In its 14th year, the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC) attracted 600,000 unique candidates who competed to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products.
145 student finalists from 47 countries participated in the final round of competition.
“More than 1.2 billion people use Office worldwide, and these students have taken the time to set themselves apart as the best of the best,” said Alison Cunard, general manager of Learning Experiences at Microsoft. “Earning a Microsoft Office Specialist certification has already provided proof that they have the necessary skills to succeed in academics and the workforce. Winning the World Championship puts them in a class of their own, and we look forward to seeing how they put their Microsoft Office skills to use in the future”
Let me introduce you to the 14 year oldstudent fromELKANAH HOUSE HIGH SCHOOL, SAMANTHA KNUPP,
who has put SOUTH AFRICAon the map! C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S!
and…3rd Place goes to…
Participation Award
The Top 3 in the WORLD
Receiving her Award
Some Cowgirl fun!
THE WINNERS
The 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Champions in WORD 2010 are:
First place, Manuel Burgos, Dominican Republic Second place, Ryan Catalfu, USA THIRD PLACE, SAMANTHA KNUPP, SOUTH AFRICA Fourth place, Risa Sato, Japan
Fifth place, Lizhen Chan, Singapore
Sixth place, Titya Eng, Cambodia
Seventh place, Minh Tien Tran, Vietnam
Eighth place, Wei-Lun Chen, Taiwan
Ninth place, Ellen Greenly, New Zealand
Tenth place, Tang Baoen, China
WHO IS THE OFFICIAL WORLD SPONSOR AND HOST OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS?
CERTIPORT recognized the top Microsoft Word 2010 competitors at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship Student Awards Ceremony at the Gaylord Texan Grapevine Resort in Dallas, Texas. Certiport is the Worldwide Competition Sponsor and Organiser.
“These winners are part of an elite group that know how to use Microsoft Word efficiently and to its full potential,” said Aaron Osmond, vice president of the global Certiport offering for Pearson VUE. “We are proud to support this competition as a vehicle to promote what the world needs most – young people who possess in-demand workforce skills.”
The Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship is a global competition that tests students’ skills on Microsoft Office applications. Participating in this competition provides you with an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills, have some fun, impress student colleagues and gain recognition. As the competition sponsor, Certiport wants to provide you a platform to demonstrate your success.
WHERE WILL BE WORLD WIDE COMPETITION BE HELD NEXT YEAR [2016]?
Certiport will host the 2016 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Disneyworld [Orlando, Florida]. Promo video will follow!
The event hashtag is#MOSWC
WHO IS THE OFFICIAL SA NATIONAL SPONSOR AND ORGANIZER?
NetLEARN is the official organizer and sponsor of the SA national competition from which the finalists are selected to compete at the World Championships.
NetLEARN is the South African Partner for Certiport, a Pearson VUE company. NetLEARN Update is a Full Solution provider and implementer of Electronic Training and Testing, face-to-face training as well as audio-visual training through motivational DVDs. We have an awesome team to assist with Administration and Technical Support. NetLEARN is also a supplier of books and exams.
SO, YOU ARE PROBABLY WONDERING HOW TO ENTER?
To participate, a student must submit a passing score on any of the following certification exams:
Microsoft Office Specialist – Word 2010
Microsoft Office Specialist – Excel 2010
Microsoft Office Specialist – PowerPoint 2010
Microsoft Office Specialist – Word 2013
Microsoft Office Specialist – Excel 2013
Microsoft Office Specialist – PowerPoint 2013
To compete in the final round of the Championship, students must be between the ages of 13 and 22 (as of 15 June, 2016)
A student may enter in one, two or all three applications from a MOS track [only applicable if the student has not entered before].
NOTE: if a student participated in a prior World Championship competing on Microsoft Excel 2010, he/she can compete in a Microsoft Word or PowerPoint track, but can NOT compete in the Microsoft Excel 2010 or 2013 track in the World Championship.
NetLEARN OFFERS FREE WORKSHOPS TO EXPLAIN AND COACH STUDENTS ON THE ENTIRE PROCESS OF ENTERING AND WHAT TO DO IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE! CONTACT US TO PUT YOUR NAME ON THE LIST FOR 2016
CONTACT LINDA : linda@netlearn.co.za for more information or any questions regarding participating, certification or training
AND…WHAT HAPPENS AT THE MOS WORLDWIDE COMPETITION?
After arriving and settling in at the stunning hotel one would seek out the registration conference venue. This is where name lanyards, backpacks with lots of goodies are handed out. After checking which exam session you have been assigned to, one would grab the opportunity to test out the keyboard and ask any questions. The opening cocktail function then follows in the evening where one would circulate and meet all the entrants from around the world, as well as the Partners and Chaperons. This is where we exchange lots of friendship contact cards.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
The next day,after a good sleep from the hectic travel schedule and a scrumptious breakfast everyone gathers for the opening ceremony where one is addressed on the entire happenings for the few days.
The rest of the day is spent preparing for your 50 minutes exam session, supporting others, or chilling out in the student games room.
In the concluding round, that is, the exam session, competitors participate in unique project-based tests [50 minutes] to demonstrate their ability to create documents in Word, Excel or PowerPoint. The vibe is awesome, lots of excitement and the Certiport team always entertaining you fabulously … making your exam session relaxed and pumped at the same time. Lots of videos and photographs are snapped by chaperons, partners, and Certiport.
YOU ARE PROBABLY WONDERING WHAT YOU CAN WIN?
SA NATIONAL CHAMP – NetLEARN Update is the official sponsor of the SA National Champions and provides the top student/s, who meet the full criteria, a sponsored trip [full details of which are shared nearer the SA National Finals by Jenny Cole, CEO of NetLearn]. This is in itself the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the World Championships with the NetLEARN team. NetLEARN also recognizes the top 3 nationally.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – Certiport presented the first, second and third place winners with scholarship money ($5,000, $3,000, and $1,000 respectively), a medal, a trophy and various Microsoft products [Samantha received a Droid and an HP Tablet plus $1000].
Entrants next year could win sponsorship money which Certiport has increased to: 1st prize – $7.500; 2nd prize – $5,000 and 3rd prize – $2,500 [final prize money will be posted on the Certiport website in due course, along with the promo video for 2016]
Just to attend the World Championships, representing SA, with the cream of the crop across the globe is a huge prize, and that alone gives you the competitive edge being ready for the workplace! Who knows, you might even feature in the Promo Video for the following year!
AND, OF COURSE, WHAT ABOUT THE FUN ELEMENT?
Each year Certiport chooses a location in the USA to host the World Championships. NetLEARN has sponsored students for the past 3 years. During 2013, two students from Elkanah House [Shaun Nothard and Tshimologo Molefe] were selected Nationally to attend the World Championships held in Washington, 2014 was held in Anaheim, Disneyland [Elkanah House took top spots again Nationally with Shaun Nothard, Jema Green and Kathrine Hinchcliffe as well as the Adobe spot, James Campbell-Gibson]. This year we were treated to Dallas, Texas!
Here are a few pics of the fun times and places we were fortunate to visit and enjoy this year!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
SO, START WORKING TOWARDS BEING THE NEXT TOP MOSWC NOW!
WHERE CAN I ACCESS HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / VIDEOS / DETAILS OF THE 2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS?
Congratulations to Samantha Knupp, a student at Elkanah House High School, who achieved 100% for her Microsoft Office Specialist Word 2010 Project examination. This outstanding achievement, along with her excellent official Microsoft Office Specialist Word Certification result has earned her a sponsorship to represent South Africa at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championships in Dallas, Texas.
NetLEARN Update is the official sponsor and organizer for both the Adobe Certified Associate and Microsoft Office Specialist SA Championships.
Certiport, annually hosts a Worldwide Championship for MOS [Microsoft Office Specialist] and Adobe [Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator]. These competitions are aimed at students between 13 and 22 years who are registered at an educational institution.
Samantha will be travelling to Dallas, Texas on the 7th of August along with Tiffany Onderstall [Inscape Design College] the Adobe SA Finalist as well as the NetLEARN Team. We wish both girls the best of luck as they prepare to represent South Africa at the World Champs.
Here is a Promo Video of the 2013 and 2014 Round Up where Elkanah House students were also top in South Africa and featured in the video:
Over the past few weeks much excitement lead up to the awarding of SA’s TOP 3 Adobe Certified Associate Champions lastFriday afternoon, 26 June 2015.
Fifteen South African students from various colleges and schools entered the competition this year. Official details about the competition can be located at: www.acachampionship.com
STUDENT FINAL PROJECT POSTERS ON SHOW AT THE AWARDS FUNCTION
Certiport, annually hosts a Worldwide Championship for MOS [Microsoft Office Specialist] and Adobe [Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator]. These competitions are aimed at students between 13 and 22 years who are registered at an educational institution. This year’s competition venue is Dallas, Texas.
NetLEARN is the organiser of the SA National Competition from which the finalists are selected to compete at the World Championships. Last year, NetLEARN sponsored 4 scholars to compete in Disneyland, California.
Below is a Promo Video of the event last year and the announcement of this years location:
NetLEARN is extremely proud of each and every one of the students due to the high standard of creativity and design of their posters. Competition was very stiff this year and the adjudication process took much longer than expected to reach the decision of to award the top three winners in SA.
Students went through a four hour project exam of which the theme was Africa Month, and the Upskilling of our Youth – they were adjudicated on three criteria: Project Requirements, Design Skills and Technical Skills. We invited judges from a variety of design colleges and companies to ensure fairness and to reach the ultimate decision of awarding the top three in SA. Here are some pics of the adjudication at Inscape as well as the students who took part in the project exam.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
LINDA BRIEFING THE STUDENTS BEFORE THE START OF THE SATURDAY PROJECT EXAM!
This year the event took place at Parklands College Secondary and we thank Richard Knaggs for agreeing to host the event, setting up the venue and for supplying the refreshments.
In addition, huge appreciation goes to Jessica Ricco, IT Educator at Parklands College for helping prior and on the day of the event.
Tanya Dreyer from Inscape was, without a doubt, a huge inspiration and her coordination and communication were impeccable – thank you Tanya!
We also acknowledge the videographer, Michael Brosziet of Everlasting Memories Videography for doing such a stunning job on the day.
THANK YOU TO DR WILMOT JAMES [SHADOW MINISTER OF HEALTH] FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF HIS BUSY SCHEDULE TO HAND OVER THE TOP THREE AWARDS. IT IS MUCH APPRECIATED!
THE ADOBE SA FINAL AWARDS
INVITE TO STUDENTS
THANKS TO RICHARD AND JESSICA
TANYA YOU ARE A STAR
THANKS INSCAPE ADJUDICATORS, EVA FROM ALCHEMY360 AND PAUL FROM DIGICAPE
OUR 15 STUDENTS
CONGRATULATIONS FIRST PLACE GOES TO:
TIFFANY ONDERSTALL FROM INSCAPE
WHO WAS AWARDED 1st PLACE AND WON A SPONSORED TRIP BY NETLEARN UPDATE TO DALLAS, TEXAS. SHE WILL REPRESENT SA AND COMPETE AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN AUGUST!
CONGRATULATIONS SECOND PLACE GOES TO:
JAMES CAMPBELL-GIBSON FROM FRIENDS OF DESIGN
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
CONGRATULATIONS THIRD PLACE GOES TO:
VICTORIA ISABELLA LESLIE-MILLER FROM REDHILL
HERE ARE A FEW PICS OF OUR EVENT AND THE AWARDING OF PRIZES – A VIDEO WILL BE PRODUCED ABOUT THE EVENT IN DUE COURSE!!
DON’T MISS THESE TWO FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE AT TEACHMEETS LINED UP FOR JULY AND AUGUST.
THESE MEETS WILL COVER ALL PRESENTATIONS FOR ALL GRADES, TECHNOLOGIES, DEVICES AND PLATFORMS.
COME AND JOIN US FOR A RELAXED, FUN-FILLED,
CUPCAKE COLLABORATIVE AFTERNOON and GROW YOUR PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK AND ADD TO
YOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT!
Have been really busy since the MicrosoftMeet held at Bishops recently – and apologies for the late report back. Thank you to Sally Bowes for offering the use of the venue for the meet and special thanks to Anthony Fortuin and Justin Richter from Bishops who went the extra mile on the day!
I will be sending out a schedule of dates shortly, with a more regular schedule of TeachMeets. The next meet will be at Rondebosch Boys Prep School, thank you Warren Sparrow for arranging this!
We had a few issues with connectivity on the day and some presentations were not able to be viewed at the meet, but I have listed all presenters and presentations below, so that you can go through them and collaborate with the presenter, should you wish to do so.
Linda Foulkes – Overview of the Microsoft Educator Network, the benefits – chatted about MIEE, the process and benefits of entering as well as Sway. Mentioned the benefits of using OneNote in the Classroom as my learning activity for E2
Fiona Beal – Presented on the many Useful Ways to use PowerPoint in the Classroom
Sachita Jeeta, from Mauritius, presented on Skype in the Classroom / Mystery Skype https://goo.gl/3DTAqQ
What a wonderful weekend of SA project writing for the Adobe and Microsoft Office Specialist – South African Finals!
NetLEARN Update is the official organizer and sponsor for the annual Adobe and MOS SA Finals. The top in each category will represent SA at the Microsoft Office Specialist Worldwide Championships and the Adobe Certified Associate World Championships in Dallas, Texas this August. Sponsorship will be awarded to the candidate who fulfills all of the requirements in each category – the final decision will be taken by Jenny Cole, CEO of NetLEARN Update ín consultation with the judging panel selected from industry.
WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD AND NATURALLY A BUZZ OF EXCITEMENT THIS WEEK, JUDGING THE CANDIDATES WORK IN ANTICIPATION OF THE FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL OUR PASSIONATE AND HARD WORKING ENTRANTS – THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING PART OF THIS AMAZING JOURNEY AND OPPORTUNITY – EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU ARE A WINNER!
Here is a taster from Certiport of the exciting event up for grabs, which is being held in August 2015.
Who will mark their mark representing South Africa at the World Championships?
For those of you who are interested in participating in 2016, start working towards this goal NOW! Contact Linda via email on linda@netlearn.co.za for more information or visit our FACEBOOK page .
CREATE, CERTIFY, COMPETE!
Here are a few pictures of our journey thus far – all candidates wrote project exams on Saturday, 30th May at their respective schools, and colleges:
Ever since I can remember, I have always been drawn to Microsoft Technologies, whilst working in corporate and academic training environments for more than 25 years – it all started at UCT, many moons ago, and two of my biggest dreams were to visit THE Microsoft building, or to work for Microsoft.
Thank you, Microsoft, for making one of my dreams come true during 2015! The opportunity to be physically present @ Microsoft Redmond, Building 92, was awesome!
It was a memorable experience being able to travel to Redmond representing South Africa at the Global Forum with Warren Sparrow, Mabore Lekalakala, and Mokhudu Cynthia. Great moments were had with this bunch, as well as with Angela Schaerer [Microsoft in Education : Academic Programme Manager] 🙂
There were 249 MIEExperts attending the Redmond Global Forum from around the globe, I am extremely privileged to be one of them!
After travelling to Redmond, we had the opportunity to write the MCE exam the following morning. I will write an additional post about this stunning certification, but we were thrilled to have passed the exam, which was a great start to the Global Forum E2 visit.
KEYNOTES
The keynotes at E2 were extremely motivational. BRAVERY, COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP was the theme for the entire forum – even down to the DrumCafe session. Anthony Salcito, Vice President, Worldwide Education, Microsoft addressed us with his presentation on EXPECT MORE, DO MORE, BE MORE
TECH TEACHMEET
This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our learning activities and collaboration at its best! We were grouped according to technologies used,which was great as we could interact with each other as to how we have created the learning experience for education. The atmosphere was buzzing with MIEExperts from all over the world setting up at round tables. The session was arranged so that each MIE had an opportunity to walk around and get to know one another and explain their activity. At this session I was pleased to have met Aaron Maurer, who’s activity really engaged me – he encouraged one to interact practically with his learning activity. You will see a pic of him [in the bowtie] on the TeachMeet slideshow, below as well as a pic of my toothbrush motor I created at his table. The other highlight for me was a discussion with Mike Tholfsen [Programme Manager, OneNote] who introduced me to the OneNote Engineer – Scott who listened to me discuss how I would enhance OneNote for Teachers.
EDUCATOR LED SESSIONS
Before leaving for Redmond, the MIEExperts chose from a list of Educator Led Sessions to attend at the Global Forum. I attended the session on Office 365, run by SA MIEExpert, Warren Sparrow and Mette Hauch. Warren really did SA proud! We were taken on a journey through the features of O365.
I also attended the session on the use of Minecraft in the Classroom, which was a panel driven conversation – very interesting to hear from those who just started using Minecraft in the classroom and those who have been using it for some time.
The last session I chose was OneNote [of course, I chose that session as I love OneNote 🙂– always more to consume]. Joshua Sawyer and Kevin Sait [Head of IT Strategy for Wymondham High Academy Trust in the UK] were absolutely outstanding – learnt so much from their experiences with OneNote and also how Kevin implemented Wymondham High O Team, a group of students who have been instrumental in developing the use of Office 365, OneNote and mobile devices at his school.
Angela Schaerer and Warren Sparrow presented on 21C Learning Design, a great session with an interactive task!
2015 Technology Expo, Kent ShoWare Center
THIS WAS AN AMAZING OUTING – I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the 2015 Technology Expo – a venue FULL of little children who are using technology extensively in the classroom. I was blown away by the confidence and knowledge of these little beings. Such an inspiration! A few really stood out for me, so I will share these but there is so many more experiences I had during this expo.
The ONENOTE Guru’s
These two boys demonstrated how they use OneNote at school. They engaged in adult conversation with me and had an answer for any question I asked. I had such a cool chat to them and we shared how we would enhance the programme for teachers.
This little girl explained all the icons in order to draw – after she explained so confidently, she made me sit down and go through all the icons myself to draw a picture. She kept coming back to help me when I was stuck and explained how I needed to use the tools – BRILLIANT!
The Tech Integration project below was another great experience for me – the topic was banned and un-banned books and why parents do not let their children read books which are banned. The boy on the right created a game where you would be given a list of books and need to select whether banned or un-banned – you wll see a child completing the assessment in the picture below:
There were so many more moments at the tech expo, but think you have the idea.
THEN, THE BEST FOR LAST….
GROUP 23 – COLLABORATIVE PROJECT
The Global Educator challenge is where MIE Experts ‘walk the talk’ showing the impact of technology on students readiness, classrooms, educators and communities worldwide. MIE Experts are divided into groups with peers from different parts of the world to design a project around the use of Microsoft technologies within the specific theme of Bravery, Courage, and Leadership.
I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with all these wonderful MIEExperts – we really did a good job getting to know each other – collaboration and continued interaction is the key to forums such as this. We are all staying in contact and have the advantage of seeing each others work being part of the Facebook group for MIEExperts.
CONTINUE TO SAY THE FOLLOWING TO YOURSELF EVERY MORNING I MATTER (I AM ENOUGH)! Note to self to remember everyday for 30 days for 30 seconds a day, to build the habit. I MATTER #MSFTEduE2My superpower is….
Here are a few of my best moments from E2 – the most beneficial for me was the contacts and collaborative opportunities I achieved through being an MIE before, during and after the E2 Global Forum. I encourage every teacher to submit their learning activity for 2016 and that you sign up for the Educator Network on http://www.educatornetwork.com for amazing free tools, learning activities, tutorials, projects and earn badges for free professional development courses.
You might have attended the Microsoft Roadshow recently or missed it completely – no worries, here is the opportunity you have been waiting for!
It is time to collaborate together at the first MICROSOFTMEET held by NetLEARN Update. You will be inspired by all the free technologies Microsoft has to offer the educator. In addition, if you are wanting a relevant, current and rewarding professional development route for your teachers, which has badge incentives and tracking, then this session is not to be missed.
Do not be left behind, equip yourself with the knowledge of what is out there to enable teachers to successfully educate our youth using technology as a tool in the classroom.
The MICROSOFTMEET will be run just like previous TeachMeets – with some prizes, cupcakes, refreshments and a great bunch of “unconference” fun, getting together to share experiences.
Should you be willing to share a presentation, idea, tool, or just something [big or small] which worked for you in the classroom – please sign up as a Keen Bean.
If you would just like to enjoy the two hours and collaborate with others, then sign up as an Enthusiastic Lurker.
Should you not be able to make the event but want to contribute something – please do so either by submitting a short audio or video clip or presentation which we can all view at the Meet.
If you would like to follow us, use the following hashtag: #MSFTMeetSA
SHOULD YOU WISH TO SIGN UP RIGHT NOW, CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FORM:
Should you wish to know more….contact me as per the advert below.
This afternoon I participated at a TeachMeet for the Jabi Government Secondary School, Abuja, Nigeria. Their stunning school website is located at http://www.gssjabi.com/
Thank you to Wellington Oboh for inviting me as a presenter to share the Microsoft Educator Network and Office Mix. It was great to see all the smiling, happy faces throughout the Skype session. I shared my screen in order to present on MSEN, then used the same presentation as an OfficeMix example explaining how one would add Office Mix via the mix.office.com website directly into PowerPoint, the features of Mix as well as a few design considerations.
THEME OF THE TEACHMEET WAS:
“Bridging the divide between digital native learners and traditional teachers by growing a culture of Teaching and Learning though 21st century skills and technology”
The views, opinions, positions, or strategies expressed in this blog by the author and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the institutions to which the author is affiliated.
In the concluding round, that is, the exam session, competitors participate in unique project-based tests [50 minutes] to demonstrate their ability to create documents in Word, Excel or PowerPoint. The vibe is awesome, lots of excitement and the Certiport team always entertaining you fabulously … making your exam session relaxed and pumped at the same time. Lots of videos and photographs are snapped by chaperons, partners, and Certiport.
Angela Schaerer and Warren Sparrow presented on 21C Learning Design, a great session with an interactive task!
to them and we shared how we would enhance the programme for teachers.
Foulkes @ Work 
