Yesterday I attended my first Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) team meeting along with over 200 other MIEEs from around the UK. The MIEE global community is “a thriving community of educators who are working together to change students’ lives and build a better world“. Pip has been an MIEE before and wrote a great post on her experience, but I am a newbie.
Being a member of the group means that we have access to support (through the MIEE Facebook group and Teams site), can host events in the name of MIEE and get free offers from Microsoft partners.
Yesterday’s meeting involved some general introduction to the support people by region, an overview of new Teams features and very brief introduction to Thinglink.
My main aim for the following year is to get to know the MIEE community better and become more proficient in all things Microsoft. There are already Teams channels springing up for regions and different sectors (like HE). It’s clear that there is a huge amount going on and I’m looking forward to being part of it.
It is Monday morning at 9am (or perhaps a bit before). You open your emails for the first time of the day.
Exploring Microsoft headquarters in London
Receiving this email from Microsoft really did brighten up a Learning Technologist’s day. It was the ‘digital iceberg’ of a great deal of work underneath.
Achieving Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) for 2020-2021.
Marieke Guy (@digitalrau) our Digital Learning Manager and Pip McDonald, Learning Technologist-Support both successfully achieved the Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) for 2020-2021. At RAU, we use a variety of Microsoft tools. Like many institutions, one of the most used tools is Microsoft Teams to communicate, message and carry out meetings, particularly during lockdown. When I joined RAU, I shared my experience of being a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) for 2019-2020 with the Learning technology team, and created a document to explain the application process and to highlight the main benefits of taking part.
Throughout 2019 and in the role of a Learning Technology Project Manager working in London, I made the most of the opportunities and events Microsoft and others including Google for Education conference, a TeachMeet event at Google Digital Academy, various events at Twitter and Facebook for Education event. It is possible to say that I intentionally sought a form of ‘EdTech Tourism’ or a working ‘EdTech holiday’. For example, I visited the Microsoft Reactor for the Augmented Reality Meetup to explore a range of mixed reality approaches. One of the participants attended in a virtual presence capacity which was exciting on a tablet on wheels. Reactors are community spaces for learning and meeting (Microsoft, 2020)
A visit to Microsoft Reactor, London 2018
Additionally, I also went to Microsoft headquarters in the Paddington office in London to a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) event in June 2019. The event included a spotlight component where Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) shared their journey, explored new updates, discussed Minecraft, Flipgrid, artificial intelligence (AI) and we explored using Teams as a digital learning environment (DLE).
Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE) event at Microsoft HQ in Paddington, Londopn in June 2019.
I visited Dell headquarters where Nicola Meek from Microsoft Education (@MeekNicola) presented on how to use Immersive Reader. Watch a video about the Immersive Reader here.
A selfie with the inspiration Nicola Meek (@MeekNicola) from Microsoft at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge at the LearnED Roadshow in February 2019
What does it mean to read in an immersive capacity? How is immersive reading different from traditional reading? I was inspired by her presentation and the powerful capabilities of the tool in terms of making me really reflect on the impact of working towards digital accessibility. In the Dyslexia Awareness Part 1 Module 4 Inclusive Classroom, a headteacher, Josh Clark was interviewed. He said “Everything we do for a dyslexic learner, benefits all learners…hurts no one helps everyone and can be transformative…”. For me, this really opened my mind how technology could be sued a transformative capacity for every learner. This really made me think. Check out the course here.
Inspiring words from Josh Clark, Head of School, The Schenck School, Atlanta, USA
As a result of this, I went on to present to teachers on how to use this tool in the MFL Twitterati conference organised by the Association for Language Learning (ALL) at the Ashcombe school in Dorking in April 2019 exploring multimodal approaches to teaching and learning a language. Check out the hashtag #MFLTwitterati on Twitter to find out more and follow @joedale and @helenMyers to explore technology enhanced language learning (TELL).
At the LearnED event organised by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University, there was a live demonstration classroom where students used OneNote in a collaborative capacity to explore fake news. Callum (@Callum_MSFT) from Microsoft demonstrated the Microsoft Translate mobile phone application.
LearnEd Roadshow at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
I participated in the Microsoft Education Roadshow organised by Hackney Learning Trust in June 2018 which took place in the Tomlinson Centre in London. A teacher led the sessions and we used surface books. One of the most interesting takeaways was how to use Paint 3D and Windows mixed reality. I am sure that a 3D dinosaur was and exciting addition to any 21st century classroom.
Microsoft Education Roadshow at the Tomlinson Centre, London in June 2018
At the Office 365 Microsoft Training Academy organised and delivered by CTS, I was introduced to the Microsoft Educator Centre (MEC). The MEC is an online platform providing free resources, professional development opportunities and learning pathways. It is possible to redeem a code to earn digital badges. We also explored Whiteboard as a tool for real time collaboration.
As a result of the ‘EdTech Tourism’ learning technology working holiday approach, I also discovered the how to become a Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE), the first step in the Microsoft Education journey. In order to achieve Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE), joining the Microsoft Educator Centre (MEC) and completing 2 hours of learning are required. In order to become a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE), a self-nomination form is required involving the creation of a 2-minute video or Sway that demonstrates how you integrate technology into teaching and learning answering four key questions. Find out more about the self-nomination process here. I successfully submitted my first application in June 2019.
Throughout lockdown, Microsoft Education offered option weekly support meetings which was very helpful in addition the monthly calls with guest speakers and we explored new updates which took place on Teams for example with Merge Cube, Wakelet and Flipgrid.
One of the highlights of the MIEE journey was the UK MIEE End of Year Celebration for 2020. In addition to hearing from Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Education at Microsoft (@AnthonySalcito), the Microsoft Education team sent a party pack with an iced brownie. It is possible to have your ‘digital cakes’ and eat them!
Have your digital cakes and eat them?
What is being an MIEE really about? For me, it is not about perfection, it is about being passionate about learning. Most meaningful discussions about learning technology are just about learning. My passion for both learning and technology was consolidated by the MIEE experience. It is wonderful to find a community who genuinely celebrates this. Check out the video exploring making connections here. “Microsoft supports a thriving community of educators who are working together to change students’ lives and build a better world. The Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) program (Microsoft, 2020).
So perhaps it is not about ‘Me, Myself and my MIEE, but rather, “We are MIEE” (Microsoft, 2020).
Congratulations to the new MIEEs 20-21.
Bibliography
Association of Language Learning (ALL) Association of Language Learning (ALL) (Online) Available at: https://www.all-languages.org.uk/ [Accessed 4 September 2020]
McDonald. P., [@PipMac6]. (2020, 3 June) VERY EXCITING #MIEE CALL THIS EVENING. ENTHUSED BY #MERGECUBE AND INTEGRATIONS WITH @FLIPGRID @WAKLELET & #IMMERSIVEREADER [Tweet]. Twitter. Available at: https://twitter.com/PipMac6/status/1268228287760826370
Digital Transformation at RAU 