Inaugural MOS Four Nations Championship Final saw UK & Ireland Champions demonstrate the top 10 skills demanded by employers including Microsoft Office, teamwork, and problem solving.
Microsoft and Prodigy Learning are proud to announce that three Irish students were crowned inaugural Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Four Nations Champions, having demonstrated their digital skills (specifically their mastery of Microsoft Office and Minecraft) at the Four Nations Final held at Microsoft UK Headquarters.
The three students, Luke Hamilton (Summerhill College, Co. Sligo), Muireann Nolan (Banagher Community College, Co. Offaly) and Oisin Chelmiah (Knockbeg College, Co. Carlow), all respective Irish National Champions, came together to become Team Ireland and compete against England, Scotland and Wales.
At the MOS Four Nations Final, students heard from some excellent keynote speakers including Derrick McCourt (General Manager – Public Sector, Microsoft UK) who emphasised the importance of digital skills in today’s job markets and the importance of STEM education in equipping students with the job-ready skills.
The National Finalists worked as a National Team on a music-themed project to collaboratively demonstrate their digital skills using Minecraft: Education Edition and Microsoft Office in a fun and exciting way! Teams presented to a panel of judges from industry (including representatives from Deloitte, Immersive Minds, Microsoft, Tech Partnership, Risual and Universal) for the chance to win the inaugural MOS Four Nations Project Award.
It was extraordinary to see the quality of work produced by the students in such a short period as Team Ireland “rocked out” to take home the title and a Microsoft Surface device each with a fantastic Irish Traditional Music themed project developed in Minecraft: Education Edition.
Since the Championship launch last October, thousands of students across Ireland and the UK aged 13-22 took MOS exams to qualify and compete to claim a place at these finals. National qualifying events determined Champions to represent each nation at the Four Nations Final this week.
Speaking at the event, Kevin Marshall (Head of Education, Microsoft Ireland) said: “I am proud to see Team Ireland win today’s MOS Four Nations Championship, demonstrating outstanding digital skills using Microsoft tools including Minecraft and Office. Minecraft is a great way to learn logic and abstract thinking. We are trying to fuse old and new techniques and tools to create a more engaging learning environment.“
Andrew Flood (CEO, Prodigy Learning) added: “Congratulations to Team Ireland who won our MOS Four Nations Project Award using Minecraft. Today was an inspiring event with our Champions demonstrating their digital, collaboration and problem-solving skills. The high standard is a credit to the students, teachers and schools involved and highlights great work being done in digital skills and STEM education in the UK & Ireland which we are proud to support.”
MOS Four Nations Championship Final Photo Album
Image: Pictured are the winning Team Ireland students with Kevin Marshall (Head of Education, Microsoft Ireland) and Billy Breen (Country Manager – Ireland, Prodigy Learning).
For a full selection of images from the 2017 MOS Four Nations Championship Final please click here.
