Etobicoke, Ont. — CDW Canada, a leading provider of technology solutions for Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors, today announced the 13 winners of its second annual Teaching With Technology™ Story and Sweepstakes Contest. 

This year, the number of entries doubled, with winning submissions from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia. Six winners were chosen by a panel of judges to receive the grand prize packages in the Story Contest, along with five Sweepstakes winners, as picked by a random draw. New this year, two winners were selected from the Tweet UR Tech Tale Contest, which challenged educators to tweet about their submissions in no more than 140 characters.

“We are thrilled with the quantity and quality of this year’s submissions,” said Mary Ann Yule, General Manager, CDW Canada.  "These teachers' poignant stories contain some priceless kernels of wisdom around the use of technology to inspire and motivate students. It's moving to read how students are truly thriving from different ways of learning. It’s even more invigorating to see how educators are tirelessly exploring new ways to engage students through the use of technology and customizing them to improve the learning process of each and every student.”

Six Stories, Six Winners

CDW Canada’s panel of IT experts picked six grand prize winners who described in 200-500 words how technology has improved or can enhance the learning experience in their classroom or school.  Each prize bundle – ranging in value from approximately $2,300 to $3,600 – contains technology products that are useful in today’s classrooms, such as printers, projectors, personal computers, monitors, whiteboards, digital cameras, networking equipment and software.

Winner #1: Crystal Park School in Grande Prairie, Alta. – Gail Grant, teacher

Gail submitted a story about how she uses computers, digital cameras and printers to create images that replace the spoken word, empowering and helping her special education preschool students to communicate in a world full of complicated languages. 

In Gail’s words, “Imagine a world where technology opens the world to those previously not able to participate in it. Imagine a world where a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Imagine a world where a boy with autism or Down Syndrome, a girl with cerebral palsy or Prader-Willi Syndrome, children with global developmental delays and those who love them can communicate. I do. I see it every day. That is why I embrace technology as part of my tool kit as a teacher.”

Winner #2: H.J. Cambie Secondary School in Richmond, B.C. – Grace Ho, teacher

Although Grace teaches in a portable classroom with very little access to technology, she explained how she incorporates the limited technology she has into her lesson plans by having students use iPods, digital cameras and home Internet access to create unique and interesting class projects.

Grace wrote, “For a long time, I felt like my hands were tied since I had no classroom computer … no projector ... Then I realized that the classroom was bigger than the four walls of my portable. It included my home, my students’ homes and the whole virtual world. I love teaching with technology even when the technology is not in the classroom. Now imagine what we would be capable of if it were.”

Winner #3: Richmond Rose Public School in Richmond Hill, Ont. – Farhana Panju, teacher

Farhana’s entry told the story of how her students used technology to help their peers develop a sense of empathy for the people who were severely affected by the earthquake in Haiti. As a class, they used the Internet, Google Earth, a video camera and iMovie to create Public Service Announcements to raise awareness within the school.

“My class and I are extremely excited to receive the technology prize pack.  The new equipment will provide greater opportunities for students to gather, analyze and share information in engaging and meaningful ways,” said Farhana. “With the increased accessibility of online resources, students will further be able to participate in authentic learning tasks which transcend the walls of the classroom and build awareness of the world around them.  I look forward to continuing to explore new and creative ways of integrating technology to enhance the learning experience of my students.” 

Winner #4: Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary in Surrey, B.C. – Lee Ferrier, teacher

Lee told the story of John, a student in the Grade 12 remedial English class who had very little interest in learning or attending class. Through his exposure to his post-bachelor training, TLITE (Teaching and Learning in an IT Environment), Lee experimented with various technology tools to engage students. After several failed attempts, Lee used a wiki to transform John from a ‘sleeping guy at the back of the room’ to an active participant. John even assumed a peer-teacher role, showing other students how to create their own web pages. Lee wrote, “I was truly startled by the zeal John had when given the opportunity to learn through a medium with which he was comfortable.”

Winner #5: Maywood Community School in Burnaby, B.C. – David Kelsey, teacher

David’s entry described how he piqued the interest of one of his students using a program that created computer-based comic strips. With David’s encouragement, his student, who struggled with reading and writing, created his own graphic novel using photos he had taken of his friends and family.

“I needed to change the direction of my teaching style to build some momentum with my student’s newfound interest,” wrote David. “His confidence allowed him to direct others in a step-by-step demonstration on how to create a graphic novel using digital cameras and computer … He has created three graphic novels and is in the process of converting his original into a text-based book.  Technology has supported his change from literature avoider to author.” 

Winner #6: John Wanless Junior Public School in Toronto, Ont. – Julie Millan, teacher-librarian

In her “Starting Young” essay, Julie debunks the myth that students in kindergarten and grade one are too young to use computers. She believes young students are more than capable of not only using technology, but using it in sophisticated ways. As a result of encouraging kindergarten teachers to introduce technology to their classes, quiet students blossomed on the computers and students who couldn’t write the alphabet learned to type their names on a keyboard. One teacher even decided to use an interactive whiteboard as part of her traditional “show and tell” routine.

“While at first this may appear to be a story about convincing teachers to allow kindergarten students to start using computers; in reality this small shift in perception around children’s technological capabilities fundamentally changed how technology is used and addressed in our entire school. Once our young students showed us what they were capable of, it challenged the teachers of the older grades to not just use the computers, but also to develop interesting and challenging technology projects,” concluded Julie.

Tweet UR Tech Tale Winners

Winners described in a single tweet how technology has been or can be used to enhance the learning experience in their classroom or school.

• Chris Hale, Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, Ont.
  “Podcasts from students who fear to present in front of class; NING and wikis to inform students, parents, staff.”
• Rodd Lucier, Regina Mundi Catholic College in London, Ont.
  “We use a lab of notebook computers to support at-risk students in catching up on their work.”

“Teachers’ active participation in the social networks we’ve created on Twitter and Facebook this year, along with the positive response to our new Twitter contest, have demonstrated that Canadian educators can be both resourceful and tech savvy. Educators have shown a clear commitment to integrating technology into their lesson plans and to making learning a fun and a wondrous experience. We are pleased to have created new platforms that have allowed teachers to share stories and ideas that push the envelope when it comes to technology in education,” added Yule.