Well, as I get ready to break for the holidays, I wanted to take a minute and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2009 looks like it’s shaping up to be a very busy year so a little break now should get the batteries recharged. Things to look forward to in 2009:

BETT is the biggest Educational Technology event of the year and Microsoft will have a big presence and will be continually running a series of  seminars and showcases. Don’t miss this if you’re at all interested in technology and how if impacts and changes Education. Look out for my good friend Kristen Weatherby and the whole UK team.

The Microsoft Ireland team will be partnering with the PSNI and CEOP to deliver Internet Safety presentations to Northern Ireland Primary schools as part of SID ‘09. We’re hoping to reach 2000 students and Teachers.

I’ll be doing a series of presentations around “Microsoft and Education” as part of the TextHELP “Effective Practice” events taking place in late January and early February. The event will include Teachers from all 5 Library Boards in Northern Ireland.

European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards

I’ll be running the 4th annual awards competition for Northern Ireland Teachers to win the opportunity of an all expenses paid trip to Vienna Austria in March to showcase their work on Innovation in the classroom and to compete against Teachers from across Europe to win a trip to the global finals next November (details here)

I’ll also be working on a series of projects with the RTU, C2k, Wholeschool.tv, University of Ulster, Queen’s University of Belfast, Smart Technologies, Dunshaughlin Community College and individual schools throughout Ireland.

So bookmark this site to be kept up to date.

Have a happy and healthy and SAFE holiday season and we’ll catch up in the New Year.

Tom Jackson

All FE colleges and Universities in Northern Ireland are now back online with Software4Students.

There had been an issue with Licensing which has now been sorted. So, all registered students at institutes of Higher and Further Education in Northern Ireland are eligible to take advantage of the great discounts available on the Software 4 Students website.

All Primary and Post Primary students in Northern Ireland are eligible to purchase from the site. Let your parents know there is an alternative for buying Microsoft software. They'll thank you for saving them the money.

European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards

The Microsoft European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards is a European event that takes place annually with the event being held in Vienna, Austria from March 24^th-27^th, 2009.

In Northern Ireland the 2009 European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards will be held in partnership with the Regional Training Unit (RTU), Classroom 2000 (C2k), UUJ and the Microsoft School Technology Innovation Centre (STIC)

Are you using ICT in an innovative way to enhance teaching and learning?

Are you using technology in a way that is new and exciting for your school?

Special consideration given for projects using Microsoft OneNote 2007

 Innovative Teachers Prize

The 2 winning Teacher submissions will each win:

· Round trip flights from Belfast/Dublin to Vienna, Austria

· 4 nights accommodation

· The opportunity to represent their school and Northern Ireland at the annual  European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards.

What is an innovation?

Teaching and learning is innovative if it is new and ground breaking in the context of the institution where it is being applied. What this means is that even if a school has only had computers for a short space of time, if teachers are doing something exciting with them, then they are being innovative. Other schools may have had technology for a long time, but their teachers are innovative if they continue to come up with new ways to enhance teaching and learning through the integration of ICT.

What is an innovative teacher?

•  An innovative teacher is someone who teaches in a way that is new or groundbreaking at the school, while integrating ICT to support that teaching.

•  An innovative teacher is someone who uses ICT in new or groundbreaking ways.

•  An innovative teacher can demonstrate that teaching and learning has improved as a result of the approaches used.

How can teachers nominate themselves?

Firstly, you must register on the Northern Ireland Innovative Teachers website (www.innovativeteachersni.com)

Apologies, but open to Northern Ireland Teachers only !!

Submit a written description of your innovation using the Virtual Classroom Tour (VCT) template provided at the C2k Exchange (link to the form) or on the Northern Ireland Innovative Teachers sharesite. This can be accessed after you’ve registered for the site here or on my STIC website SkyDrive

Your work must include a minimum of 3 Microsoft applications (e.g.- MS Word, MS Mobile, MS OneNote, MS PowerPoint, .NET, etc.)

The judging panel will be made up from a select group of Microsoft, RTU, UUJ and C2k panelists. The two finalists will be selected to attend the European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards in Vienna, Austria in March 2009 sponsored by Microsoft. Transportation and accommodation is included.

Five Semi-finalists will be chosen from the entries and they will be required to present their work to the judging panel on a date to be confirmed.

Northern Ireland winners will then be entered into the European competition at the event with the overall winners receiving special rewards from Microsoft Corporation.

Deadlines

All entries must be received before midnight on 12^th of February 2009.

As stated on the BBC website yesterday, funding for the rebuild of 2 Northern Ireland schools in the Northwest was announced on Thursday.

I've worked with both St. Mary's College and St. Cecilia's College in the past and they truly deserve this rebuild. They have both accomplished great things in difficult circumstances, so it's a testament to their leadership teams and students to finally get the facilities that are so long overdue.

Congratulations and I can't wait to see the finished product!!!

I've been attending the MscapeFest08 Conference for the past two days.

If you're not familiar with MediaScapes (Mscapes) from Hewlett Packard Labs, I quote from their site:

"Mscapes offer digital experiences directly related to where you are. Running on GPS-enabled mobile devices, they enrich the physical world with a layer of information, services and media."

There were people from 20+ countries in attendance and the agenda was a busy one with speakers showcasing their work and leading workshops and discussion groups.

It's amazing what schools here in Northern Ireland are doing with MediaScapes with the backing of C2k and the Department of Finance and Personnel, Delivery and Innovation Division. There are over 20 Mscapes already finished by Primary and Post Primary schools across the province. You can see two examples of them:

• Walled Garden MediaScape
• Titanicscape

Mscape software is a free download from HP that runs on Windows PCs and Windows Mobile devices 5.0 and higher with GPS.

The BBC in Northern Ireland has really embraced the technology and are delivering some terrific Mscapes. Visit their site and see what they've done with the Ghosts of Nendrum.

I was lucky enough to sit with my friend Davy Sims and he will be loading up a stack of podcasts from the event in case you want to hear what the speakers had to say. Thanks Davy!!

I'm thinking about running a Mscape competition for next year's Innovative Teachers Awards in Vienna. I'll keep you posted for any updates.

Microsoft Office Online has a terrific set of resources for Teachers, Students and Parents.

Visit the site for Teachers

Visit the site for Students

Visit the site for Parents

I hope you find these useful and beneficial.