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Oracle recognizes outstanding teachers and schools at BETT 2007
Oracle presents prizes to outstanding schools and teachers at the 2007 Educational Technology Show (BETT), the world's largest event dedicated to technology in Education.
Two British schools and two teachers from England and Germany were awarded prizes by the Oracle Education Foundation at this year's Educational Technology Show (BETT), held in London in January. The event is the world's largest dedicated to technology in education, attracting almost 30,000 visitors over four days.
An independent philanthropic organization funded by Oracle, the Oracle Education Foundation aims to support technology education that fosters students' love of learning and their sense of citizenship in a global community. It does this through a number of national and international initiatives, which aim to promote the use of technology to enhance study, improve technology skills, and enable collaborative working with other schools and students across the globe.
At the BETT event, the Oracle Education Foundation presented prizes to teachers and pupils from Hillborne Primary School and Bredon Hill Middle School, for their winning entries in the 'Wired for Sound' competition, organized by Oracle and
Computer Clubs for Girls.
A particular aim of the Oracle Education Foundation is to recognize innovative and leading educational practices among teachers who use the Foundation's Think.com resources.
Think.com is a secure online learning community hosted by Oracle, in which teachers and students use websites and interactive tools to publish their ideas, collaborate on projects, and build knowledge together.
At BETT, Oracle recognised outstanding use of Think.com by two teachers; Wolfgang Fischer of the Comenius School in Bavaria, Germany, and Peter Heaney of Steelstown Primary School in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Wolfgang Fischer, head teacher of the Comenius School, is running a three year international project involving students from schools across the EU.
Teacher Peter Heaney, meanwhile, has brought together children from four schools in four different countries to search for their 'Perfect Place'. The children looked at their communities and schools and thought about what they liked and then let their imaginations roll. The schools were miles and languages apart, so their virtual interaction was enabled through Think.com.
Presenting the awards, Caroline Hook, Director of Think Programmes, EMEA said, "It gives me great pleasure to recognize the work that these teachers have done with students and teachers from around the world. They have inspired the students to develop questioning, collaboration and critical thinking skills, in a way that has motivated them to create wonderful content together"
Oracle shared an exhibition stand at BETT with a number of its educational partners, including
WebPlay,
Computer Clubs for Girls and Project 101. As a backdrop, the stand featured materials from
Mirandanet and video material from the
ThinkQuestUK launch created by the
Specialist Schools Trust, as well as the winning
Think entry for the Business in the Community initiative.
The stand attracted thousands of visitors interested in Think and the
international ThinkQuest competition, as well as the initiatives and tools offered by Oracle's education partners. A lot of time was taken up in listening to what teachers were looking for and trying to establish how Oracle and its partners could best help them.
Oracle and its partners found the show immensely constructive and are already looking forward to next year's event, scheduled for 9-12 January 2008.
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