The Mobile Learning Awards honour a digital library and a photography-based virtual experience

• The Catalan Minister of Education, Meritxell Ruiz, and the CEO of GSMA Ltd., John Hoffman, bestowed the prizes on the winners, selected from amongst entries by 100 schools across Catalonia
• mSchools acknowledged for the first time the engagement of schools in the digital sphere

February 25, 2016

Two projects on digital skills won the Mobile Learning Awards (MLA) 2016, the prizes recognising the most innovative technological projects developed in Catalonian classrooms. More than 100 projects participated in the initiative this year, which culminated with the awards ceremony held today during the “Changing Education Together” event, promoted by mSchools in conjunction with the Mobile World Congress.

The first winning entry was The Digital Library and School Radio, by the Escola Els Cossetans, in Cunit (Baix Penedès), which engages students as creators and consumers of contents. The second was the project 360 Degrees of Immersion Learning by the teacher Francesc Solans at the Institut Vallverdú, in Les Borges Blanques (Les Garrigues), in which a group of students created an educational product featuring 360-degree photos that will later be used to teach a group of younger students. Both entries demonstrate the success of virtual experiences as the foundations for a new model of classroom education. The first was the winner in the Most Innovative School in mEducation category, which also recognised the work of the Escola Sant Gervasi Cooperativa and the Institut Vall de Llémena. The second was the winner in the Best Learning Experiences with Mobile Technology in the Classroom category, which also recognised the entries by Mònica Escarcelle (Institut Pons d’lcart, Tarragona) and Oscar Ortego (Escola Anselm Clavé, Ripollet).

The Mobile Learning Awards – marking their fourth edition – seek to recognise students, teachers and schools for their innovative work promoting different ways of incorporating the use of mobile technologies into classrooms.

The event, well established in the educational community, registered extensive participation, with more than 100 learning experiences with mobile technology in the classroom and 32 innovative experiences at schools. The MLA form part of the mSchools programme, launched by Mobile World Capital Barcelona in collaboration with the Regional Government of Catalonia (through the Department of Education and the Department of Business and Knowledge, the City Hall of Barcelona, and GSMA.

The awards ceremony was held today, Thursday, February 25 as part of the Mobile World Congress programme, and was attended by the Catalan Minister of Education, Meritxell Ruiz, and GSMA Ltd. CEO John Hoffman.