At the sixth Junior Web Award, SWITCH is today choosing the ten Swiss school classes that are the best web talents. And, for the very first time, a first prize is going to each of the Italian, French and German-speaking regions of Switzerland. One primary and one secondary school class can even take up their places twice on the winners' rostrum in the Kongresshaus Zürich.
Not just one but two classes are receiving two prizes at this year's Junior Web Award organised by the SWITCH Foundation and chosen from a total of 157 web projects. "Die wilde 13" submitted by the "Pädagogisches Zentrum für Hören und Sprache" has won the Public Prize, and also the first prize for the "Primary" category. The pupils from Münchenbuchsee (BE) staged their stories skilfully in sign language. The second winner of two awards is "Change Your Light", which animates readers to save electricity through the lights they use. The professionally implemented website of the "Ecole des Métiers Techniques" in Porrentruy (JU) has won first prize in the "Upper Secondary" category, together with the Programming Prize.
Winners from three language regions
"This year, for the very first time, a first prize has gone to each of the Italian, French and German-speaking regions of Switzerland", says a delighted Claudio Dionisio, the jury chairman. All ten winning projects from the primary schools through to the vocational school classes radiate imagination and variety: from an analysis of the school rubbish, via the instructions for a 3D graphics program, through to exciting physics experiments (see below for the ranking list, prizes and projects).
The friends and fans of the school classes are also important when it comes to the award of prizes. The jury awards the Jury Prize, but the public vote decides on the Public Prize and has a weighting of one third for the ranking order. IT skills also count, and Google Switzerland honours these with the Programming Prize. All 124 children and young people are going home with attractive prizes. These include a guided tour of the SF television studios, Microsoft C3 Notebooks and iPods for all the pupils. Presenter Katja Reichenstein is hosting the award ceremony in the so-called Bubble, which symbolises the way in which the Internet functions and makes it possible for the children and young people to "experience" the web.
Promotion of young talent in the web SWITCH launched the Junior Web Award in 2007, as a competition to promote young talent and, since then, more than 850 projects have been submitted. The Junior Web Award offers schoolchildren the opportunity to create their own website, allowing them to practice working with web technology through adopting a playful approach. SWITCH supports the participating school classes with information material and an easy-to-use CMS program. The competition will be continuing on into the next round in 2013: interested teachers can register for the next competition as of 13 August 2012 at www.juniorwebaward.ch.
About SWITCH As a non-profit organisation, SWITCH guarantees Switzerland’s access to the Internet. One hundred employees work on a daily basis on further developing web technologies, facilitating the exchange of knowledge between Swiss universities and increasing the security of the Internet in Switzerland. For private businesses, SWITCH compiles customized security solutions and supports the exchange of information. In 2012, the Internet service provider with its head office in Zurich will be celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Prizes: Each participant of a winning class receives:
1st prize offered by Microsoft: a C3 Notebook
2nd prize offered Lenovo: DVD HIFI system
3rd prize offered by EPSON: an Epson multi-function device – all-in-one printer, copier and scanner
The Public Prize for the project that won the public vote, offered by SSAB and Swiss television: a guided tour of the Schweizer Fernsehen television studios. Jury Prize for the best project from the Jury's viewpoint, offered by SWITCH: an iPod Shuffle. Programming Prize for the best-programmed website, selected and offered by Google: an adventure day at Google Switzerland.
