UK Teacher Wins Trip to South Africa for EdTech Tour

EdTech Trip of a lifetime awaits UK teacher

Stephen Woollard, a teacher from Harrogate Grammar School, North Yorkshire, was selected as the winner of a nationwide competition hosted by e-textbook and e-learning provider, ITSI. The prize for the competition, which took place earlier this year at Bett – the world’s largest education technology show – includes an all-expenses-paid trip of a lifetime to South Africa.
 
Stephen, iPad Ambassador and leader of the Art, Design and IT faculty at Harrogate Grammar School, travelled to Pretoria on 27 May to spend a week with the ITSI team in South Africa, where the company was founded. During his time in South Africa, he will be visiting both educational institutions that are currently setting the pace for EdTech in the country as well as rural schools that rely on limited infrastructure and resources, yet are embracing 21st-century education and state of the art technology.  
 
Commenting about the upcoming trip, Stephen said:

“I was delighted to hear from ITSI that I had won a trip to South Africa. I was a teacher from 1997 to 2000 in Kenya, and having the opportunity to visit another part of Africa is a dream come true. I was incredibly excited to learn that I would be visiting multiple schools and exploring the ways in which they teach and how this compares to our UK schools!
 
“From a professional point of view, because my role involves developing our use of technology, I am certain there will be many common areas of interest in the schools I visit compared to my own. I am very excited to visit and through the contact I have had with ITSI, I know it is going to be a valuable experience!”
 
Gary Bryant, UK manager for ITSI, said:

“We are thrilled to be able to give Stephen the chance to see how South African schools have embraced and embedded education technology. Despite the UK’s lead in the edtech sector, we believe that he will be able to share his experience but also be pleasantly surprised at the way South African schools are embracing the latest technology so are sure he will also be able to bring back lots of ideas and practical tips to his school.”