November 28th and 29th 2017 Microsoft held our Global Education Skype-a-Thon 2017 to open hearts and open minds which was a huge success! Together, we've connected nearly half a million students and travelled over 14,500,000 virtual miles in 48 hours! Thank you to all the teachers, speakers, and students who made this achievement possible. A special thanks comes from the Microsoft Edu Team in the UK, going out to all our amazing educators and MIEExpert community in the UK who participated in this amazing experience.

Be inspired by innovative educators bringing incredible experiences to the classroom, like Mystery Skype, Virtual Field Trips, Guest Speakers and a range of other activities as we travel virtually around the world. Watch the video below to see this year's amazing Global Journey, featuring some of our amazing Microsoft Showcase schools here in the UK, St Joseph's RC CofE Primary and Nursery School in Derbyshire and Ark Swift Primary in London. 

During Skype-a-Thon St Joseph's, a small primary school in Derbyshire, travelled on a Virtual Field Trip to Lisbon Zoo in Portugal where they completed an exciting quest to locate the Princess' crown! Following their adventure, the children also Skyped with the Director of Education in the UK, Ian Fordham, and told him about their inspiring Skype-a-Thon experiences and asked him questions about his job at Microsoft.

Over the two days, Ark Swift Primary, part of the Ark Academy, visited Microsoft HQ in London Paddington to also participate in Skype-a-Thon adventures. They connected with Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Worldwide Education at Microsoft, over Skype and again shared their virtual travels and asked him questions about his work with Microsoft. In addition, Cindy Rose, CEO of Microsoft in the UK, visited the children in person to see their excitement and share in the experience with them.

Participate in Skype-a-thon 2018 at https://education.microsoft.com/skypeathon.