación Argentina as Project Coordinator. She has also participated in the evaluation of OLPC program (Conectar Igualdad) in Argentina. Daniela is an experienced trainer and more recently her training has been nominated for the British Council’s ELTon 2012 award, under the category Local Innovation.

She shares the challenges and successes of training other teachers, you can read the full case study here.

Don’t forget to also follow @danpiltrainer on Twitter for other updates and resources.

Here is one of the first ones I have looked at using a Microsoft Surface and Windows 8 called Animateit

How to use it in the classroom?

This is so ridiculously easy to use, I created this short animation in literally 20 seconds. You just open the app, touch create an animation then either select the photos that you want to animate or point your webcam at something and press to take pictures. The app then automatically takes 5 images with a few seconds in between each shot for you to be able to move your object.

The downside is it appears you can only create short animations however this is a great free app that students could animate 5 key images that they have taken in a lesson or to create a series of stop animations. They could then loop them together to make a much longer animation.

If you would like to look at some more of the apps featured then check them out here

Are you using tablets in the classroom? How are you using them?

We are starting a monthly feature of ‘1 minute wonders’ that are short (1 minute long hence the name) talking head videos on different monthly themes. As well as watching them which we hope you will find interesting we want you to also make your own and share it with us.

Have a look at our first one below all about Creativity:

If you are inspired to make your own one then please use our guidelines and instructions that can be found here on our SkyDrive and make your first one on what you think is the most important 21st century skill that a trainer must have?

By joining the community you can:

• Learn about the latest research findings on effective (and ineffective) professional development models and the implications for trainers of educators and school leaders.
• Understand how you can utilize the Partners in Learning professional development model including needs assessment, adaptable training materials, and evaluation tools.
• Access over 150 hours of content including level 100 (Digital Literacy), 200 (Teaching with Technology), and 300 (21st Century Learning Design) research-based professional development and adapt to meet your needs.
• Participate in ongoing discussions, professional development and receive recognition for the important work you do.
• Receive marketing assets including email signatures, co-branded workshop certificates, email templates and more.

In addition to this, currently we are launching a monthly theme which has some exciting opportunities each month:

1. News and information about Microsoft resources and programs that can help you grow your training provision (virtual universities, highlighted tools, links to resources and more)
2. Trainer Spotlights – showcasing the work of other trainers
3. An opportunity to win a trip to the 2014 Microsoft in Education Global Forum in March
4. ‘1 Minute Wonder’ talking heads videos from existing practitioners on different themes

So sign up and register today, it is free and a fantastic opportunity.

Here is how you can join Piltrainer:

Step 1: fill out application at www.piltrainer.com

Step 2: view the on-demand webcasts

Step 3: become a Partners in Learning Training provider!

You can also follow us on Twitter

This photo was created with Autocollage one of the Microsoft tools featured during the week.

We took the teachers on a journey covering:

International learning

Global citizenship

Intercultural practice

Integration of ICT in International projects

Preparing their school for international work

It was a fantastic week, the teachers achieved many great things and as always it was a mutual learning experience for us too. We look forward to seeing and hearing some of the exciting and innovative international projects that develop. Special thanks to the British Council for all of their support.

We are very excited about working with many Iraqi teachers in Erbil, working on the British Council’s ‘Connecting Classrooms’ programme. We hope to bring you news of what is happening while we are there so for updates please check our blog or follow @Imagine04 on Twitter.

What is Connecting Classrooms?

“Connecting Classrooms is a global education programme, which offers funding and resources for school partnerships, professional development for teachers, and the opportunity to share best practice with colleagues in the UK and more than 50 countries throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.

It is a growing community – over 5,200 schools and 936,000 young people across the world have participated in Connecting Classrooms”

See how you can get involved by visiting:

http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/programmes-and-funding/linking-programmes-worldwide/connecting-classrooms

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b03bk8fv/?t=6m30s

taken from sonymobile.com

It made me think about how long would it be before we see these ‘smart watches’ appearing in school and being yet another potential distraction for the classroom. Many teachers all over the world are already complaining about how hard it is to capture the attention of a teenager let alone inspire them to learn. Many teachers are pulling the hair out having to learn new behaviour management strategies of dealing with a mobile phone in the classroom and now they will have to cope with technology that students will be wearing.

This is just the beginning really for this type of technology, these new smart watches are still limited but I am sure within a year or two we will be seeing scenes like from a James Bond movie where kids in schools will be talking into their watch checking with their mum to see what time their dinner is.

Do you think that this type of technology could make a positive impact on education?

The application doesn’t take long at all and if you are selected then as well as being part of a fantastic programme you will also be given a Microsoft Surface.

Are you eligible to apply?

Basically if you are teaching at the moment and doing great stuff in the classroom then you probably can see below:

What are the benefits?

Selected educators spend a year in the program. During that time, they gain access to a broad range of resources and support designed to help them reach their goals. These include:

• An invitation to join the Partners in Learning Global Forum Heralded as a life changing event by educators who have attended, you will get the opportunity to attend Microsoft’s premier global event for educators, where educators can network and collaborate with other leaders from around the world. This time it will be in Barcelona.
• Access to the latest technology for educators Be one of the first educators to get free access to some of the latest Microsoft technology and tools.
• Consultation with world education leaders Get exclusive professional and career development opportunities through virtual calls, face to face training and virtual communities of practice.
• Influence and insight Get insider briefings from Microsoft on products and education research, network with Microsoft executives and provide feedback to Microsoft. Be an advisor to Partners in Learning. Share your innovations with world renowned educators and globally recognized specialists.
• Collaboration opportunities Collaborate with like minded educators from around the world. A few participants may be invited to participate in an Innovative Educator exchange program.
• Create positive stories in education Get marketing tools and press advice for getting positive stories in education heard. We will help you build your personal brand through features in social media and blog.

If this is something you are interested in then check out how you apply below however the first thing you have to do is register and sign up to the Partners in Learning site http://www.pil-network.com/.

Skype has made a positive impact on education over the years giving students the chance to link and talk to other students all over the world and work on amazing projects that they wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to do. A significant move towards this was when Skype in the Classroom began back in 2011, nearly two years later the community has around 70,000 teachers signed up participating in creative projects. If you are a teacher and are not signed up then sign up here for free https://education.skype.com/ 

The latest news from Skype however was reported this week by the BBC that Skype is working on 3D video calls http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23866593# but what does this actually mean? It may be a while before the technology is sorted and available but what would you actually use a 3D call for? One way you could use this in the classroom would be to Skype in an expert from somewhere else to talk to the class, I did this with a class around seven years ago it was actually with a ‘real astronaut’ who spoke to the Astronomy group. This was a fantastic learning experience for the students at the time but what difference would it have made if the astronaut was in 3D? I don’t think it would have made much of a difference. So will this new development make a positive difference or will it just be something that will be more like a gimmick? What do you think?

The infographic which can be seen below was designed by Michell Zappa, it examines a few other technologies that could play an important role over the next 30 years, what is interesting to see is that many are being used as innovative practice in many schools around the world, however I wonder how long it will take for all schools to embed the use of this technology? Will some of these types of technology just be a passing phase? Will we be saying by 2015 not 2040 whatever happened to such and such a thing?

What do you think about the visualisation? Is there anything missing? How does this fit in with your school or business?