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2011 WISE Awards Recognize Innovations in Education

 | Oct 17, 2011

A jury appointed by The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) has announced the winners of the 2011 WISE Awards – the third round of these awards. The following six projects have been selected under the theme “Transforming Education: Innovation, Investment and Inclusion" because they are deemed to be efficient, replicable, locally adaptable, measurable and economically sustainable.

WISE AwardsProject: BBC Janala 
Activity: Providing English language lessons through mobile devices 
Country: UK
Reach: Bangladesh 
Project holder: Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman
Organization: BBC World Service Trust
Project: Connexions
Activity: Sharing educational materials through an open source platform 
Country: USA
Reach: Global 
Project holder: Richard Baraniuk
Organization: Rice University
 
Project: Creative Partnerships
Activity: Developing the creative skills of young people 
Country: UK
 Reach: UK
Project holder: Paul Collard
Organization: Creativity Culture and Education (CCE)

Project: Al Jisr School-Business Partnerships 
Activity: Involving the business sector in order to improve the quality of education 
Country: Morocco
Reach: Morocco 
Project holder: Mhammed Abbad Andaloussi
Organization: Al Jisr
Project: SueñaLetras 
Activity: Supporting literacy learning for children with hearing disabilities 
Country: Chile
Reach: Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Spain 
Project holder: Ricardo Rene Rosas Diaz
Organization: Center for the Development of Inclusion Technologies – CEDETI
 
Project: Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa (TESSA)
Activity: Improving teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa 
Country: UK
Reach: Sub-Saharan Africa 
Project holder: Freda Wolfenden
Organization: The Open University

Every year the WISE Awards give an overview of the main trends in innovative educational practices. This year’s trends include: an increased use of Information Communications Technology (ICT), multi-media approaches and a focus on open-source platforms; the spread of holistic, comprehensive learning approaches to ensure sustainability; and the emergence of inter-sectoral and multi-stakeholder strategies involving public-private partnerships. 
 
Commenting on the winning projects, H.E. Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Chairman of WISE and Chairman of the WISE Awards Jury, says: “Innovation is crucial for continuing to improve both access to and quality of education. The WISE Awards aim to showcase inspiring projects and give them the exposure they deserve. The 2011 WISE Awards Winners have often had to overcome pre-conceived ideas and find creative solutions to break down barriers to innovation in education. They have already been rewarded by the positive results of their projects. I would like to congratulate them all for their perseverance and worthy achievements. They are genuine role models for the entire WISE community.”  

The WISE Awards 2011 winners will be presented during a Gala Dinner on November 2nd and will receive a prize of $20,000. The winners will also have the opportunity to exhibit their projects to 1,200 leading international influencers at the WISE Summit. To find out more about the WISE Awards, please visit the website www.wise-qatar.org and the WISE Awards blog: http://awardsblog.wise-qatar.org.
Since 2009 the WISE Awards have been identifying, showcasing, and promoting innovative educational projects from around the world. To date, 18 projects have been awarded and 98 finalists have been shortlisted from 116 countries. These “real world” initiatives are progressively building a global community of educational innovators. 
 
WISE is dedicated to building the future of education through innovation. This global collaborative initiative was inaugurated in 2009 by Qatar Foundation under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Its mission is to address the challenges facing 21st century education, to expand dialogue around the world, and to implement practical and sustainable solutions. To this purpose, WISE holds an annual international summit that is a unique platform and meeting place for thought leaders and experts to share best practices in education. WISE is also a year-round initiative devoted to reaching beyond the traditional circles of the education community in order to promote innovation and implement concrete actions. The WISE 2011 Summit will take place in Doha, Qatar, 1-3 November 2011. For full details, visit www.wise-qatar.org.


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