Microsoft and Partners Open Two New School Technology Innovation Centres in Europe
PARIS, February 23/--
- Centres in Belfast and Prague will allow educators to take advantage of the latest technologies.
Microsoft Corp, along with partners Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems Inc and Intel Corp, today announced the official opening of new School Technology Innovation Centres (STICs) in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Prague, Czech Republic. The Centres are fully interactive demonstration facilities for information and communication technologies (ICT), designed to help enable educators to evaluate new technologies and share best practices on how to create richer, more inspiring and effective learning environments. The first of these centres was opened in Amman, Jordan in 2005, and a further two
centres will be established in Brussels, Belgium and Johannesburg, South Africa, eventually creating a total of five centres across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
"Children are growing up in a world where technology permeates everything we do. It is vital that the education process embraces ICT. Cisco and Microsoft are committed to building meaningful long term strategic relationships that will benefit so many schools," said Mike McKeown, manager, Education Business, Cisco Systems Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. "The STICs will enable the creation and demonstration of the new educational models embodied by the Cisco Connected Learning programme, models where ICT provides tools for teachers to transform whole-class teaching, models for personalised learning for individual students and models that save time and money by improving the efficiency of the education system. It's time ICT moved out of the computer lab to permeate every classroom. The STICs will play a key role in realising this new 21st century model for ICT in education."
These new Centres in Prague and Belfast are a direct result of Microsoft's collaborative approach with technology partners, academia and national governments. In Prague, the STIC will be located at the secondary technical school, Na Trebesine. In Belfast, the STIC will be part of HP's new European Education Research and Innovation Centre (EERIC) and will work in collaboration with projects such as the Northern Ireland C2k (Classroom 2000) programme. Researchers at the EERIC will investigate how current and emerging technologies can be applied to the changing needs of education in the 21st century. Each of these new centres will include a teacher-training facility
and conduct training courses focused on building universal models of the best ways to incorporate technology use within the curriculum. The training areas will feature a Technology Showcase, where teachers can explore, research and evaluate the latest technological innovation for teaching and learning.
"Microsoft has been a key partner in the C2k programme in providing the software foundation for a fully integrated and distributed digital learning environment to all 1240 state schools across Northern Ireland," said Jimmy Stewart, director of C2k. "Taking the lessons learned from the C2k Managed Service, I see the opening of the STIC in Belfast as the provision of the perfect resource to lead and assist in the development of new approaches to teaching and learning that creatively use technology to its maximum benefit."
STICs are part of the Microsoft® Partners in Learning programme, which aims to deliver ICT training, tailored curriculum development, technical support, and research funds and resources to students and teachers across the globe. Through its partners, solutions and products, Microsoft helps teachers and students to use ICT creatively to develop skills, maximise their opportunities and prepare for the changing demands of the 21st century. Through the Partners in Learning programme, Microsoft has so far reached an estimated 14.4 million students and trained over 850,000 teachers and school
leaders globally.
"It's incredibly exciting for us at Microsoft to use our expertise and resources to enable educators and education policy makers in Western and Eastern Europe to gain the full benefit of the latest technologies," said Mark East, senior education director of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). "The opening of these two STICs shows Microsoft's continued commitment to supporting growth and development of the IT industry in both Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic."
Microsoft's long-term vision for the education marketplace is to contribute significantly to efforts to empower teachers, students and lifelong learners to achieve their fullest potential by providing greater access to the latest computer technologies - and the training in how to use them. This vision embraces a combination of for-profit and not-for-profit activities and is entirely consistent with Microsoft's corporate mission of building innovative and trusted software that enriches people's lives and promotes economic opportunity.
Additional information on Microsoft's Partners in Learning programme can be found at www.microsoft.com/education/PartnersinLearning.mspx .
Additional information on today's announcement is available on Microsoft's EMEA Press Centre website www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.
About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft employs more than 12,000 people in over 55 subsidiaries, delivering products and services in more than 139 countries and territories.
Web site: www.microsoft.com
Source: Microsoft Corp
Microsoft EMEA Response Centre, +44-870-243-0515, or emearesponse@waggeneredstrom.com /
