We are thrilled to introduce the winners of the Dugga Teacher Award 2023, recognizing outstanding educators who have gone above and beyond to drive pedagogically responsible digitalization in their schools. With a rigorous selection process and a multitude of deserving nominees from various regions, the jury had the challenging task of selecting the best educators. This year, the jury has selected three exceptional teachers.
Meet this year’s winners:
- Zanna Holmgren – Aspenskolan, Tierp, Sweden
- Ma. Lourdes Santillan Donguines, Seri Mulia Sarjana International School, Brunei
- Muhammad Iman Mustafa – SMK Negeri 14 Kota Samarinda, Indonesia
Insights from the Winners
We interviewed our distinguished winners and their responses resonate with a common
theme: the profound joy derived from making a positive impact on students’ lives.
What do you believe is the best thing about being a teacher?
Zanna Holmgren highlights being able to make a difference for students. In addition, Holmgren articulates the joy of witnessing students’ growth and self-belief, creating an environment where they feel valued.
Muhammad Iman Mustafa reflects on the profound impact teachers have on shaping lives, inspiring positive attitudes and actions.”There is nothing more rewarding than knowing and seeing proof that I have made an impact on someone’s life or many lives. (…) be the best version of yourself at all times because you never know who you are inspiring!”
Ma. Lourdes Santillan Donguines emphasizes the perpetual learning journey shared with students, citing Dugga as a tool that adds to this enriching experience.”As technology progresses so fast, I also learn and grow professionally along with my students. Using Dugga for my digital assessments is one particular example that I am delighted and grateful to learn.”
What/who inspired you to become a teacher?
Ma. Lourdes Santillan Donguines draws inspiration from a high school Mathematics teacher who believed in her, fostering a passion for teaching. “I was able to hurdle the challenges when I was still studying, and she made a difference in my life because there was once a teacher who first believed in me. Like my high school teacher, I am now embracing my passion to teach and to touch lives.”
Zanna Holmgren credits her choice to become a teacher to the desire to ensure no student feels the way she did during her school years, highlighting the influence of an inspiring role model. “When I initially chose to pursue a career in teaching, my thought was that I wanted to work so that no student would have to feel the way I did in school. Every child deserves to feel good. I wanted to make a difference and give everyone a chance to succeed.
In addition, Holmgren highlights her role model who inspired her to become a teacher. “Bengt Söderhäll, an incredible inspirer. I still remember how, when I was in 8th grade and we had him as a substitute, he walked into our chaotic classroom with a guitar on his back, took the chair at the front, lifted it onto the podium, climbed up himself, and played. That’s what you call grabbing attention! The class became completely silent and worked exceptionally well that lesson. I wish every child could meet a teacher like that at some point during their school years.”
Muhammad Iman Mustafa acknowledges two influential figures – a high school English teacher and a university lecturer – who ignited his passion for teaching through their dedication and engaging teaching styles. Mustafa highlights how his high school teacher inspires him to be the best he can be.
“I’ve always struggled with writing and was always told, ´You need to improve your handwriting´. Mr Munandar didn’t care about that but was more interested in what I wrote, not how my writing looked. He inspires me to be the best I can be.”
In addition, the passion of Mustafa’s university lecturer inspired and left him wanting more:
“(…) his 3-hour lectures went by in a flash, it was like watching a great movie, he is passionate and active, he has a sense of humor that seeps through the very technical topics he teaches.”
What is your favorite feature of Dugga?
Ma. Lourdes Santillan Donguines appreciates Dugga’s diverse question types, secure anti-cheating features, and paperless assessments promoting environmental awareness. “I like to use Dugga because it offers diverse ways to formulate questions. It is also secure and has anti-cheating feature. In addition, students can submit the hand-in file if the students encounter problem with the internet connection. Moreover, teachers can also collaborate in preparing and grading the assessment. Grading the Dugga assessments can also save time because of its auto-correct feature for questions with direct answers. Lastly, Dugga as an assessment platform is paperless. Reducing the use of paper in school can help save more trees, and if done together can help save our planet.”
Zanna Holmgren values Dugga’s ability to create various assignments and conduct fair exams through anonymous grading and lockdown mode. “The best thing about Dugga, besides the ability to create many different types of assignments and self-correcting questions, is clearly the ability to conduct exams fairly, partly through the connection to Safe Exam Browser, which limits the risk of cheating, and partly that I, as a teacher, grade the exams before de-anonymizing. This way, it is a security for me as an educator, knowing that the student did the exam/work themselves, and a security for the individual student, that it is a fair assessment based on demonstrated knowledge, not based on the person.”
Muhammad Iman Mustafa finds Dugga’s AI Exam Engine particularly helpful, which allows teachers to auto-generate exam questions with AI in Dugga. In addition, Mustafa mentions how the auto correct and XIT check feature, is contributing to a seamless and honest assessment process.
How has the use of Dugga enhanced your teaching?
Ma. Lourdes Santillan Donguines leverages Dugga’s multimedia capabilities to make lessons engaging, informative, and culturally sensitive, catering to diverse learners. “I can include real images, actual videos of events and links of news articles that my students can read, reflect on and answer the questions. The colorful visuals make learning more interesting, engaging and relatable to them.”
Additionally, Donguines highlights how the use of Dugga makes it easy to help students with special needs. “I am dealing with different types of learners that have diverse cultural backgrounds and learning needs. In Dugga, I can give differentiated assessments to cater the different needs of the learners.”
Zanna Holmgren credits Dugga for simplifying exam implementation, saving time, and promoting collaboration among educators. “Dugga has certainly contributed to simplifying the implementation of exams and assignments, where you want to ensure/limit access to external information, for example, via the web, and that students can feel confident that they receive a fair assessment. In cases where self-correcting question types are used, it saves an incredible amount of time for me as a teacher compared to having to individually grade all exam questions on my own. The ability to share exams/assignments with colleagues is also something that facilitates daily work. There are so many things a teacher wants to accomplish, so being able to save time in a favorable and efficient way is fantastic!”
Muhammad Iman Mustafa praises Dugga for its time-saving capabilities, reduced paper usage, and enhanced collaboration. “Dugga effectively saves time that would otherwise be spent marking, creating, or editing questions templates. Now I don’t need to print and waste a lot of paper anymore”. It takes less time to check students’ work. I can spend more time with my students. It’s easy to collaborate with colleagues and build a digital question bank within Dugga.”
In celebrating these extraordinary educators, we extend our gratitude to the entire Dugga community for their continuous support. Together, we shape the future of education. Congratulations to the winners!