When Miharu Soyama and Yukiko Asano arrived in the Seattle area in June for a week of training at the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology, they represented the vanguard of a new approach to teacher training in Japan that promises to bring valuable information- and communication-technology (ICT) skills to thousands of teachers across that country in the next five years.

Soyama and Asano, professional technology instructors, will use the knowledge they acquired at the center to create project-based curriculum that will help teachers in elementary and secondary schools develop ICT skills and then train colleagues in their own schools.

The project is part of the Partners in Learning Grants Program, an initiative launched by Microsoft in 2003 to help students and teachers around the world gain access to essential computer and training resources. The program, five years in duration, includes more than US$250 million in cash grants from Microsoft to develop curriculum, promote skills assessment, provide technical support, and deliver research funds and resources. Today, programs are running in 67 countries.