Thai teacher wins 'Educators' Choice' award at Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teacher Awards 2009

Microsoft has announced the winners of the 2009 Worldwide Innovative Teacher Awards at the Worldwide Innovative Education Forum held recently in Brazil. Representatives from more than 60 countries participated in the competition and a Thai teacher - Janjira Pongchoo from Pathumvilai School, Pathumtani - won the first runner-up Educators' Choice Award for her MS Excel Game Building Techniques piece of work.

The Worldwide Innovative Teacher Awards are part of the Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum which is held in a different country each year and falls under Microsoft's Partners in Learning project. This year's forum was held in Brazil and consisted of three-day seminars that were attended by more than 400 educators, school leaders, government officials and others from more than 60 countries around the world.

During the seminars, representatives of Innovative Teachers from each country were asked to present their ICT integration projects to their fellow participants. Out of 250 Innovative Teachers who presented their works, only 14 teachers received awards in four categories, with Thai teacher Janjira Pongchoo one of these selected winners.

"The Innovative Teacher Awards exemplify the dedication and imagination of the worlds' most forward-thinking educators," said Supoet Srinutapong, Director of Public Sector Program, Microsoft Thailand. "Thai teachers have performed well in previous competitions and won individual awards in the past few years, so today's win is further evidence that Thai teachers have great potential and ability to integrate innovative technology into their classrooms at an international level. Miss Janjira Pongchoo, the Thai teacher who won Educators' Choice Award has demonstrated to her peers the infinite possibilities that technology can create with regards to improving learning opportunities and inspiring future generations to reach greater academic achievement. Looking back on the great things that have been achieved from our Partners in Learning collaboration with the Ministry of Education over the last five year, Microsoft remains committed to continuing this quest and further supporting the educational community over the next five years."

"With my 'MS Excel Game Building Techniques' project, I set out to enhance the existing capabilities of Microsoft Excel, focusing on calculation, data mining and graph creation. I've now been using it in my classes for 2-3 years and during this time the program has been adjusted and adopted into every subject and class throughout the school, said Janjira Pongchoo, Innovative Teacher from Pathumvilai School, Pathumtani province. "I feel very proud and happy that my project received an award, but being here and seeing how teachers from all over the world are enriching the lives of students is ultimately even more rewarding. The event has been a valuable opportunity to share and exchange ideas amongst international peers and I now feel inspired to go back and further develop my lessons for the greater benefit of my students."

The Educators' Choice award is one of 12 awards in four categories at the Microsoft Innovative Teacher Awards, which allow more than 400 participants to vote for the projects that they think are the most innovative. Janjira Pongchoo's 'MS Excel Game Building Techniques' was voted as the first runner-up out of 70 pieces in the 4 categories.