Digital Skills Archives | Page 3 of 5

How Coding Projects Promote Design Thinking

Posted on July 30, 2019November 2, 2022 by user

When it comes to Technology Education at BSD, we hope to inspire students to create with technology and highlight the importance of developing solutions that solve real-world problems. Making any new technology should be rooted in a solid purpose to help people. We emphasize this by weaving technology education projects into all subjects and infusing them with Design Thinking skills.

Design Thinking is a process for solving problems creatively. The three core pillars of Design Thinking are:

Empathy — Understanding the needs of those you’re designing for.
Ideation — Generating a lot of ideas. While brainstorming is one technique, there are many others.
Experimentation — Testing those ideas with prototyping.

Design Thinking helps capture people’s needs, possibilities, and ideas for an advanced human-centered solution or product.

Let’s see how we prepare students on their Design Thinking skills via BSD programs of learning.

All of our courses end with creating a project for a specific use. This motivates students to learn about their end-users, their demographics, and how they will use the project efficiently. This helps foster students’ empathy – starting the process of Design Thinking.

After understanding the end-users, students will start to code their projects. Students learn the basics of coding and other coding topics, depending on the topic and level of the course. Based on the requirements of the project, students may learn additional technical skills like designing characters or logos, understand color theory or branding, or even writing copy for their project.

Moreover, students should share and test their prototypes with their peers and, if possible, with some end users using an automated URL or QR code. This helps them get real-time feedback and adjust their project based on the response.

For instance, students must share their games with their classmates for testing and feedback in our Game Development course. Based on feedback, students may add new challenges, stages, characters, update the scoring system, or rewrite the gameplay.

As in any game, the experience of the users is key to its success. So, while their peers are trying the game, they are asked to observe how it’s being played and request feedback.

Students will then need to consider the feedback they receive and learn to exercise their judgment as to what will ultimately be a compromise between the features they like versus the feedback they have received on what the users want.

Finally, based on the observations and peer feedback, students can determine how they can continue to improve their projects to test them again. However, this testing and feedback cycle is not limited to a single cycle. Instead, it’s repeated as often as needed to make the game perfect – emulating the Design Thinking process of prototyping -> testing -> tweaking -> testing. This is excellent preparation for their lives as a whole and an excellent exercise in giving and receiving feedback.

With technology becoming ubiquitous, it is an increasing and urgent responsibility to teach our students that technology is not the solution to problems but tools people use to solve problems. Therefore, to effectively solve problems, technologies should be built to keep the people using them at the center; employing Design Thinking skills helps achieve precisely this.

Student Agency in Educational Technology Integrations

Posted on April 6, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

Earlier this month I was invited to present at the ACAMIS Spring Leadership Conference on Student Agency in Educational Technology Integrations. This article summarizes the key points from my presentation – definition and importance of student agency, concrete examples of student agency in action with teachers taking a lead in enabling this; and some tips school leaders can take back to school.

As Head of Learning Experience at BSD, a huge part of my job is to deliver professional development and coach teachers, as well as observe a wide variety of classroom settings. During coaching and classroom observations, I get the opportunity to see a wide variety of student agency in action.

But what is student agency? Eric Sheninger’s definition in his article, Student Agency: Moving from Talk to Action, captures the essence of what it’s about – “Student agency is about empowering kids to own their learning (and school) through greater autonomy. It is driven by choice, voice, and advocacy.”

Access to Internet-enabled devices in and outside the classroom has encouraged and allowed students to take control of their own learning. As educators, it’s now up to us to help students take responsible ownership of their learning as well as provide the right environment and support to nurture this.

In my visits to schools, I have observed that those which best promote student agency in technology settings have these common traits:

They invest time and resources to develop clear and strong objectives and outcomes for teachers and students. After this is defined, choosing the right devices, infrastructure and software become easy.
The school leadership supports the decisions made by the teachers and promotes buy-in from the teaching community. Developing agency in students is, in fact, starts with giving the same autonomy to teachers to make their own decision.
They promote interdepartmental collaboration. Bringing together teachers with a wide range of skill sets and from different backgrounds helps bring out and inspires the best in everyone.
They listen to the student and parent community and involve them in the decision making process.

Now, if you are a teacher who uses technology in the classroom and wants to develop agency in your students here are some handy tips:

Give up control: When you bring in technology and the internet in the classroom you open the world of new possibilities. This makes it impossible for you to plan every detail of your lesson plan so I recommend carving in ample time for exploration and tinkering.
Let students decide: It’s time for the end of term project presentations? Encourage students to be creative and let them choose what they want to do – shoot a video, create a website, even enact it or just stick to a slideshow – the choice is entirely up to them! Doing so helps build confidence and bring out students’ hidden interests and skills.
Engage your students by asking for suggestions and feedback: Ask students to peer review their work by giving each other “three stars and a wish” – three things you liked about your colleagues’ work and one thing you wish they would do next time.
Solve open ended problems: Ask big questions to solve big problems. Questions like – “how would you decrease traffic congestion in X city?”, “how would you improve the food and water distribute chain so everyone gets equal access to it?”, “how would you incentivise people to pay their taxes?”, etc. Asking such questions opens the doors to a series of follow up questions encourages students to gain a deeper understanding of how complex systems work, which in turn helps them to potentially discover the root cause of the problem.
Be a coach or facilitator for learning: When it comes to technology, students need a supportive and experienced adult to guide them. They also need an environment where trying, learning-by-doing, and not being afraid to make mistakes is encouraged.

If you would like to see my entire presentation and would like me to share it with you, get in touch with me at mq@bsd.education.

Incorporating Technology into Non-Tech Classes

Posted on March 23, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

BSD works with core subject teachers around the world who are tasked with weaving technology into their classroom experience. In many cases, there are no guidelines for where to begin or metrics provided for measuring impact. To help navigate the challenges of tech integration, we’ve outlined 4 tips for creating meaningful technology experiences that will engage students and enhance learning.

1. Ditch the Gadgets

All too often, we see schools attempt to meet technology requirements by purchasing the latest smart board or 3D printer. There is a notion that learning naturally follows after the acquisition of these devices. However, even when a motivated English teacher elects for her students to use a 3D printer during her poetry unit, how can she be sure that learning is happening? Are students gaining real world technology skills? Is the presence of 3D printing enhancing the existing poetry curriculum? How can we be sure?

Inevitably, without regular professional development, tech support and integrated lesson plans, we find that these devices go under-utilized.

2. Embrace Computational Thinking

Counter intuitively, the key to successful technology integration is not technology! Rather, students must learn to think in a way that empowers them to use technology to create real world solutions. Computational Thinking is a method of problem–solving used by computer scientists that breaks down into Decomposition, Pattern Recognition, Abstraction, and Algorithm.

Let’s expand on the example above of an English teacher who aims to bring technology skills into her poetry lessons. The goal of this project is to analyze a poem and extract insights.

Decomposition – Students choose a collection of poems and identify specific properties within each work, such as author details, number of lines, rhyming schemes, syllables, tone, etc.

Pattern Recognition – The class determines various connections that can be made by noticing patterns across works. Do certain authors reuse specific metaphors? Do distinct vocabulary words appear only within the work of a defined time period?

Abstraction – Challenge students to decide which properties are important to solving the problem and which are not? If your goal is to determine whether or not a poem is a haiku, then syllables are quite important. Whereas, if you’re hoping to surmise the poet’s gender, then syllables may be irrelevant.

Algorithms – Using what they’ve learned, each student will now design a reliable method for extracting specific insights from a poem. Notice, that students have not necessarily used technology up to this point! The final product can take the form of a flow chart or survey that asks relevant questions about any given poem in order to determine something about it. Examples could be “Was this poem written by Emily Dickinson?” or “Is this poem a sonnet?” or “Was this poem written before 1900?”

By following the Computational Thinking process, students are thinking deeply about the core subject matter while gaining 21st century problem solving skills.

3. Leverage Real-World Data

Teachers know that students learn best when they feel that the learning applies directly to their real lives. Fortunately, it’s never been easier to illustrate real-world connections using real time data!

A classic word problem in math asks students to calculate the exact time and place that two trains traveling in opposite directions will pass each other. Perhaps the updated version requires students to plot the route using Google Maps and incorporate factors like train delays, weather, and holiday scheduling.

Consider a US history assignment that prompts students to write an essay about their favorite president. By leveraging 70 years of free detailed presidential approval ratings online, teachers can challenge students to map their chosen president’s approval rating to significant historical events and use those insights to make predictions about the future.

4. Share Student Work Online

Finally, one of the simplest ways to bring technology concepts into non-tech classrooms is by publishing student work online. Regardless of their future endeavours, curating an online presence is an unavoidable part of being a member of the innovation economy.

In addition to popular tools such as Github, Behance, and Linkedin, the BSD Online platform provides all students with a place for showcasing real-world technology projects that can be shared with college admissions and even directly to employers.

If you are a teacher or school administrator and have questions about integrating technology into your classroom, please feel free to reach out to BSD Education. We can help you prepare your students for the ever–changing challenges of tomorrow and engage them with projects that combine core subjects with 21st century technology skills.

Advantages of Real World Technology Camps: Build a 2D Mini Game Camp

Posted on February 21, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

In the current digital era, there is no denying that video games are among the most popular pastimes for people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. For children, many of them will tell you that playing games is one of their favourite hobbies! However, many have only ever experienced games as a player.

By attending a camp to Build a 2D Mini Game, not only will kids get to work on a project related to one of their interests, but learning to build a 2D mini game helps foster both tech skills and soft skills that will greatly benefit them in the future – both in school and beyond.

Let’s take a look at some of the real-word skills your child will learn if he/she/they enroll for an 2D Mini Game Camp here at BSD Education:

Coding

To build a 2D web game, students will learn to code using languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Our 2D Mini Game camp focuses heavily on JavaScript, a programming language used to add logic, interactivity, and behaviour to a game. For example, JavaScript is used to add a point system, create animations, or to make images on a screen that respond to a mouse click or keystroke. Learning to code fosters patience and helps develop computational thinking skills.

Problem-Solving

Building a 2D mini game with code means that children will commonly run into challenges with their game, such as points not being added correctly, a button not responding to a mouse click, or a character on the screen is moving up instead of down. Kids will quickly learn that encountering bugs is a common process when coding, and that they will need to be organized, adaptable, and resourceful in order to come up with a variety of solutions. This will include checking their coding syntax, researching by themselves online for a fix, or rearranging their code in a different way.

Design (User Interface and User eXperience)

Building a 2D Mini Game encourages children to develop their skills in design. Children must think about how and where to place components – such as text and buttons – on the screen in a way that makes for a visually pleasing interface. They must also think about the emotionally rewarding and challenging aspects of their game that may encourage or discourage further gameplay. This design process helps to nurture empathy and adaptability in kids, as they will need to place themselves in the mindset of their players.

Attention to Detail

Throughout the process of building their 2D mini game, kids will learn that they will need to be diligent, thorough, and focused when working on every aspect of their game. They must make sure that their coding syntax is correct, or map out the game flow and logic of to account for all the different scenarios that players will encounter.

Technology camps are a unique, eye-opening, and engaging way for children to pursue their interests in a collaborative environment and make new friends, learn new skills, and be exposed to a variety of disciplines. At the end of a camp, children will leave with a greater appreciation of the technology that is so deeply ingrained in their daily lives, and will get to proudly showcase to their friends and family, a game that they programmed by themselves.

The gaming industry is among the fastest growing industries today that will be even bigger in childrens’ futures. Learning to build games helps equip children with digital skills that are the foundation for exploring other areas of tech, such as app development, animation, graphic design, and web development.

If you are interested in bringing our Build a 2D Mini Game Camps into your school, let us know by contacting us here.

Technology Projects That Will Inspire Your Students To CARE

Posted on February 10, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

At BSD Education, we are passionate about education technology and project-based learning.

As a wise 6-year-old once said, “Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” (Disney Baby)

You might not be able (or want!) to share your French fries, so we came up with a few creative digital ways that you can show you care.

1. Online Card

The technology project ‘Design your own Valentine’s theme online card’ is complete with pictures, graphics, and of course, your views about love.

Read our step-by-step project breakdown of this project here.

2. 3D Printed Creations

For the people in your life that you can’t live without, you can design a heart-shaped custom 3D printed creation. Other options include a unique design about a place you visited together, their favorite hobby, an inside joke – this is entirely up to you! Designing and printing it yourself will undoubtedly show them how much you care.

3. Poem Website

Design your custom website complete with a loving or appreciative poem for that particular person in your life. Are you a writer? Try combining technical skills with a bit of “iambic pentameter” to show off your inner Shakespeare to loved ones.

How else do you teach your students to care about other people? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

If you’d like to learn more about our projects at BSD Education, please reach out to us at info@bsd.education!

Why We Aim For Students To CARE

Posted on February 10, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

“… I do not publish nor divulge [methods of building submarines] by reason of the evil nature of men who would use them as means of destruction at the bottom of the sea, by sending ships to the bottom, and sinking them together with the men in them.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

Our aim is to give students the confidence and skills to work with the most powerful technology tools of their generation. And as Spiderman teaches “with great power comes great responsibility.”

This is a lesson that every inventor learns. Early inventors were often tied to military purposes. Leonardo da Vinci famously focused on defensive rather than offensive technology, and went as far as destroying some of his advanced designs to avoid what he believed would be the inevitable human destruction. This responsibility expanded to scientists focused on chemical warfare – the wife of the German inventor of chemical warfare ultimately committed suicide when she couldn’t convince her husband not to publish his results – and even DNA – as scientists feared their recombinant DNA experiments would lead to accidentally incurable pathogens.

As we have seen around the world in the last few years technology is not only ubiquitous, but more powerful than ever. A power at the hands of everyone. From a young age, then, we want to equip students not only with the technical skills to use tools but also the moral compass to use them for good. We call this teaching students to CARE – to be curious, adaptable, resilient and empathetic to the world around them.

We work with students to use technology in ways that benefit their communities. We have students that are building connected scales to measure and reduce waste at their schools and others creating websites to donate to people in need. Even something as simple as making virtual Valentine’s Day cards to show people some love can have a positive impact on others. In each case, our students look around themselves to see real problems and create solutions that really work for people in their communities.

Ultimately, we’ll measure our success by the impact that our students have and we want to give them every chance to make that a positive one. Our moral compass guides BSD and we aspire for it to guide the projects, tools and movements our students create too.

Source: Less Wrong

Integrating Technology Education Into Schools: The How

Posted on January 28, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

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.

Advantages of Real World Technology Camps: Robotics with Micro:bit

Posted on January 13, 2019April 27, 2023 by user

What is a micro:bit?

A micro:bit is a pocket-sized microcontroller designed by the BBC to enhance technology education in schools. With its versatile features, it can be programmed using JavaScript, Python, or block code. At BSD Education’s technology camps, students harness the power of micro:bit to build innovative projects like gaming consoles, fitness trackers, wearables, and more.

Using micro:bit, students develop valuable skills like design thinking, prototyping, coding, and working with materials and electronics. They also learn the importance of collaboration while creating their projects.

A micro:bit is a pocket sized microcontroller designed by the BBC for use in Technology Education education in schools. It can be programmed using JavaScript, Python or block code. A micro:bit has:

– 25 red LED lights that can flash messages and be used to create games.

– two programmable buttons that can be used to control games or hardware prototypes.

– an accelerometer, so it can detect motion and knows when the user is moving.

– a built-in compass which can be used to detect the direction and it can use a low energy

– a Bluetooth connection to interact with other devices and the Internet.

– power input and can be powered by a battery and additional sensors can be attached.

You can find more information about the micro:bit features here.

Students can use micro:bit to build a wide range of tools like gaming consoles, fitness trackers, wearables, autonomous vehicles, soil moisture and temperature sensors. In the process of programming a micro:bit and building tools with it, students develop skills like Design Thinking, prototyping, coding, experience working with materials and electronics, using hardware and collaboration. Let’s take a look at the skills students learn:

Design Thinking and Product Design

To build any functional tool, it’s of utmost importance to understand who the users are and to clearly define the problem – this is a direct application of Design Thinking.

While building tools with micro:bit, students will be encouraged to research and define who their user is, what the users’ needs are, and what problems their tool will solve. If students do not have this information, they will spend time researching.

Students will also learn to think about their tools as a product, so they will not only consider how it works and what problem it solves but will also have to consider what it looks like and what the user’s experience will be i.e. how the user will use it and interact with it.

At our technology camps, students are encouraged to apply design thinking principles, understanding their users’ needs and the problems their projects will solve. This helps them create functional and user-friendly products.

Prototyping and Testing

Building a commercially viable product is a resource intensive task. In the industrial world, it takes the combined effort of numerous experts backed with R&D, financial resources and time. Before a product is ready for commercial use, it has to go through cycles of prototyping, testing, feedback and improvements.

Using micro:bit to build tools, Students learn the real-world industrial skills of prototyping and testing, using low-cost and easily available materials to iterate their designs based on user feedback.

Materials

Most products or tools are built using numerous components and materials, the same is true for working prototypes.

While building products with micro:bit, students will have to consider:

1. The users: who will use it and how

2. The use case: where and in which situations will it be used

3. The wear and tear: does it have moving parts or does it need to be carried around or is it exposed to air and water

4. The safety for the products: are there any moving parts or open wiring

Students explore various materials like cardboard, paper, acrylic, PVC, and wood while building their micro:bit projects. They learn the basics of electronics, working with circuits and understanding electricity requirements for different components.

Basics of electronics

Micro:bit is powered by electricity, either via two AAA batteries or via a USB port. Students who use Micro:bit will learn how electricity works, how to wire different components together to create a circuit, how to ensure that device has the correct amount of electricity and what the electricity requirements are for different components like LED lights and motors or sensors like ultrasonic and moisture sensors.

Sensors

A micro:bit comes with four inbuilt sensors, and students can connect additional sensors to expand its capabilities. They learn to code in JavaScript, Python, and Blocks, developing computational thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

These additional sensors include:
– light sensor: detects ambient light
– temperature sensors: detects the current temperature of the device, in Celsius
– accelerometer: detects the acceleration of the micro:bit; it senses when the micro:bit is moved and other actions like shake, tilt, and free-fall
– compass: detects the earth’s magnetic field, allowing it to detect which direction the micro:bit is facing

Connecting additional sensors to the micro:bit opens a world of opportunities. A micro:bit can be connected to sound, ultrasonic, temperature and moisture sensors. For example, a micro:bit powered plant watering bot will need light, moisture and temperature sensors.

Learn to code

A micro:bit can be programmed using three coding languages – JavaScript, Python and Blocks. Learning how to program a micro:bit enables students to learn how to code as well as empowers them to have total control over the features of the micro:bit.

Learning to code is more than a technical skill. Coding develops soft skills like Computational Thinking, attention to detail, collaboration, creativity and problem solving.

Teamwork and collaboration

As previously mentioned, building a product or a working prototype requires collaboration between numerous people with different skills and working styles. Our technology camps emphasize teamwork and collaboration, mirroring real-world professional situations. Students work in groups, taking on different responsibilities and learning from each other as they create their micro:bit projects. Every member of the team has to select a specific responsibility, decide on deadline, communicate progress with the team members and learn from each other.

Learning to make products or prototypes with micro:bit is a well rounded activity which teaches students technical skills like electronics, prototyping, testing, and coding. Students also gain transferable life skills like design thinking, communication and collaboration. Activities like this expose students to the emerging technologies they interact with every day, and encourages them to not just be consumers of technology but also creators of solutions while preparing them for technology first careers.

Join BSD Education’s technology camps to help students become creators of technology solutions and prepare for technology-first careers. Share your micro:bit experiences and projects with us, and we might feature them in our future newsletters!

If you are using micro:bit in your lessons we would love to hear how you are using them and would love to feature your experience and your students’ products in our future newsletters.

It’s Time for Data – And Time To Make Time for Data

Posted on January 13, 2019September 20, 2022 by user

Data has been a core part of education for years. We all remember being graded at school, both formatively as well as summatively. Strong observational practice, or constructivist methods, by teachers in classrooms has also been an effective way to gather data. This human-led combination has historically informed about how students are progressing with work, socializing and communicating with their classmates, or how they respond to struggling – perhaps crossing the line from persistence and concentration, to frustration and disengagement.

An increased introduction of technology into classrooms brings with it artificial intelligence, real time visible information and a multitude of options to introduce more personalized student learning experiences. However, how do we ensure that what is being measured is relevant and will produce meaningful results?

In an article about the approach taken by Broken Arrow Public Schools in the US, it illustrates how their school sites take a meaningful approach to data which considers the overall stories being told by the data in each of their schools. They approached developing their solution through a Professional Learning Community process and eventually made time, through embedding it in the schools’ schedules, for collaboration time to reinforce the process. The point carried through strongly that, data being available is one thing, however this will not return value unless teachers are given the time to analyze, collaborate and act upon it.

Another article about how data can inform teaching made a great point about the wealth of information that is available from student files and the insight that can be drawn from them, however brought up the difficulty in finding the time to view them.

The technology tools on offer today impact not just the fabric of the school, such as learning management systems, but also the hands on learning of students, such as online learning platforms. All of these platforms produce data and it is in the amalgamation of all of this data that the benefits will be found, rather than in a single tool in isolation.

Understanding the data from environmental conditions, attendance, learning data and results; what happens when and by whom across a range of activities; can identify not only opportunities to enhance teaching practice, but also duplication of effort. Subsequent automation or use of artificial intelligence, made effective from the initial understanding of the data involved, might improve e.g. communication and time availability.

On BSD Online, teachers can access real time data about work that their students are currently doing, including when they do it – at school or at home, where they are up to, and what parts of the work they most frequently make errors on. The latter feeds a machine learning algorithm to improve personalized in-platform suggestions and tips given to students as they learn.

We have seen teachers become able to better understand how different types of content are paced down to individual student levels for personalization, as well as understand the interdisciplinary performance of students and preferences of the overall student body. In some schools, preference data has been compared to attendance data to identify strategies to increase engagement in traditional subjects. Because data is available in real time and accessible anywhere, it becomes more easy and flexible for teachers to connect in person or virtually to discuss their findings.

Data is available from more sources than ever before. A trend only set to continue growing. To convert the insight from data analysis and interpretation into actionable and valuable initiatives, data must be considered from all aspects of school life and time must be made to consider the story that data is telling as a collaborative community. In the end though, the opportunity is better than ever to take back time and really understand how student life is performing at your school.

Breaking the Disconnection in Computer Science Education

Posted on December 14, 2018September 20, 2022 by user

In a recent survey of 540 K-12 teachers conducted by YouGov for Microsoft, 88% of teachers said they agree computer science is critical to ensuring success in the workplace. In addition, 83% said they believe coding can build students’ creativity. Thus, teachers recognize the importance and benefits of technology education.

However, one-fifth of teachers said their students aren’t actually taught any computer science. These teachers mention a lack of resources, curriculum, and testing as explanations for this. To give students digital skills to prepare for the future, instructors and society believe it is vital. However, what actually happens in schools is quite different.

The second issue is that teachers feel underqualified to prepare children for a digital future. Most teachers (88%) value computer science, while 30 percent are underqualified or overloaded—insufficient support and training for teachers to confidently integrate technology into their classes.

Interestingly, the same kind of feedback led to our offering at BSD Education. Many teachers recognize the importance of technology education for students’ future success but struggle to deliver it effectively. We researched with schools and students from diverse socio-economic, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds to discover why. While schools want to use technology more, there are three major obstacles to overcome:

Confidence: Teachers don’t usually have a tech background and so can see it as risky and unfamiliar. Professional development for an area that is new and technical can be hard to access.
Content: Technology is constantly changing. Curriculum can, therefore, become quickly outdated.
Community: Teachers don’t have a community of practice or peers, with a core group of trained practitioners, to learn from and share ideas.

Following this research, we worked with thousands of students and instructors for over 34,000 hours to develop a solution that inspires the next generation of problem-solvers and creative thinkers. As a result, we equip schools with resources to integrate technology into all subjects:

An online teaching environment that gives teachers confidence by putting them in control of the learning experience.
Real world relevant curriculum that can be brought into every subject.
Professional development that enables every teacher to integrate technology into their classroom.

Our new year resolves to bring this solution and create the community in and amongst more schools globally to help break the disconnect. Teachers know that technology education is vital. We need to empower them and support them with the right tools to be in a position to deliver.