Cordilleran Educator, Francis Jim Tuscano is among the top 50 finalists of the Global Teacher Prize 2017

Photo: globalteacherprize.org

Francis Jim Tuscano, a teacher who came from Abra, is among the 50 shortlisted teachers from across the world in the running for the 2017 Global Teacher Prize.

The Global Teachers Prize was set up to recognize exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession and has shown to the world the important role of teachers in the society Now in its third year, a prize award of $1 million will be given to the winner.

Francis Jim Tuscano was among the 50 lucky educators to be selected from over 20,000 nominations and applications from 179 countries around the world.

In this bio written on the globalteacherprize.org website, Mr Tuscano was known for his studies examining the efficacy of iPad learning. Mr Tuscano believes that using and integrating technology in teaching will deepen the students learning and this proves him true since 94% of his students admitted iPad had helped them in learning.

"His students have demonstrated their improvements in an even more obvious way by becoming published authors, having written about their encounter with the students from the National School for the Blind and published it in the iBooks store," the website says.

One of the most recent achievements of Tuscano is his award from the Pineau-Clifford Educators for being an Outstanding Faculty at his school and was additionally made an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2015.

In 2016, his book on Religious Education was a finalist at the US iBooks author conference for best educational book.

Given the chance to win the prize this year Francis is planning to collaborate with the Department of Education to create a well-structured professional development plan for teachers.

The Global Teacher Prize winner will be announced on Sunday, 19 March.