World Innovation Summit for Education
The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) is an international initiative aimed at transforming education through innovation. WISE was established by Qatar Foundation in 2009 under the patronage of its chairperson, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser.[1] With a biennial Summit held in Doha, and a range of year-round initiatives, WISE's mission revolves around promoting new approaches to education and investigating new ways to address pressing global education challenges.[2]
Formation | 2009 |
---|---|
Type | Non-profit organization |
Headquarters | Doha, Qatar |
Region served | Worldwide |
Website | www.wise-qatar.org |
The Biennial Summit
The 3-day WISE Summit is held every 2 years in Doha, Qatar.[3] It unites over 1,500 experts, researchers, and innovators from multiple sectors worldwide to foster new collaborations and develop solutions with the goal of inspiring creative changes in education. The summit is currently organized by Stavros Yiannouka and his team. Each summit has a distinct theme.[4] The first summit was held in 2009 under the theme "Global Education: Working Together for Sustainable Achievements".[5] The 2019 WISE Summit will be held on 19-21 November under the theme, "UnLearn, ReLearn: What it means to be Human."
The WISE Prize for Education
The WISE Prize for Education is an international prize that rewards an individual or a team for contributions to education which have been adjudged to be outstanding. The inaugural edition was launched in 2011 with a monetary award of $500,000.[6]
Selection criteria for the prize stipulates that the laureate's work should have had a significant and lasting impact at any level of education. The laureate is selected by an international jury of education stakeholders and announced at the annual Summit.[7]
The first WISE Prize was awarded to Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairman of BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee).[8] The second prize, in 2012, went to Madhav Chavan, co-founder and CEO of India-based NGO Pratham.[6] The third WISE Prize laureate, announced at the 2013 Summit, was Vicky Colbert, founder and director of Fundacion Escuela Nueva in Colombia.[6] Ann Cotton, an advocate of girls' education, was awarded the 2014 prize.[9] Dr. Sakena Yacoobi was awarded the 2015 prize.[10] Most recently, the 2017 prize was awarded[11][12] to the founder and president of Ashesi University in Ghana, Dr. Patrick Awuah.
The 2019 WISE Prize will be announced during the Summit on 19-21 November.
Other activities
The WISE Awards
Each year the WISE Awards recognize and promotes six projects that address global educational challenges. A pre-jury composed of education experts assesses submissions and selects a shortlist of fifteen finalists. Following this, a jury chooses the six award-winning projects.[13] Winners receive a cash prize of $20,000. The first WISE Awards were handed out in 2009.[14]
Award Year | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Akilah Institute | United World Schools: Teaching the Unreached | Micro:bit Educational Foundation | Family Business for Education | Arpan's Personal Safety Education Programme | Programa Criança Feliz |
2018 | One Village One Preschool | Safe Space Club for Girls | Technology-Based Deaf Education | 1001 Nights Life Skills and Citizenship Education Program | Generation | Partners for Possibility |
2017 | Lights to Learn | 42 | Ubongo Edutainment | Speed School | The Learner Guide Program | PhET Interactive Simulations |
2016 | Education for Growth and Value Creation in Lebanon | Geekie: Personalized Learning for All | Ideas Box | JUMP Math | Little Ripples: Culturally Inspired
Pre-School |
Tara Akshar Literacy Program |
2015 | Al-Bairaq | Bridge International Academies | Nafham | Educate! | The Talking Book Program | VideoBook for Deaf Children |
2014 | Alternate Education for Rural Development in Peru | Me and My City | We Love Reading | The Song Room | Street Children: Re-integration through Education | Educate Girls |
2013 | Alison | iThra Youth Initiative | Medersat.com | Pathways to Education | PEAS | Te Kotahitanga |
2012 | Cristo Rey Network Corporate Work Study Program | PSU Educarchile | RoboBraille | Satya Bharti School Program | Solar-Powered Floating Schools | Cambodian Children's Fund Generational Change through Education |
2011 | BBC Janala | OpenStax CNX | Creative Partnerships | School-Business Partnerships | SueñaLetras | Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa (TESSA) |
2010 | The Citizens Foundation | Mother Child Education program (MOCEP) | The Smallholder Farmers Rural Radio | MIT OpenCourseWare | NextEinstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI) | Rewrite the Future |
2009 | Project Nanhi Kali | Escuela Nueva | Curriki | Distance Learning in the Amazon Forest | The Financially Sustainable School | Widows Alliance Network (WANE) |
WISE Research
The WISE Research Reports bring key topics to the forefront of the global education debate, and reflect the priorities of the Qatar National Research Strategy.[15] The reports are produced in collaboration with recognized experts and organizations from around the world.
WISE Books
WISE Books are aimed at supporting innovative thinking in education. As of October 2014, WISE has published three books addressing educational topics. WISE Book authors and photographers travel to several countries in an attempt to identify the challenges and illustrate the impact of initiatives and practices that are making tangible differences. The third book to be released by WISE, Learning (Re)Imagined - How the connected society is transforming learning focuses on the link between technology and education.[16]
WISE Learners' Voice
Learners' voice, inaugurated in 2010, is a program that aims to reshape students' perception of education. Each year, a selected group of young people, aged 18–25, participate at the annual summit by engaging in debates and making presentations. Workshop sessions are also held throughout the year.[17] In late 2013, 36 new learners joined the existing network of 78 learners from previous years.[18]
WISE Accelerator
The accelerator is a support and advisory program with the aim of developing early-stage projects in education. The program, founded in 2014, seeks to assist projects that have a high potential for scalability and a positive impact on the field of education.[1] The program selects five innovative projects from a variety of countries every year.
The past participants of the program, including country of origin and date of creation:[19]
Year of participation | Name | Country |
---|---|---|
2014-2015 | Ideas Box | France |
Kytabu Textbook Subscription | Kenya | |
Mobile Taleem | Pakistan | |
Sterio.me | Chile | |
Ustad Mobile | United Arab Emirates | |
2015-2016 | eduTechnoz | Canada |
Kepler | United States | |
Making Ghanaian Girls Great! | United Kingdom | |
Maths Curriculum Online | South Africa | |
TeachPitch | United Kingdom | |
2016-2017 | Aflatoun Education | The Netherlands |
Chalk.com | Canada | |
Edukasyon.ph | Philippines | |
Joko's World | Australia | |
Learn Syria | Canada | |
2017-2018 | CamBio Science | United Kingdom |
Doc Academy | United Kingdom | |
Pixis | France | |
Tabshoura in a Box | Lebanon | |
2018-2019 | Chatterbox | United Kingdom |
ImBlaze Internship Management System | United States | |
ScholarX | Nigeria | |
SmartScience | United States | |
UpTale | France | |
2019-2020 | AskMyClass | United States |
Wiloki | France | |
Medics.Academy | United Kingdom | |
Kamkalima | Lebanon | |
Wumbox | Argentina | |
Teacherly | United Kingdom | |
Livox | United States | |
Botter | Ethiopia |
Partners
The WISE initiative has cooperation agreements with the following institutions in major education issues: Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Institute of International Education (IIE), the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), RAND Corporation, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).[20]
References
- Rahim Kanani (5 July 2014). "WISE: The Global Platform For Innovators In Education". Forbes. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "About WISE". WISE Qatar. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "The WISE Summit". WISE Qatar. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "(As it happened) Imagine, Create, Learn: reinventing education at WISE summit 2014". Euronews. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "The 2009 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) convened November 16-18, in Doha, Qatar under the theme "Global Education: Working Together for Sustainable Achievements"". WISE Qatar. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- Sean Coughlan (29 October 2013). "Colombia school project founder wins global prize". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "The WISE Prize for Education". WISE Qatar. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- "WISE prize for education goes to Bangladeshi Sir Fazle Hasan Abed". UNICEF. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- Sean Coughlan (4 November 2014). "UK girls' education campaigner wins global prize". BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- Coughlan, Sean (2015-11-04). "Afghan education campaigner wins global prize". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
- "WISE Prize for Education 2017 presented to Ashesi Founder, Patrick Awuah". www.ashesi.edu.gh. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- "Interview with Patrick Awuah". Times Higher Education (THE). 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
- "Al-Bairaq is among six WISE Awards winners". Gulf Times. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- "IIE Partners with Qatar Foundation on World Innovation Summit on Education 2013". Institute of International Education. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- "2015 WISE Research". www.wise-qatar.org. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
- "WISE releases third book on education". The Peninsula. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- Francesca Green (16 March 2015). "WISE Learners' Voice Program for Educational Innovators". Lancaster University. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- "Qatar Foundation's WISE Learners' Voice: Call for Nomination". Institute of International Education. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- "2014-15 Program". Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- "The 5th Annual WISE Program for Education Leadership" (Press release). iie.org. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.