LONDON,
28
May
201
3
; With the Lions tour just weeks away, World Cup winner Will Greenwood and Microsoft, the official technology provider to The 2013 British & Irish Lions, have launched a timely new series of school lessons aimed at promoting greater teamwork among pupils from an early age.
Created in partnership with Ollie Bray, Vice Principal at Grantown Grammar School and one of the UK’s leading technology teachers, the Teamwork & Technology programme has been designed to demonstrate how the principles of teamwork translate to the real world – using examples from the worlds of both sport and technology.
Using a timed simulation format, each classroom is split into groups and tasked with designing and presenting a new mobile phone app. Microsoft ambassador, Will Greenwood delivers the key instructions to the class over video throughout each lesson.
The lessons are aimed at upper primary and early secondary school classes and are being shared as a free resource for teachers and youth group leaders across the UK through Microsoft’s Partners in Learning network.
Steve Beswick, Director of Education, Microsoft UK, explained why the development of collaborative working skills is an important lesson for pupils:
“
Being able to work effectively as part of a team is a crucial skill in most workplaces, yet relatively little time is spent in the classroom
developing
these skills among school children from an early age. We wanted to create a fun, engaging
programme
that
give
s
young people the
se
vital skills,
and our partnership with The 2013 British & Irish Lions represented the perfect opportunity to do so.”
Microsoft ambassador Will Greenwood said:
“One of the biggest challenges of managing a Lions tour party is getting so many different nationalities and personalities to pull together in the same direction. Yet, our teachers face that very challenge on a daily basis. That is why we created the
programme
, because we wanted to show that the principles of how you build a strong team aren’t consigned to just sport, they are transferable to so many other walks of life too.”
Microsoft has a long history of working as a partner to the education sector in the UK. The company invests significantly in developing computing skills of young people from primary school age, as well as providing those without access to technology the chance to do so through the Shape The Future Programme.
Ends
For more information
about the
Teamwork & Technology programme
,
please
contact:
Microsoft Media Hotline
To view the lesson plans, please visit:
http://www.pil-network.com/Discussion/e2240ee5-140c-4275-9309-1b02eac126db
To view examples of the video instructions from Will Greenwood, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMW17Uko9DNIRinBOEGtrEVTkoWjgz1FC
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
