Microsoft and European Schoolnet to Reward Outstanding Teachers With eLearning Awards

BRUSSELS, August 23, 2010 - European Schoolnet and Microsoft announced a new eLearning Award to
reward outstanding teachers in Europe for their work with ICT in education.
As part of their work with innovative teachers, Microsoft is supporting the
eLearning Awards 2010 and invites all teachers to apply to the special
category for outstanding teachers. "Focusing on 21st Century skills, project
based learning and interdisciplinary teaching is crucial in order to meet the
demands of today's society. And ICT is an important tool in this process. In
Microsoft we find it a privilege to be able to contribute to celebration of
innovative teachers that are frontrunners in the new way of teaching and
learning," said Kirsten Panton, regional leader for Learning in Western
Europe.

The eLearning Awards, Europe's leading competition to reward excellence
for the best use of technology in education, is organised for the 10th
consecutive year by European Schoolnet. It aims to recognise and spread the
practices of innovative teachers, and show how ICT helps improve methodology
and work in the classroom and positively impacts on children's learning. "It
is essential to encourage teachers to adopt 21st century teaching and
learning: ICT has now as crucial role to play in all sectors of society and
education should not be left apart," said Marc Durando, Executive Director of
European Schoolnet.

Microsoft is supporting the competition and in particular the special
category for outstanding teachers. This category rewards the most creative
and innovative teachers using ICT and is open to different methods and
subjects, for instance inspiring work in the art and culture, use of games in
learning, and more. (Full criteria list available at:
elearningawards.eun.org/ww/en/pub/elearningawards/rules.htm)

The winner will receive a prize for its school (cash prize and/or ICT
equipment) and an invitation to the prize-giving ceremony. Winning entry will
be made available for the whole of Europe via the Learning Resource Exchange.

The prize-giving ceremony, which will be followed by a gala dinner, will
take place in Copenhagen on 8 November 2010, during the annual EMINENT
conference. The EMINENT conference is a major European event in education,
which brings together ICT policy makers from Agencies and Ministries of
Education, experts, researchers and leading eLearning suppliers from the
commercial sector.

This year, EMINENT is associated to the Uddanelsesforum, a national forum
on education organised by UNI-C, the Danish agency for ICT in education, to
held the first EMINENT for teachers. This special event aims to encourage the
sharing of best practices among teachers and highlights the opportunities
offered by ICT to improve pedagogy and learning.

To register for the eLearning Awards, and submit your entry, visit:

elearningawards.eun.org

The deadline is 28 September 2010.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (www.microsoft.com/education) believes that the evolving
demands of the global economy make education vital to sustainable social and
economic success. Microsoft has a long tradition for committing to and
supporting education. An example of this is the investment made in the
Partners in Learning program that is a global initiative designed to actively
increase access to technology and improve its use in learning. The goal is to
help schools gain better access to technology, foster innovative approaches
to pedagogy and teacher professional development and provide education
leaders with the tools to envision, implement and manage change.

About the eLearning awards

Since 2001, the eLearning Awards competition (
elearningawards.eun.org) has been run by European Schoolnet and
supported by key industry partners. Ten years after its launch, the eLearning
Awards remain Europe's leading competition to reward excellence for the best
use of technology in education.

About European Schoolnet

European Schoolnet (www.europeanschoolnet.org) is a network of 31
Ministries of Education in Europe and beyond. EUN was created more than 10
years ago with the aim to bring about innovation in teaching and learning
through the use of ICT for its key stakeholders: Ministries of Education,
schools, teachers and researchers.

For more information, contact: Marie Le Boniec - Marie.leboniec at eun.org, Tel. +32(0)2-7907587