Rainbow over the Carpathians
Bucharest (RO), May 2007 - (by Elena Lita) Two teachers from the Knowledge Based Economy project beneficiary communities, coordinated by the Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, represented Romania at the fourth edition of the Innovative Teachers Forum, organized by Microsoft and UNESCO in Paris, France. The event is the largest annual reunion of the teachers who adopt new technologies at school in Europe, Middle East and Africa. This year's session showcased educators' projects from forty countries in the region and provided a forum for teachers to connect with one another, share best practices, and reflect on 21st-century learning.
Starting the Journey
The 150 participants in attendance qualified for the event in national competitions that were held to recognise innovative teaching. The participation of the two Romanian teachers at the Innovative Teachers Forum was the result of their activity within the 'e-Vacanta!' program, where they were awarded the first prize.
Viorica Coperza from Ostra (Suceava) and Didina Botgros from Aninoasa (Hunedoara) spent the entire last summer holiday at school together with the kids working voluntarily for an extracurricular program initiated by the Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research.
Identifying the potential of the two teachers, Microsoft Corporation, one of the most important sustainers of education worldwide, challenged them to elaborate a project aimed at improving the use of the IT&C technologies in the classroom and to represent Romania at the Innovative Teachers Forum 2007.
In the Spotlight
A highlight of the event was the competition for the 'Innovative Teachers of the Year' awards, in which teachers enthusiastically presented pioneering ways they use technology in the classroom.
The 'Rainbow over the Carpathians' project was developed by Viorica Coperza and Didina Botgros with the help of fifty pupils from Aninoasa and Ostra schools; it had a unique approach and two major objectives: the promotion of IT&C use in primary and secondary segments and the development of PC operating skills for children aged 9, 10, and 11.
The project is structured on the colors of the rainbow linking two Romanian villages located in different areas in the Carpathian Mountains, at a considerable distance from each other. The opportunity to work on this project stimulated the virtual collaboration between these schools, breaking geographical barriers, and ensuring important knowledge transfer. The 'Rainbow over the Carpathians' project and the results of the children's work were presented at the Romanian stand in Paris.
And They're Back...
The presence of Romania's delegation at the Innovative Teachers Forum confirmed that the access to new technologies significantly reduces the digital gap between rural and urban environments, which can represent the professional development premise for all teachers. The Forum was a good occasion for the Romanian delegation to identify success stories from EMEA countries and the way to replicate them in the national education system, especially in the perspective of the alignment to community standards.
Teachers also learned a lot from other colleagues during a unique team-building workshop held at the Louvre art museum. Working in 21 multinational teams, teachers were given tablet computers and were given the task of creating multimedia presentations on themes such as living together in communities, the cult of celebrity, and extraordinary creatures. These interactive presentations, containing photos, videos, interviews, notes, and drawings collected at the museum, will be compiled into a "Virtual Louvre" for further use in classrooms with Microsoft's forthcoming "Photosynth"- technology.
