In this post we will share how we work with schools globally to integrate Technology Education in their existing curricula in a simple, 3 step process. Once a school has decided to partner with us, they can be ready to start teaching with BSD curriculum in less than a week!  

1. Choosing a Curriculum

Every school’s journey begins with identifying their needs which are gathered by answering two questions:

• What skills and competencies they want to develop in their students
• How much time they have available

Based on what a school requires, we suggest either one or a combination of units from our 4 curricula offerings. Our suggestions are based on factors like (national) curriculum followed, lesson time available, skills to be developed, student interest, infrastructure available, etc.

Our 4 curriculum offerings are:

• TechReady: These are focused technology courses (like Data, AI, App and Game Dev, etc) for ages 8-14 aligned to US/UK/IB curricula and mapped to ISTE/CSTA standards.

• TechConnected: Technology projects for English, Mathematics, Science, Geography, Humanities and Language Learning for ages 8-14. Aligned to US/UK/IB curricula and mapped to ISTE/CSTA standards.

• Technovators: After school and camp courses for ages 8-14 covering a range of topics including Coding, Robotics, Tech Entrepreneurship, E-Sports, Lego, Roblox, Minecraft, etc.

• Connect2Work: BTEC aligned vocational courses for career readiness in technology first jobs for ages 16-18.

2. Teachers Skills Building and Curriculum Familiarisation

After the requirements have been identified and projects chosen, teachers receive professional development training by our instructors. The training gives the teachers the skills and confidence needed to adopt, implement and sustain the delivery of BSD curriculum seamlessly in their classrooms. The training covers:

• An orientation to BSD Online – our online learning software platform
• Skills building – hands on introduction to digital and coding skills
• Curriculum familiarisation – understanding of the teaching resources like lesson plans or teacher prep guides BSD provides and how to use them

3. Start Teaching and Community Building

After training, teachers are ready to integrate technology education in their classroom. As teachers start teaching, we support them by providing virtual or onsite coaching with regular check-ins. Teachers who are trained and gain experience in the classroom, are encouraged to try new projects and strategies.

As teachers experience and confidence grows, some go ahead and start sharing their experiences and success stories of using BSD curriculum in their classrooms with their colleagues while others take the initiative of training more teachers within the school. This helps develop a robust community of technology education practitioners in the school, all supported by BSD’s online Educator Community!

The BSD Advantage

Our professional development training is designed to help teachers overcome the three fundamental barriers that we have found to consistently prevent a broader implementation  of technology education in the classroom.

• Confidence: Teachers usually don’t have background in technology so can see bringing technology education into the classroom as risky and unfamiliar. Professional development for an area that is new and technical can be hard to access. We help teachers by providing an online teaching environment and training by professionals that gives them the skills and confidence by putting them in control of the learning experience.

• Content: Technology is constantly changing. Curriculum can, therefore, become quickly outdated. We help overcome this by providing up to date curriculum and content with real world relevant curriculum that can be brought into every subject.
• Community: Teachers don’t often have a community of practice or peers to collaborate with, or a core group of trained practitioners to learn from and share ideas with. We assist teachers by becoming their trusted partners. We provide ongoing virtual or onsite coaching, regular check-ins, and an online community and events with like-minded educators from around the world.

If you are a teacher using BSD curriculum in your classroom, we would love to hear your experiences. If you are not yet a BSD School but are interested to bring technology education into your classrooms, get in touch with us.