Plaudits for ICT Innovation in Tertiary Education Sector

Media Release

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Plaudits for ICT Innovation in Tertiary Education Sector

Waikato Institute of Technology wins Overall Innovation Award at the 2013 Microsoft Tertiary ICT Innovation Awards

The Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) took out the Overall Innovation Award at the Microsoft Tertiary ICT Innovation Awards in Tauranga, held annually as part of the Tertiary Education ICT Conference. Wintec won the award for its innovative use of cloud-based technologies to improve the overall experience for students, staff and stakeholders.

Wintec’s winning entry outlined how the Hamilton-based institution has integrated cloud-based technologies, including a customer relationship management system and a customer service application, to improve services and interactions with its many stakeholders across the community.

Wintec Chief Executive Mark Flowers says: “It is extremely satisfying to receive this award for our forward-thinking approach to technology. We have invested in leading-edge technology in all areas of our organisation. Using more cloud-based technologies has allowed us to be more agile in meeting the needs of our students and stakeholders,” says Mr Flowers.

Held at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic in Tauranga as part of the 31st Annual Tertiary ICT Conference, the Microsoft Innovation Awards celebrate ICT excellence within the tertiary education sector.

In addition to the overall Innovation Award, two awards were given for Innovation in Connecting Students to New Technologies and Services, and Innovation in Connecting Staff and Students to Collaborative Teaching and Learning Environments. Submissions focused on a range of innovations including processes designed to improve services, through to student portals and mobile applications aimed at enabling educators and students to reach their full potential.

Matt Bostwick, Tertiary Education Sector Manager at Microsoft New Zealand, says it is inspiring to see New Zealand’s tertiary education institutions leading the way in the use of innovative technology.

“The conference theme for this year, ‘Get Connected’, highlights a key trend in the education sector where the application of smart technologies is helping universities and polytechnics to better connect staff and students to each other and collaborative learning environments, as well as improve outcomes for learners, educators and the broader community.”

Wintec received the Microsoft Innovation Award trophy and prizes, including Microsoft Surface Pro tablets in recognition of its cutting-edge work. Surface Pro provides people with a fully functional PC that looks, feels and acts like a tablet, so they are perfect for tertiary students and staff to use.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa was awarded the People’s Choice Award for its iMarae mobile app and a Special Judges’ Award was given to the University of Waikato’s Faculty of Education in recognition of its Kaitiaki Computer Recovery programme in schools.

The two category winners were:

• Innovation in Connecting Students to New Technologies and Services: Bay of Plenty Polytechnic for its student portal and mobile app project.

• Innovation in Connecting Staff and Students to Collaborative Teaching and Learning Environments: Te Wananga o Aotearoa for its iMarae mobile app.

The Microsoft Innovation Awards is another example of Microsoft’s commitment to the education sector. Other initiatives include the Partners in Learning programme, local tertiary education alliances, and leading software solutions designed to facilitate learning through the use of ICT.

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