A teacher training programme that brings coding to school classrooms is expanding to Europe. Since 2021, Google Data Center in Hamina has been working together with Code School Finland to provide teachers with skills and tools to teach coding and robotics in schools. During the previous school year, the programme involved 30 teachers and more than 1000 students in the region of Kymenlaakso in Finland. The IT students of the local vocational college eKami took part as local support for the schools. The programme is now expanding to other European countries, starting with Belgium and Ireland in January 2023.
Target is 15000 students
The goal of the Code School for Europe programme is to empower ordinary teachers with no previous experience in coding to teach coding in schools. They will learn how to integrate coding into their subject instruction. “By training the first ‘seed’ teachers who will later support their colleagues to join, we will create a self-sustainable programme that will help more than 15 000 students within the next few years”, says Jussi Koivisto, the project manager.
“The Code School for Europe program has been created out of a desire to give more school children hands-on experience with coding. We’re very pleased with the results delivered to date and hope this program will help to drive greater awareness about the importance of embedding coding in the school curriculums and the opportunities it provides”, says Niels Andersen, Public Affairs Manager, Data Centers, Nordics at Google.
Creative coding skills and imagination
Sixth grade students Miko, Eetu and Roope tell us the best part of learning robotics in school is the chance to build, test and play with the parts to build something they could never even imagine before. They think projects like this help to build creative and coding skills. Listen to the whole interview by Yle on 7th Feb, 2022 here [in Finnish].
Teachers have warmly welcomed the training and ready-made teaching materials. Teija, a sixth grade teacher at Pyhtää Huutjärvi School, noted the practical approach: “This was such a good start and a no-nonsense training! Together we opened the robotics kit, got familiar with the components and started experimenting. ”
Want to have coding in your school?
All 3rd to 9th grade teachers in Ireland and Belgium are welcome to join the free-of-charge training. Participating does not require any prior knowledge of coding.
The training includes two online training sessions, a self-study online course and one face-to-face workshop. Training and materials are provided in English or French. There will also be optional trainer training sessions for those who want to continue training more teachers in their network.
If you are interested please register with this form: codeschool.fi/ireland or codeschool.fi/belgium. The training starts already at the end of January 2023!
For more information about the training including dates, visit
codeschool.fi/teacher-training-in-ireland/
or
codeschool.fi/formation-pratique-des-enseignants-en-belgique/