Experiences from Singapore: The E2 Education Exchange 2018

Reflecting on E2, I sense that the event will be one of the most special and inspirational times of my life. It all began in December when I received an email from Anne Taylor inviting me to participate in this years' E2 event in Singapore as part of the team representing New Zealand.

So what is this thing called E2? I hear you say. Well, E2 is a global educational exchange where innovative educators from around the world gather together to collaborate and share their experiences on how to integrate technology to support learning and transform education on a global scale by acting locally.

As many of you who follow my blog are aware, I am based in China (a Chinese kiwi or Chiwi), so travelling involved coming from Nanjing via Guangzhou. At midnight, I landed at Changi Airport in Singapore and made my way excitedly to the conference hotel venue fall of anticipation for the week ahead. After a nights sleep, my first port of call was to meet up with the New Zealand team (see below for what this motley crew looked like) and that was when learning began. This week would introduce us to the magical world of Microbit, Hololens and Minecraft.

The New Zealand Team at E2

E2 Education Exchange Learning Event

The sharing of experiences and learning continued over the next three days. The main theme of the event was computational thinking. The mornings were filled with keynotes delivered by inspiring speakers like Aggeliki Pappa and Emma Naas that brought us through their journeys and professional experiences, reminding us of the importance of persistence, self-belief and challenging ourselves in growing as educators.

The rest of the day was divided into different breakout sessions.  Bring the world into your classroom with Skype with Emma Naas, Giving Students Voice and Choice in their Learning with fellow kiwi fellow Morgan, how 21CLD works inside existing school frameworks with another kiwi fellow, Nikkie and finally taking teaching global with the Sustainable Development Goals through Kristine Holloway where I learnt about the Kakuma project helping refugees learn.

Educator Challenge

Teamwork and collaboration were at the heart of the educational activities of the event. We were divided into different groups to participate in the Educator Challenge. The objective of the challenge was to create a lesson plan and a video by hacking an existing lesson to include computational thinking, equity for all students and empowering students to be active creators. I was lucky to be assigned Team 23 with an amazing group of innovative educators from France, Finland, Nigeria and Pakistan. Equipped with Microsoft Translator, Eric, Pekka, Abdulazeez and Usama quickly got to work collaborating to create a lesson plan that puts students at the centre of the learning experience.

As part of my own personal challenge (ok, Carmen convinced me and everyone in the NZ team was doing it), I also undertook the Microsoft Certified Educator examinations focusing on 21st Century learning and computational thinking and was ecstatic to pass to become a certified Microsoft Educator!

Learning Marketplace

This was one of my favourite parts of the event. During the learning marketplace, educators from around the world shared how they integrate educational technology into their every practice in the classroom to let their learners grow. The room was filled with 310 expert educators from 91 countries and it was amazing to see the sharing ideas, experiences and connecting that occurred through the exchanging information and planning future collaborative projects together. 

Microsoft Educator Community

However, learning did not finish at the end of the day. There were a lot of different things to see: The beautiful and amazing city of Singapore, its culture and its people. Groups of MIEs ventured together around the streets of this picturesque city to experiences the sounds, smells and sights. 

E2 Award Ceremony

The Award Ceremony marked the perfect ending to this incredible event. The ceremony took place in the beautiful Gardens by the Bay and different teams were celebrated for their effort, creativity and teamwork during the completion of the Educator Challenges. It was with great honour that Team 23 was selected as the runner-up in the decomposition section of the challenge.

Even though I am really proud that my team won this Award, the best prize that I brought home with me was the group of friends that I made in Singapore. A great group of innovative, passionate and inspiring professionals that try each day to improve their students learning experiences by bringing technology into their classrooms to make their learners engaged with the world and capable of tackling the world's problems now.

So in conclusion, I would like to thank those who have supported me over the years and those who made it possible for me to attend this inspiring event that has deeply transformed me, in particular, Microsoft Education New Zealand. Let us as educators be the spark that ignites the fire in our learners.