The #Digitaliada contest jury selected nine winners out of the 224 digital educational materials submitted in the 3rd edition of the contest. Apps, Video Content, and Didactic Projects were the 3 sections opened for submission and, within each category, three materials were awarded. Winners received high-performance digital equipment to further support their development work and the creation of digital educational content, prizes with a total value of Eur 8,000.

"Many of the award-winning materials promote or develop the learning activities proposed in the new curricula and directly address specific training profile skills. I am convinced that this is the way an innovative teacher proves that the discipline he teaches is a method and not just a simple end - and the means of digital learning are no exception," said Ciprian Fartusnic, Senior Scientific Researcher, at the Education Sciences Institute.

#Digitaliada is a contest that encourages the creation of original and open source digital content, useful for the learning process. The contest is organized within Digitaliada, the digital education project of the Orange Foundation, and is mainly addressed to teachers from any school in Romania, as well as for anyone over the age of 14 interested in creating and distributing digital educational materials to the general public, which can be used in the teaching process of any school subject in the secondary school

The jury of the third #Digitaliada edition was made of Univ. Prof. Dr. Radu Gologan, President of the Mathematical Sciences Society and coordinator of The Olympic Lot of Mathematics - also the President of the Jury; Dr. Ciprian Fartusnic, Principal Scientist Researcher, Institute of Educational Sciences; Cristian Paţachia - Development & Innovation Manager - Orange Romania; Georgiana Roșculet - coordinator of national programs within the Save the Children Organization; Amalia Fodor, director of the Orange Foundation. "We are delighted to discover creators who are motivated to present different digital approaches and want to contribute to further improve students’ performance. At its third edition, the #Digitaliada contest succeeded in creating a community passionate about digital education,” said Amalia Fodor, director of the Orange Foundation.

Winners of #Digitaliada contest, 3rd edition:

APPLICATIONS SECTION

1st Prize - Radu Olteanu, who works  in advertising in Bucharest - He developed an interactive educational project called “Acum 100 de ani” (100 years ago), the first Visual-History platform in Romania, that seeks to facilitate the understanding of the World War I and the Great Union period in a digital manner. The prize is a performing laptop including software licenses, with a value of approx. Eur 2,000.

2nd Prize - Iulian Dinu, photographer and videographer from Prahova County - He submitted the Romania Altfel (Different Romania) project, the most complex virtual tour made in Romania, which contains various applications, also being VR-compliant. The prize is a performing laptop with licenses, with a value of approx. Eur 1,000.

3rd Prize - Aurora Dumitrescu, geography professor at the Virgil Madgearu Economic College in Târgu-Jiu, Gorj county. Her “Calatorie virtuala in Europa” (Virtual Travel in Europe) App, is a web page that portrays the natural, anthropic and cultural landscapes in Europe, including evaluation tests. The prize is a smartphone with video accessories, with a value of approx. Eur 800.

VIDEO CONTENT SECTION

1st Prize - Mircea Morar, professor of physics and mathematics at the Mihail Sadoveanu Secondary School in the Intorsura Buzaului, Covasna County. He created a video material called “Refractia luminii” (Refraction of Light). The video presents in an accessible and attractive format the refraction of light phenomenon, including animations and graphic representations. The prize is a performing laptop including software licenses, with a value of approx. Eur 1,500.

2nd prize - Gabriela Anton, instructor designer from Galaţi County. Her material “Ce este substantivul?” (What is the noun?), a visual mini narration, represents a contextualized approach to the teaching-learning lesson of this speech part, using a pal called Burunducel. The prize is a smartphone with video accessories, with a value of approx. Eur 800.

3rd prize - Carina Avram, professor of biology at the Terezianum Technical College of Food Industry, Sibiu County. Her video animation of the heart and blood circulation presents a brief history of the heart and its composition. The prize is a video camera with a value of approx. Eur 500.

TEACHING PROJECTS SECTION

1st prize - Gabriela Neculcea, professor of mathematics and IT&C at the Miron Costin Primary School School and at the Primary School No. 10, Bacau County. The project is called “Alice 3 - Tehnici de deplasare” (Alice 3 - Motion techniques) and aims to familiarize students with the use of the Alice 3 interactive graphical environment for practicing of algorithms. The prize is a performing laptop including software  licenses, with a value of approx. Eur 800.

2nd Prize - Dan Matei, Professor of history and geography at the Pui Primary School, Hunedoara County, with the English project: “Globalization, National and European Identity”. The material is a teaching scenario meant to get students more familiarized with notions such as globalization, national and European identity, and cultural diversity. The prize is a tablet, with a value of approx. Eur 500.

3rd Prize - Dorina Cojocaru, Professor of Romanian Language and Literature at the "St. Mary" Theoretical High School and Secondary  School No. 26, Galati County. His “Poveste de iarna” (Winter Story) didactic project consists of using the Web 2.0 technologies (Google Docs and Padlet) in the Romanian Language and Literature class in order to later create a winter story together with his students. The prize is an external hard drive, with a value of approx. Eur 250.

More about the winning materials here. 

About Digitaliada

Digitaliada is a digital education program that aims to encourage the use of technology to improve students' school performance. Within the program, the online platform www.digitaliada.ro has been developed as an online free digital educational content that can be accessed and used by anyone interested, students or teachers across the country.

About the Orange Foundation

The Orange Foundation is a nonprofit organization that engages in community life through philanthropy projects designed to bring positive changes to the lives of disadvantaged people. In over 6 years of activity, the Orange Foundation has invested more than 6.5 million euros in digital education projects for the disadvantaged and in health, education, culture for the benefit of visually impaired and / or hearing impaired, for their social integration.

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