Sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences

Publication date: June 3, 2021

Samuel Branco, Computer Teacher in high secondary school, EU Code Week Leading Teacher, Portugal 

EU Code Week organized an online training course, called Spring School 2021 – Code Week, which took place from April 12th to 17th. The course was aimed at teachers who wanted to discover new approaches to teaching coding and computational thinking, and who were eager to support the expansion of Code Week! About 40 teachers took part in the course, coming from several European Union countries, who were selected by filling out a form. 

On the first day, there were many icebreaker activities, which required interaction between the participants. Not only did it allow them to get to know each other better, but also it created a good foundation to make the activities of the following day more fruitful. On this day, some participants of Summer School 2019 shared the activities they usually promote within the scope of EU Code Week. 

On the second day, participants had the opportunity to explore the Computer Science Fundamentals curriculum. I was very surprised to have found colleagues with the same goals as me. Participants were teachers who try to use technologies to motivate and improve students’ learning. They consider programming and robotics important to increase students’ skills, namely those of the 21st century. Some teachers were not computer science teachers, but teachers in the STEAM areas. These teachers try to use programming and robotics to transmit the contents of their subjects and make their classes more practical. I believe that we are all good examples of good teachers and through us, students will be successful! 

On the third day, the different ways to teach coding in schools were discussed. There was an opportunity for some of us to share our knowledge and skills through streamlining workshops. It was a pleasure to share, together with colleague Paulo Torcato, my experience with the platform that allows for a simulation of the action of a robot, namely the Lego EV3, at lab.open-roberta. If anyone needs it, I’m still available to help colleagues who want to use this or another platform related to programming or robotics. 

Video of the Open Roberta Lab workshop:  

On the fourth day, it was intended for the participants to reflect on what had been shared so far. Participants also took the opportunity to finish the activities they had left unfulfilled. 

On the fifth day, the participants discussed, in a group: how to inspire? how to promote Code Week? How to use social networks? What challenges and opportunities for Code Week in the local context? 

On the last day, we were once again divided into groups to discuss what can be done at local, regional and international levels to promote Code Week. Finally, participants were challenged to define an Action Plan for their Code Week activities. 

The six days that the training course lasted were very good in terms of sharing knowledge and experiences and very inspiring.  

Thank you Code Week and colleagues!