About the Innovative Teachers program
Today’s teachers are asked to prepare students for something that doesn’t exist,
using tools that haven’t been invented, to solve problems that have not even been
identified as problems—in short, to prepare students to succeed in an unknown future.
In order for today’s students to acquire the skills needed to be competitive in
a still-evolving global world, the learning environment within schools must become
seamless and emulate the characteristics and behaviors of the outside world. Furthermore,
a learning environment which is conducive to enabling students to acquire 21st century
skills must not only exist for the students, but also for the educators tasked with
preparing the students, as they themselves must be well versed in and practicing
these skills as professionals.
To achieve this the Microsoft Innovative Teachers program is committed to supporting
educators as they develop and share successful methodology and protocols of 21st
century learning, incorporate them into their own professional learning, and then
into the student learning environment.
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Mission statement
The Microsoft Innovative Teachers program is designed to build community among teachers
and help them collaborate with their colleagues, provide access to quality content,
and challenge educators to use technology in new ways. To achieve this mission,
the program will:
- Advance the learning environment for teachers to support the improvement of student
performance, enhance the effectiveness of educators, and strengthen the professional
education community.
- Promote the sharing of exceptional practices of 21st century learning.
- Focus attention on the importance of professional collaboration and the elements
of a 21st century learning environment within all of the education community.
- Engage educators intellectually and offer opportunities for them to be active stakeholders
in their profession.
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Program offerings
The Innovative Teachers program has two primary offerings for educators.
Innovative Teachers Forums
Annual events that recognize and reward innovative teachers who practice the elements
of 21st century learning in their own classrooms and then incorporate these skills
into the student learning environment. Following each of the regional forums, a
subset of attendees are selected to participate in the Worldwide Innovative Teachers
Forum each year. Teachers from around the globe have the opportunity to build global
communities of practice, collaborate with their colleagues from over 100 countries,
access quality content developed by their peers, and challenge themselves to take
their use of technology to the next level.
Innovative Teachers Network
A worldwide network of portals, local in their implementation but global in their
reach and scope that allow educators to share successful methodology and protocols
from their own learnings and practice. This 21st century approach to building communities,
collaborating, and accessing content challenges educators to think beyond the walls
of their classroom into the wider world of learning. Educators discuss student learning
projects that incorporate elements of 21st century learning, share the challenges
they experience, create their own learning communities, and much more. Visit the Innovative Teachers Network.
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Customer testimonials
Teachers and their students are finding great benefits to the Innovative Teachers
program. They're connecting, creating, and having fun learning. Here are a few things
teachers and students say about the program.
- One of the participants in last years forum found the Innovative Teachers program
enormously helpful in connecting educators and creating a community. “We are part
of a huge network, a school community that has developed the culture of thinking,
the culture of creativity and the culture of meaningful knowledge.”
- Students in the Global Learning Project took pleasure in learning. As one noted,
“I learned a lot about computers and an important thing I learned is how hard it
is to manage a successful site. When you work with human beings, your work must
be on time or else someone gets hurt. This teaches us to keep a schedule and be
considerate of all the kids in the project. Sometimes it is hard, but most of the
time it is pure fun.”
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