About the awards

Bright Sparks, an awards scheme recognising innovation and excellence in e-learning, is in association with the New Statesman, BT and consider this.

The government has recently laid out some major challenges for the development of e-learning in the UK. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) identified that individuals and organisations have already made a great deal of progress, but that it is now time for a wider audience to share and build on their success.

Bright Sparks is a response to that challenge. It aims to seek out and highlight projects and products that empower both the learner and educator.

E-learning has the potential to revolutionise education in the UK, providing sustainable, engaging and creative learning possibilities for everyone. To reflect this, the awards are divided into the following categories:

Early Years and Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 3-4
Further Education
Continued Education
Higher Education
Special Educational Needs
Essential Skills

Eligibility
Bright Sparks is open to any individual or organisation actively involved in e-learning projects or products in the UK. For the purposes of the awards, e-learning is the use of any form of interactive information communication technology (ICT) in education - for example, to enable flexible and individualised study, virtual environments, personalised support and collaborative learning. Nominations can be made by anyone and can be sent using the online form.

Judging
The Bright Sparks panel of judges will review all valid nominations and assess each based on its merits. The panel leader will help the judges to set fair and consistent criteria. The judges will consider each nomination in the context of the category chosen. However, if appropriate, the judges may decide to put a nomination forward in another category. The decisions of the judges are final.