Gzira primary school wins ICT award

The project Rescue La Vallette: An Adventure in Time of St Clare College, Gzira Primary School, won the Young Digital Planet Award for best use of ICT at the seventh eLearning Awards.The eLearning Awards, organised by European Schoolnet, are one of the leading competitions for schools in Europe.The project is a game for late primary and early secondary students in which a team of young secret agents have to rescue a national hero from slavery while learning ICT skills in a fun and challenging way.The game was the brainchild of the school's assistant head, Emmanuel Zammit. Piotr Mroz, a board member at Young Digital Planet, presented Mr Zammit with a crystal trophy and a cheque for €3,000 for his school, which he presented to the school's headmaster Joseph Micallef. Additionally, he also won a Smart classroom technology package donated by Smart Technologies. This package includes an interactive whiteboard, USB devices, Senteo interactive response system and Smart's Ideas concept-mapping software. Moreover, Strand Electronics, representing Interwrite Company, also donated a second interactive whiteboard.An interactive whiteboard is a large interactive display that is connected to a computer and a projector. The board is mounted onto a wall or a floor stand. The projector projects the teacher's computer desktop onto the board. The teacher and students can manage this computer by means of its pens or their own fingers.Even students in pre-school and kindergarten levels can make use of the interactive whiteboard as it can be lowered according to the students' height.This resource replaces the traditional whiteboard since apart from writing on it; the teacher can show students educational software, video files and PowerPoint presentations.It can be also used for digital storytelling, reinforce skills with the help of educational websites, teach vocabulary, and help with math problems.Students can interact during the lesson and save their own work for further use. Their work can then be used to revise a topic for students who were absent for the lesson or for struggling learners. Thus this resource makes it ideal for differentiated learning.Professor Derrick de Kerckhove, director of the McLuhan programme at the University of Toronto and president of the jury, said: "This site introduces young learners to the e-skills of the European Computer Driving Licence through an engaging storyline mixing fun and learning at the right dosage for beginners. High production values, innovative format and clever didactics make this project the best in all categories."
The game can be found online at: http://skola.gov.mt/ictsec/gamesite/scsp.html