2007
This is a wiki dedicated to the eLearning Award 2007 that I received in Brussels, Belgium, on 6 Dec. 2007. These awards were given out during a plenary session of the two-day EMINENT Conference. (More here.)
It all started at the CRIE Moodle site, where I read about the awards while I was doing a training workshop that will enable me to train teacher trainers and teachers in the use of ICTs anywhere in Portugal.
On Oct. 20 I entered the competition with my two blogs, Have Fun with English! 2 and CALL Lessons 2005-2007.
A few days later I was very excited to see that both projects were in the eLearning Awards 2007 Gallery (search by country). It meant that they were eligible for the finalist list. There were 60 other projects fom Portugal.
I was so busy then that I didn't have time to think about the contest, so I was very surprised when on 26 Nov I received a message from Sylvia Binger (Pedagogical Coordinator) in Brussels saying:
"Dear colleagues,
with this message we just want to inform you that you might be among the winners for the eLearning Awards 2007. We will have the exact names of the winning projects and teachers mid this week and will immediately inform you when you are a winner... "
And on cloud nine when on 29 Nov I got the confirmation that I was one of the 13 finalists from 35 countries and was expected to be in Brussels the following week to receive the award:
"Dear all,
congratulations to be one of the finalists of the eLearning Awards 2007. Please find in the attached letter the invitation and all the necesarry information for your trip to Brussels next week..."
The type of award was going to be kept a secret till the last minute at the awards ceremony in Brussels. That afternoon finally came and the 13 finalists were seated together in a reserved area of the Crowne Palace Brussels City Center Hotel Ballroom to be called one by one by Anne Gilleran (EUN).
The awards ceremony (more in the conference blog) started with Sylvia Binger (EUN Pedagogical Advisor) explaining the judging process: first by a team of evaluators in each country's Ministry of Education and then by a team of "respected authorities in the field of ICT in education", chaired by Professor Derrick de Kerckhove from the University of Toronto, Canada.
I blocked out completely the moment I saw my curricular blog, CALL Lessons 2005-2007, projected on the screen. I haven't the faintest idea what was said about it. I only remember not forgetting to ask to say a few words to "dedicate the award to all my students and teacher/friends/collaborators all over the world who had worked so enthusiastically".
It received a Gold Prize in the category of "The school of the future". It was very special and honored me deeply to have a work of mine considered as a best practice in such a category. I'm very proud and so are my students and teacher-friends. You find comments here. I believe that all the students involved in the project were informed of the award by me personally. I wnet to the three classes in my school to 4-5 in a high school in the area where many of them moved to. It was very special to see them so happy by my presence and so excited about the award.
The prizes were "a cheque for €2,000, a crystal trophy and as equipment one SMART classroom technology package (SMART Board(TM) 680 interactive whiteboard, pair of USB speakers for the SMART Board interactive whiteboard, Senteo(TM) interactive response system (32-remote set) and SMART Ideas(TM) concept-mapping software (teacher license)".
Here's the list of winners and their prizes.
And here are links to two different pages: messages from BaWers and Webheads and messages from other friends and family.
Finally, links to photos, the certificate and an interview on Portuguese national radio, Antena 1, "Histórias e Músicas" by Jorge Afonso.
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