What is Microsoft Partners in Learning ( PIL)?
It is a global community which guides educators and leaders in various schools around the world. Its aim is to share updated educational ways to enhance education and develop learners into autonomous and critical thinker individuals.Our school was chosen as one of the 65 pathfinder schools found worldwide schools. The it was selected as a mentor school.
Online Community:
The first step that we’ve done was joining worldwide community and creating our own community on “PIL” Partners in Learning network. We started a discussion regarding school vision and every stakeholder gave her/his own point of view concerning her/his vision.
Virtual Universities:
They are virtual meetings where several educators present online to tackle a certain educational,technological,or leadership issue. Different educators and leaders around the world can engage online and listen and even participate by engaging in fruitful discussions. It is mainly about sharing expertise between educators worldwide and getting the chance to meet experts in educational technology and leadership fields.The titles that were presented virtually:
- Envisioning
- Living and Learning in a Global Community WWIEF Presentation
- Innovative Teaching and Learning Practice
- Students’ Voice
- Exploring and Emerging Technology
" Our aim now is to learn from Microsoft new and innovative ideas, activities and methods to follow and add up to our educational process throughout the year. We also desire to achieve the finest of the best from our new great partners that we are so delighted to share and participate with them with all provided activities, tools, case studies, virtual live meetings, innovation, and projects.", says Rola Ayoubi, English Coordinator at Makassed KSPS.
"The virtual universities that we have attended are very beneficial and they enhanced our knowledge concerning technological teaching methods that we can integrate through our learning/teaching process", says Amira Kobrosli Owaini, a science and math teacher at Makassed KSPS.
Case Studies:
Four case studies are to be presented, throughout this year, which reflect our work and different innovative approaches we use or follow through our educational process. The endeavor is to show our existing innovation and showing change throughout this year and through working with Microsoft.
The first case study that we worked on was about the project “Going Green”. The project tackled the following activities:
Go Green Fundraiser
Climate Change Campaign
E-Waste Sculptures
National Planting Day
ENO Tree Planting Day
Recycling
Environmental Awareness Campaign
We also made video shooting concerning our case study. Various stakeholders gave a short presentation that tackled innovation and activities done at school.
For more details, this first case study and the video are available at:
http://www.ksps.almakassed.edu.lb/
"Shooting the video was a great experience and a beneficial one too, since this video was a raising awareness tool about important issues shared globally. Moreover, the importance of this video is found in spreading this awareness and delivering it to the highest number of people who are using technology that would allow them search more about any topic they want to learn about", says Donia Badderedine, the administrative assistant at our school.
PIL Presentation:
A special presentation was provided to fifty Makassed leaders to encourage them to apply for Microsoft “PIL” Program. It was very encouraging when several Makassed leaders called me after the session asking for one to one session with their school leaders about PIL and the best way to incorporate PIL in their school development plan.
Attending Forums:
Two Makassed leaders, Miss Adla Shatila and myself, attended Microsoft Arab Forum and Microsoft Worldwide Forum. We travelled to Cape town and Tunisia and got the chance to attend several workshops and had a booth to present our school innovative activities and teaching methodologies, and the way technology is incorporated through the learning process.Mrs Rawya Shatila, innovative teacher award winner was there too, presenting her joint project with Ms Cheryll Arnette.
Attending BETT:
We also attended BETT educational technology show and Michael Fullan’s Motion Leadership workshops in London. It was a great learning experience to meet all those innovative educators worldwide and see what they have to offer their students to foster 21st century skills.The best thing was meeting Michael Fullan in person after reading his many interesting work on leadership.
& THE INNOVATIVE JOURNEY HAS JUST STARTED.
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